The past week or so was one of the best in Minnesota for me. Labor Day brings the Great Minnesota State Fair to a closure, after an exciting 10 day run. Ellen and I spent Sunday a week ago at the fair. It was perfect weather and lots of other folks joined us there!!
One of my favorite things to do is give the machinery a...
Ellen and I were out and about in near Northern Minnesota over the weekend…Carlton County area. The Moose Lake area was hosting their annual ‘Autumn Winds’ tour of local artists. This has grown into a fun little event with about 12 artists participating. They extend from Moose Lake, Barnum, Askov and Kettle Rive...
Our work at the Dodge County Courthouse in Mantorville is moving along nicely. One of the major tasks at hand is getting scaffold properly erected around the building. The old Courthouse is a tall structure…on top of a tall hill….adjacent to a state highway. Those things come together to create a real challenge for the scaffold e...
Yesterday evening I attended a reception at the Conservation Minnesota Voter Center (CMVC) . They gave out their 7th annual conservation leadership awards. If you are a regular reader of this site you may remember that I served in the Minnesota Legislature for some years, and received their leadership award in 2003. I greatly val...
Yesterday afternoon I participated in a fundraising event with the Minnesota (ABC). This is a group that I’ve been working with for many years. They have a good membership base of contractors all across Minnesota and work together to promote free-markets and individual responsibility in the construction industry. Like many...
Last weekend Ellen and I spent some time in Northern Minnesota. Since Saturday started out to be a rather damp and cloudy day, we drove to Duluth and visited the railroad museum. That is a great place to spend a cold, rainy fall day while learning a lot about the early logging and mining operations and the railroads that supported...
As you may know, construction work starts early most mornings. One of the advantages to that is that I get to see some beautiful sunrises. Yesterday morning I captured this scene as the sun started to peak up over the business across the road. Spectacularly beautiful and powerful!
We have constructed the lower level walls...
I was in the Goodhue County government building in Red Wing yesterday attending to some business. I had not been in the building for many years. It is an absolutely beautiful example of early twentieth century public architecture. I believe it was constructed in 1931. The building reflects lots of the art deco themes prevalent in...
Earlier this week Ellen and I had an opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do….visit a private Frank Lloyd Wright home. The opportunity presented itself when a friend arranged for us to see the Thomas E. Keys home in Rochester, MN. Mr. Keys was a librarian at the Mayo Clinic. He contracted to have his home built i...
This past weekend Ellen and I traveled to Northern Minnesota to visit my brother. He operates the Whispering Pines Motel on highway 61 just north of Silver Bay. It was a great weekend to be out and about outdoors.
The motel location is on the corner of highway 1 and 61. Many years ago there was a fairly large hotel at thi...