Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Just Around the Corner and Critters

Welcome to places that are just around the corner.

"Sometimes discovery means getting lost on a path where you return to a meaningful version of yourself. It gives you the scent of a world smiling still. It becomes the fresh water of your life itself."

Jayita Bhattacharjee


Mackinac Island, Michigan


SATURDAY'S CRITTERS 

post and I'm also posting to City Daily Photo





 What can you learn from a statue?




"There are no boundaries only possibilities."

S M Rinpoche



"The future depends entirely on what each of us does every day."

Gloria Steinem





"What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say."

Ralph Waldo Emerson


 



 "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

Ralph Waldo Emerson




"Every accomplishment begins with a decision to try."

Edward T. Kelly




 



"Happiness adds and multiplies as we divide it with others."

A. Nielsen



Huntsville, Alabama




Athens, Alabama


"There are some things you learn best in clam and some in storm."

Willa Cather




Need I say where this is?





 

"The doors we open and close each day 
decide the lives we live."
Flora Whittemore

 



 

"Carry laughter with you wherever you go."

Hugh Sidey




"It is when you are really living in the present that you are living spiritually."

Brenda Ueland








Charleston, South Carolina 

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment

 before starting to improve the world."

Anne Frank

Thank you so much for stopping by and gifting me with comments.

Take good care of you.

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Hold on to Your Potatoes

And of course, welcome to City Daily Photo and 








Meet Artemis, my daughter's dog you've seen before however she's all dressed up with a tie? (really) for the occasion of "honor" as my running theme for today's post. 









"I don't want to understand life. 
I want to live it."

"Sometimes compassion is the greater part of honor."
Rachel Vincent




My Dash, he has the sweetest most devoted heart as all pups do, especially for his Mama. Me.





... and on those cold, cold evenings, always search for the hot chocolate!
It's a shiny moment in one's heart to honor yourself with chocolate!


"Remember to rejoice in the shiny little moments
 of our lives before we entirely lose our peace of mind."
Bhuwan and reshaped by me.





No Emme tell me you aren't sticking your sweet little togue out at me!



"We spend almost all of our time listening to the things people are saying that we rarely pay attention to our conversation with ourselves. It's not always what we hear but it's our inner conversation with ourselves that shapes our life."

Bhuwan Thapaliya




Hello sweet Rusty my son Dan's pup!


"We have to be part of the silence in order to cherish and understand the silence completely."

Bhuwan Thapaliya




Hello sweet pup that I don't know but absolutely I want to pet you!




"If you stay humble and keep your humility embedded in your behavior then no circumstances can erode your core. You will keep on shining evermore."

Bhuwan Thapaliya





"Life is moving much too fast. I think I can't catch up with it. A little bird flew out of nowhere and sat calmly on my shoulder. No worries, I'm not afraid of being left out now. I'll never chase life. Instead, I'll try to see, understand and enjoy life as much as I can. Little bird, you opened my eyes."

Bhuwan Thapaliya




Doesn't this expression say,
 "No, I didn't do it" or "Can I have a hug?"



Afterall ....
"Simple, genuine goodness is the best capital to found the business of this life upon. It lasts when fame and money fail and is the only riches we can take out of this world with us."
Louisa May Alcott

Thank you so much for honoring me with your presence here and your comments.
Take good care of you.


For those that may still be wondering where "Hold on to your potatoes" came from see here.

Saturday, May 3, 2025

Very Small


Our May theme for City Daily Photo is

Very small.



Seems there was a Lion roaming the streets

 of Jordon, Minnesota today!


"The Lion never fears to walk alone."

Lailah Gifty Akita





Can you spot the lion?





"A lion doesn't concern itself with the opinion of sheep."

George R.R. Marten



"If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves."

Emily Dickinson


Thank you for stopping in and you can check out more May 2025 theme of "very small" photos for City Daily Photo featuring bloggers from all over the world.

City daily Photo

Saturday, April 19, 2025

On the Streets with Critters

 Good morning!  This is my life along streets of places at home and afar. Enjoy.




SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

and I'm posting to City Daily Photo




Artemins October 2024 are you ready to go outside?


Own Your Life

"You only live once, but if you do it right, 

once is enough."

Mae West





Look right into the faces of those you meet.


"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending."
C.S. Lewis




Farmington, Minnesota

LIFE is a marvelous, transitory adventure. 
Nikki Giovanni






"Very little is needed to make a happy life."

Marcus Aurelius




I was lucky to stop and pet this cutie and even snap of photo!


"Don't be afraid to be amazing."

Andy Offutt Irwin



Mackinac Island, Michigan







My sweet Dash out for a stroll.




"Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will."

Suzy Kassem




My no name kitty so that's what we call her, Kitty she comes and goes

 and where her true home is we have no idea. She's a roamer.




Charleston, South Carolina

"Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Focus on your character, not your reputation. Focus on your blessings, not your misfortunes."

Roy T. Bennett






"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes."
Andrew Carnegie






"Renew your passions daily."
Terri Guillemets






"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt



"You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals."

Paul McCartney





Let me repeat that.

"You can judge a man's true character by the way 
he treats his fellow animals."



His safe place. 


"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man."

Mark Twain



Thank you for stopping by and gifting me with your comments. I wish you all a blessed Easter in all of your beliefs and celebrations. 

and take good care of you and your loved ones.




Remember this one true thing. 

"Always be on the lookout for the presence of WONDER."

E.B. White

Monday, March 24, 2025

Speaking of Critters


Welcome all to my post for 




Welcome to Lark Toys  in Kellogg, Minnesota
which is about 35 miles from Red Wing, Minnesota. There is so much to see and do along U.S. Hwy 61 and I've included photos from a few other cities along the way.




Mini-Golf fun for ALL ages.

"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation." Richard Lingard and sometimes attributed to Plato.














Want to see this same mini-golf course from the early days?
 Look below.





This was from one of the earlier years when we visited Lark Toys.  
Like I said mini golf is for all ages!


You can step outside the store into a walkway area so you can meet their Llamas, Irving, George, Meg and Calvin. If you're lucky you'll be inside when they occasionally walk the Llamas through the building.






This is Irving








The Carousel is magnificently carved, it's hand carved Minnesota Basswood. Each animal is a rideable work of art. For all ages!


















 





"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. 
Love of books is the best of all."
Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis





"Once you can express yourself, you can tell the world what you want from it. All the changes in the world, for good or evil, were first brought about by words."
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis






The bookstore is incredibly stocked.





Just a few fun carved creatures among many other things.
They have workshops where their artists create, and you can peek through the viewing windows.


Endless fun play areas fun for all ages!
It's fun watching and listening to them as they use their imaginations and play pretend. 







"Play is our brain's favorite way of learning."
 Diane Ackerman quotes




The Famous Train Table





They all really went wild (were never ready to leave) when they were younger playing here, but to see them at this age still find enjoyment that was totally enjoyable for me. No checking phones either, just playful time.





They have a cafe and candy galore,
 and the most delicious of ice cream treats.









"Stepping out of a normal routine, finding novelty, being open to serendipity, enjoying the unexpected, embracing a little risk, and finding pleasure in the heightened vividness of life. These are all qualities of a state of play." 
Stuart M. Brown


Their costumes are endless, not just for Halloween, but for playful fun in so many roles, and you can use them with the puppet show box that is really something to see in action.




Open your imaginations let them run free
and invigorate your soul.




















Just one of their endless supplies of wooden toys.




Isn't this sky just incredible? This is one of the high lookout areas in Red Wing. Just gorgeous views no matter what the weather is like.




Wabasha, Minnesota along the bank of the Mississippi River.
Wapahasha II (The leaf) Wabasha


"Play is the stick that stirs the drink. It is the basis of all art, games, books, sports, movies, fashion, fun and wonder - in short, the basis of what we think of as civilization. Play is the vital essence of life. It is what makes life lively."
Stuart M. Brown





Red Wing. Minnesota lookout

"The truth is that play seems to be one of the most advanced methods nature has invented to allow a complex brain to create itself."
 Stuart M. Brown










"Engage fully with the world. I don't think it is too much to say that play can save your life."







Connected. 
We all have an impact on each other. We all are connected in so many seen and unseen ways. Which possibly explains why one of the simplest and quickest routes to happiness seems to be to make someone else happy. The reason to be selfish is selfish. Nothing makes us feel better than not thinking of our selves.

Matt Haig 






Remember, "When we stop playing, we start dying."
Stuart M. Brown


Thank you for stopping by and gifting me with your comments.
Take good care of you and go out and play!