Hastings, This-and-that and Critters Post

First few photos are from my visit to Hastings, Minnesota on Tuesday and a winter storm warning issued for later that day.

Meet one of three official kitty-greeters from one of the antique shops in Hastings.

Sweetest kitty cat ever!

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

and to City Daily Photo

You must remember one of my roaming Gnomes 

that wanders city streets with me.

When I arrived in Hastings, I saw folks were fixated and snapping photos of two boats on the Mississippi River, one man was using binoculars. 

Some sort of mystery was afoot, or maybe it had to do with the navigation season ending on the upper Mississippi River on this day.

I'll never know.

Strolling along Hastings Riverwalk I snapped Otto, again.

Meet Otto the River Otter on Hastings Riverwalk.

Artist is Dale Lewis

The more 'otter it is, the more 'otter otters like it.'

Healthy otters tell us we have a healthy countryside.

Autumn bliss lingered about Hastings on November 25th no less that's fantastic, but I imagine it's all covered in snow now.

Below photos are from a shop closed on Monday and Tuesday but we can still window shop. Notice the full Santa suit they have for sale? It looks quite authentic. 

Life brings simple pleasures to us every day. 

Even those made of clay and wearing purple sweaters.

"We are made to persist... that's how we find out Who We Are."

Tobias Wolff

This and That

"If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, 

nothing is all you will have gained."

Neil Gaiman

Artemis and Athena in yet another game of tug-of-war! 

"My dog doesn't worry about the meaning of life."

Charlotte Joko Beck

Have you ever been to Sam's Christmas Village and Lights in Somerset, Wisconsin? If you haven't yet, you still can from now through January 1st, 2026.

"Every day of our lives we are on the verge of making those slight changes that would make all the difference."

Mignon Mclaughlin

Bonfires. Campfires. Chit chat about this and that. 

It's therapeutic.

Below from another antique shop in Hastings.

The power of companionship. 

Said one Firefighter Nutcracker 

to the other Firefighter Nutcracker.

Stand tall. Stand Proud. Stand knowing your unbeatable

 triumph is everlasting.

This photo above was taken in Minnesota but not Hastings.

"It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change."

Queen Elizabeth II

"There's nothing more I need than, the steady heartbeat of contentment. The comfort of enough. The beauty of an ordinary life."

Thanks for visiting me today and gifting me with your comments.

Take good care of you!

Happy Turkey

 This post is for City Daily Photo.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL

"Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it's all an experience."

Roy T. Bennett

"The greatest freedom

is to be free

of our own mind."

Osho

I am thankful for every single costumed character performing their gift of magic for us all.

and

and 

 

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

William Blake

Sometimes the little things in life mean the most.

Especially shared moments long remembered.

"It's not that the brilliance of a sunrise is dulled cold by thick clouds, or that it is left to fire a morning sky free of them. Regardless of how the day might begin, we can be thankful that the opportunities of any day always sit awaiting our arrival whether the hours of that day be spent in clouds or sun."

Craig D. Lounsbrough 

 

Mr. Turkey says, I'm thankful for this fence post to perch upon and being able to miss another Thanksgiving being served on anyone's table.

"The things I flew past in the race to get what I didn't have were actually the gifts all along."

Natasha Lunn

Surprise its . . . alive not a toy!

I am forever grateful for each and every animal that has entered a place within my heart forever more.

"Gratitude is the quiet spark that turns ordinary moments into a flame of peace and contentment."

Joseph Meyering Sr

If you don't believe me, ask any dog.

The Fort Gratiot Light Station

Port Huron, Michigan

I'm thankful for every single lighthouse in all of the world

and that I know I can visit anyone of them anytime.

"I believe I'll always walk through life like that little girl wandering about the library or museum surrounded by books or exhibits so I can spend a lifetime of studying and learning new things. I crave discovering someone or something that inspires me, teaches me or shows me another way to see things. To be able to dig deeper into things I already thought I knew fully and didn't. I'm grateful for all of it." 

Karen Sather

I am more than thankful, and I'll take it to the rooftops!

Aren't my daughter's kitty cats adorable?

"Sometimes we need to see the bad side, to appreciate the good side."

Anthony Liccione

Live a little or die a lot.

The choice is ours.

I am more than thankful for discovering the artwork of others.

I am forever thankful that my mind works in ways in which the imagination that flows through me springs to light on any given moment in time.

"Experience life in all possible ways,

good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light,

summer-winter. Experience all the dualities.

Don't be afraid of experience, because 

the more experience you have, the more mature you become."

Osho

May happiness always follow you in everything you do.

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest." 

William Blake

Thank you for sharing time with me and for your comments.

Take good care of you and those around you.

What Do You See and Critters

Welcome to 

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

and I'm posting to City Daily Photo

Do you feel words or just see letters?

Have you noticed how things on-line are carefully edited, overproduced, if not over-manipulated, photoshopped, AI texts (are they helpful?) and AI photos that often confuse us. 

Like the dashing young man (known as the Fedora man) photographed near the Louvre heist turns out wasn't an investigator but 15-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux who always dresses like that, and in fact it's a genuine photo taken by AP photographer, Thibault Camus.

 Quite possibly what you see with your own eyes might not be what you believe it to be. What you see, might not be the same thing that I see.

Adoration of the season.

My travels began in Stillwater yesterday and it was a gorgeous day!

Can you believe your eyes? 

This is the middle of November. Marvelous right?

It was a much-needed road trip to explore my familiar and favorite places in order to reset one's perky generator. 

Everyday miracles in your own little world. Catch them while you can.

Even if you feel like being a beast . . .

Be a good rebel. 

I can hear the ocean and feel pure hot white sand 

between my toes.

(Did you think this was snow?)

What lies behind you and what lies before you can change in mere footsteps. Start walking.

Treasure or not so treasurable it's your choice.

 

Some people call me Father Christmas. 

Others pass by and call me a freak of odds and ends.

Maybe I'm a soldier, look closely.

(Have I mentioned Stillwater has a lot of cool antique stores? This is inside one of them.)

Autumn offers a golden hue artists hope to recreate. 

Twinkle lights are such mood pleasers. 

What's love, goat to do with it?

Always be teachable.

Be led by the dreams in your heart.

"You become what you understand."

Kierkgaard

"Life is a journey why not make it luxurious too."

Say what? Go for a walk?

Seeing clearly is like opening a window to your soul.

The world is waiting for you.

There are so many doors to open. 

"Be an opener of doors." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Table for four and Artemis too! 

Thankfully our server was over the moon about Artemis!

It's the quirky little things that 

make life beautiful.

"Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience."

Emerson

My daughter and her daughter on safari, in 2015!

Life is an adventurous journey, enjoy it. 

You can be whoever you want to be.

"There are certain pivotal moments in life when clarity replaces its opposite in the blink of an eye."

Sol Luckman

Kisses please?!

Thank you for stopping in and gifting me with your comments.

Season yourself by enjoying your day 

and take good care of you and those around you.