Blue Skies Over Paris

Concorde Fountain

Arc de Triomphe

Memorial Day

Fort Snelling National Cemetery - Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Today we celebrate Memorial Day and honor those who served our country. Each Friday at the start of the long Memorial Day weekend, my wife and I make the rounds to the local cemeteries and visit our departed relatives. Two of my uncles (one my Godfather) along with my Grandfather, (who served in WW I as a pilot), rest here at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Over the hill behind them is the airport, a fitting place to rest for both Grandfather and his son. My uncle worked at this very airport as a jetliner mechanic.

For more information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Snelling_National_Cemetery

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Memorial Flowers
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Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial - Collerville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.
The cemetery is located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach (one of the landing beaches of the Normandy Invasion) and the English Channel. It covers 70 ha (172 acres), and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. The graves face westward, towards the United States.

For more information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_American_Cemetery_and_Memorial

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2 Things Challenge - In the Sky / On the Ground

Finally, I am getting back on schedule. This week's 2 Things Weekly Challenge is In the Sky and On the Ground. The scene is from Lake Vermilion in northern Minnesota.

A couple of things to see; In the Sky; clouds and trees stretched upward into the sky. And On the Ground, once again trees, (forest) and water, (lake).

Shooting Mode Manual Exposure

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Loggerhead

More wood waiting to be split. Fire wood heats you three times; once when you cut it, once when you split it, and finally when you burn it.

Circular Rust

Dock pipes waiting to stand another season in the lake.

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One Year this Weekend

This weekend, May 25th , Dusty Lens will have been online for one full year. A milestone for me as I never thought I would make it a full year. Early on, I all but gave up on this daily photo idea. But MK saved this blog and demanded I get back to this photo work. A big thank you to MK, aka Kakeroo. Grazie, Merci!

And thank you, the viewers of the North Metro blogspot, for your interest and viewing this humble photoblog.

I started out as simply a photo blog, a way to improve my photography skills and techniques. Then I met the wonderful world of City Daily Photo. After much time living in the north metro, I am finding that there is more to photograph than in my hometown. I will continue to upload photos from the north metro as I also add photos from other areas of my travels.

Which brings me to you, the viewers of this photo blog. I'd like to make this a more interactive site. What is it you would like to see here? Please post suggestions of what you would like to see on these pages. I will try to accomplish your task.

Rusty gears

Years of service, holding the dock up all winter long. Cable winch to raise the cantilever dock.

The Wood Pile

Back in September , I posted about my frightening experience with an enormous spider at the wood pile. This past weekend, I once again set out to tackle the task of splitting firewood.

Going back to the wood pile to grab another log to split, I grabbed something soft that started squeaking.I grabbed thing little fellow's wing.

Carefully, I set it back on the woodpile, then covered it with birch bark. The bat was quite lethargic as it was chilly outside; only 44 degrees F, 7 degrees C. I hope he survives. These little creatures devour more mosquitoes than we can swat.

Hmm, another springtime project, building bat houses.

HDR Views

Eiffel Tower over the River Seine
Queen's Theatre, Versailles.

Old White Pine

Gnarled and weathered, standing stately near the lake shore. Some time decades ago, lightning struck the white pine, breaking it a third of the way up. Now this tree has an unique appearance.

Avant Garden Espresso Bar

Order and pickup, sandwiches and coffee to go in Anoka.

Cold Morning

But Doree seems content on our deck railing.

Dining at Grandma's

Grandma's Saloon and Grill on Washington Ave. A great place for happy hour and burgers, the stuffed wild rice mushrooms are quite tastey too.

Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame at night. Construction started in 1163, finished in 1233 on the site of a Roman Temple.

Main alter of Notre Dame.

Minnesota, 150 Years of Statehood

Minnesota, located in the midwest; south of Ontario amd Manitoba Canada. This year we celebrate 150 years of statehood. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the 32nd state on May 11, 1858. The state is known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes"; those lakes and the other waters for which the state is named, together with state and national forests and parks, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.

Minnesota's state symbols:[119]
State bird: Common Loon
State butterfly: Monarch
State drink: Milk
State fish: Walleye
State flower: Pink and white lady slipper
State fruit: Honeycrisp apple
State gemstone: Lake Superior agate
State grain: Wild rice
State motto: L'Étoile du Nord ("The Star of the North")
State muffin: Blueberry
State mushroom: Morel
State photograph: Grace
State song: "Hail! Minnesota"
State tree: Red Pine also known as Norway Pine
Nicknames:
"Land of 10,000 Lakes"
"North Star State"
"Gopher State"
"Land of Sky-Blue Waters"
"Bread and Butter State"
"State of Hockey"

For more Wiki-information, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota

Black Coffee

Espresso, real coffee, (not tea) and elegant in a jet black mug and saucer. From Cafe' Le Bosquet, Paris.

Green Stump

A stump in the woods.

Pizza Time

Punch Pizza in Northeast Minneapolis.

Flat Venice

Flashback.

Venetion lagoon in downtown Minneapolis? But where is Flat Stanley?

Across the Pond

Garden view, a reflective peek.

Tour Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower.

The last 10 days were spent exploring the beautiful city of Paris, France. And yes, I am still suffering from jet lag.

City Daily Photo community has a number of resident bloggers depicting this beautiful city. My "2 for Tuesday" will simply be a tourist's perspective of Paris.

Please visit Paris, France through the eyes of Parisians:

http://www.parisdailyphoto.com/

http://bebelog-lulupo.blogspot.com/

http://parissetmefree.blogspot.com/

http://anidem.typepad.com/

Corner Coffee Shop

Daniela's in Forest Lake sereves coffee, espresso, imported treats and candy, but best of all gelato!

We Have Returned

Scenes from the north land

But from where?

New for the format; we will depart from the North Metro on Tuesdays and change up the submittals of our 2 for Tuesday theme to bring you this post on location project.
Stay tuned for Tuesday.

Goldy

Scenes from the north land

Common Goldeneye

Looney

Scenes from the north land

Minnesota's state bird, the Common Loon.

Cancan

Scenes from the north land

You got legs! Dance on little fellow, dance on.

Marilyn

Scenes from the north land

Winston's little playmate. Winston has fun chasing her into the rocks, under the shed, or in the firepit. Marilyn has fun antagonizing Winston, sneaking up behind him and running to hide. A mutual game of sneak and chase. Thy love the exercise game.

Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By

Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By:

Online troubles, PC maintenance, and extended photo shoot.

Projected date of project completion, Sunday May 4th.

I am currently working at an undisclosed location for a new and exciting project that I hope you will enjoy. (Well, it is exciting for us here at the Dusty Lens command center).

Until that time when the north metro blogspot is back online, please enjoy this better than "elevator muzak" selection of fine tunes and intermittent photos from the north land. At least I hope; this future scheduled posting feature is fairly new.

If all goes well, I hope to be back online Sunday May 4th, mark your calendars. (You never know about computers). I hope to see you then.

A Tale of Two 'Bous

"It was the best of coffee, it was the worst of coffee..."

On the left, Ethiopian roast cold press coffee from the Minnetonka Caribou coffee. On the right, Mahogany roast cold press coffee from the Champlin Caribou Coffee.

One is tea like, the other is coffee. Can you spot the difference?

In the Opus complexity in Minnetonka, we are fortunate, or unfortunate enough to have two Caribou Coffee shops across the street from each other. One, the Old "Bou, is Drive Thru-less. The new 'Bou across the street sports a snappy Drive Thru for those who wish to speak into an electronic box. They then exchange money with a pleasant Drive Thru attendant wearing a Burger King like communications head gear.

Today we enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and a nice walk to Caribou Coffee. A 2:30 ritual on pleasant days. We were quite disappointed in our last visit to the Old 'Bou. They brew only two types of a substance similar to coffee. One is decaf, the other is Perennial Blend.

As far as Decaf goes, whats the point? It is better if you go to the local food mart and pick up a jar of Sanka. You will save money and enjoy a better product.

Caribou's Perennial Blend is equivalent to taking the dish of potpourri from a gift shop, add 1/8 teaspoon of coffee grounds and steep with hot water. Not a good cup of coffee to say the most.

We opted for the New 'Bou. Our thinking was since the Old 'Bou serves nothing more than potpourri, the New 'Bou must serve dark roast. We were correct in the assumption that the New' Bou does not serve potpourri. They had something almost worse; an Ethiopian Blend.

This Ethiopian blend doesn't even make Caribou's color roast chart. It is pegged far to the left; flavorless, light amber in color, and worse of all, you can see through it. I'm thinking we're duped into tea.

Why would they not have dark roast at either of these two Caribou Coffee shops in Minnetonka? Are they catering to the Young Urban Professionals (Yuppies) who are only capable of ordering their daily vanilla caramel hazelnut turtle mocha lattes with water like coffee? Do they know or understand that coffee is robust, it is dark where you can not see through it? Are their taste buds incapable of enjoying anything stronger than water and two tea bags?

Next time we walk to one of the two 'Bous, I'm bringing my own coffee to enjoy. Real coffee, not the tea they serve.

A quick stop to Champlin's Caribou Coffee on the way home; they have it right with three brews. Dark Roast, Light Roast, and Decaf. As it should be' real coffee. Champlin knows how to threat their customers.

Lunchtime

At Jimmy Johns

St. Paul, Minnesota

A trip to St. Paul, Minnesota to see two major icons of our Capitol city.

Cathedral of Saint Paul is located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The capitol of Minnesota - St. Paul, Minnesota

New Barber Shop in Town

Floyd Lawson would be proud to be a part of this barber shop.

Champlin gets a new barber shop with a sports theme. Apparantly, they have TVs playing the latest games on ESPN. I should stop in, I need a cut; but I'll wait for a good game on the TV.
For more information about Dr. B's SportCut, please visit The Champlin Connection.

2 Things Challenge - Masculine / Feminine

One set of low heels, and a set of what we call Finnish high tops on the dance floor. One set belongs to me, the other set belongs to my wife, I'm sure you can figure out who belongs to what.

Retired

Time to rest.

Flashback to July 2007

Sunset Trolling

Thinking about warmer weather. This has been a long winter; my patience has been worn thin. One month from now will be our fishing season opener. I am anxious. Anxious to get my boat out from the long 6 months of storage. Anxious to troll the reefs of Big Bay. Anxious for the warmth of the evening sunset heading home.

Gazebo Light

Gazebo at Veterans Park in Champlin, MN. And yes this was photographed the very same evening as yesterday's post of the Bridge Revisited. I thought I would sneak in yet another bridge view through the gazebo.

Flashback - Bridge Revisited

Back on April 9th, I posted a similar image of this bridge. I went back to capture the image of the gazebo at Veteran's Park. This is what I saw, and decided I had to capture this bridge one more time. I apologize for the duplication.

New Fire House

City of Champlin's new Fire Station at sunset.



Fire trucks ready to roll.

Working Out

Life Time Fitness the place to work out.

2 Things Challenge - A / Z

Full throttle sleeping. zzzz.

Asleep, Angelic, ZZZ (snoring). A / Z

The shortest distance to travel is a straight line. But all willy nilly is more fun.

"Z" Zoom

This weeks 2 things challenge is "A" and "Z". A tough order to fill. Well, here is my attempt at A / Z. You be the judge.

"A" Where dogs are concerned, they just want to be a part of the pack. And there is the pecking order in the pack. Alpha Male, Alpha Female, the Beta Male and Female, etc, etc. That said, it is the dog, our little Winston, who actually owns the house. He runs the house as he sees fit. Dog toys, bones, chaos everywhere. The real and true Alpha Male... Winston.

And we have the letter "Z". Here we see the Alpha Male of our household catching some zzz. He is fast asleep and snoring. you can almost see the "Z's" above his head.
There we have it, "A" and "Z".

Also we discovered that a terrier has two speeds, "A"sleep and "Z"oom. There are no in-between speeds to this little terrier. Full tilt zoom, or full tilt sleeping.

Twilight Zone

Eerie night scene on the all too quiet Champlin pedestrian bridge over highway 169.

Please visit The Champlin Connection for more pedestrian bridge information.

Goosed Endeavor

This way or that? Who really knows the mind of a goose at the frozen pond.

Doree is back!

Bathing Beauty

Doree has returned to our backyard. At least we like to believe this is our Doree. This dove is not shy of us. All the other doves that visit our yard fly off whe we are in view. Here we see Doree preparing to bathe. Yes, I was outside with her and quickly took this photo before hurrying back inside to accomodate her bathing privacy.

Check this link for more summer photos of our dove friend, Doree. http://northmetro.blogspot.com/search/label/Dove%20Nest