Aug 5, 2026
In the capitol city where I live, on a busy downtown intersection, is a small sign that has been on my mind lately. Above an emblem in a simple curve, are the words “Gave His Life in the Line of Duty.” And below, a name. “Lieutenant Michael J. Cloonan 8/16/1893.” The...
May 21, 2026
Teens. Suddenly, they are everywhere, like flowers or possibly more like dandelions, since they spring up without warning, and they dominate the eye. They grow very fast. They seem to be always turning themselves toward the sun. And they cluster. Of course,...
Mar 11, 2026
One of the pleasures of living in downtown Saint Paul is the opportunity to live an everyday life with architecture. The neighborhood forms masses of shapes against the sky, and there are wonderful interior shapes with atriums of different heights and colors. The...
Dec 29, 2025
On the unexpected pleasure front, holiday edition, I visited an artist’s market at Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul last week. (Not clear to me how google summaries arrive, but Springboard has a good one: “We’re here to equip artists with the tools to make a...
Dec 17, 2025
Sometime in the holiday season of 1952, my aunt Jane was hurrying through the main floor of the State Street Marshall Field’s in Chicago, a grand landmark department store. In those days, the main floor of Field’s was a full city block square, three stories tall, and...
