Block e.

 

So I’m sitting at a Starbucks in “Block e” in Downtown Minneapolis. It isn’t really that much different than any other Starbucks other than it’s the only one I could find in the immediate area that was actually open on a Sunday morning. Block e is framed by Hennepin Avenue, 1st Avenue North and 6th and 7th Streets. Looking out the front of this Starbucks I see the Target Center across the street.

My flight home isn’t until early this evening, so I’ll be heading to Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport around 15:30 or so. I’m thinking the flight scheduling could be dicey with the severe weather that is passing between here and home this afternoon. Who knows, I might be staying another night.

I am reviewing the relatively low key events of my long weekend and have decided that this vacation has been most satisfactory. I was able to slow my head down enough to actually think about a few extraneous things that had been niggling at my well-being over the past several weeks. I was able to enjoy sights, sounds and smells and be in the moment. While I loved being alone the entire weekend, there were some moments of loneliness and it was at these times that I was thankful for technology. FaceTime (and Skype and all those services) is a beautiful thing.

My feet are killing me. My left Achilles tendon is sore. I have a huge blister on the bottom of my right foot. But none of these things are debilitating, rather they’re just reminders of my adventures this weekend. Well, they also remind me that I’m 45 years old. Contrary to popular belief, I find it easier to ride my bike 80 miles than walk 15 miles a day. Maybe I’m just better built for cycling. But I’ll get over it and bet the better for it, and that’s what’s important.

* The observant reader will notice in the photograph above that I no longer have a mustache. During one of my light-rail train adventures yesterday a crazy man asked me if I was a rapist. Concerned that my small mustache may have led to this extra dose of crazy from this crazy person, I decided to shave off my mustache to see if another crazy person asks me the same thing. This is a completely random set of occurrences that actually have nothing to do with one another, but there’s a bit of comedic value in there and I thought I’d embrace it.