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Border Crossing: From Switzerland to Italy
Italy, November 28, 2014 For almost a week we’ve been in Switzerland, riding first class trains through heritage cities, art cities, historic viaducts and tunnels, alpine glaciers, and mountain resorts. In every case, the conductors greet us soon after departure, check our tickets, and make sure we know where to disembark or change for our…
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Gardening on Mother’s Day, and other Travels with Mom
My mother was very well organized, and we all knew what that meant on Mother’s Day. Plant the garden. Never, the rule went, plant before Mother’s Day because, sure as shootin’, if you did, you’d lose all those fragile young plants to an overnight freeze. This was St. Cloud, Minnesota, after all, and both my…
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Napa County Library Explored
I popped into the main branch of the Napa County Library unannounced, as most people do. But maybe I looked suspicious, wandering around, stopping here and there to browse or take a photo. I didn’t think I was being watched until I’d passed the teen reading area. That’s when a guard made himself known. I…
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Minneapolis Central Library’s Special Collections
I didn’t mean to start this series with the Minneapolis (MN) Central Library, it being so close to home. But I used my experience almost-visiting the National Library of Spain as inspiration for my next library visit. Armed with an appointment this time–and a habit of walking into libraries unimpeded–I chose to explore the Special…
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Book Recommendations
What’s on your bookshelf? What are you thinking of reading next? You’ll never guess where I got a great list of book recommendations recently: Perkin’s Restaurant in Bloomington, MN! Yes, Perkin’s, home of the American-Flag-Flown-as-Advertising-Billboard and Pigs in a Blanket. A couple dozen of us gathered in a back room of Perkin’s, set with tables…