Come and contemplate

Come and contemplate

A resting place in the park

Commune with nature

Rose garden

The rose garden at Bassett Creek Park was recently in full bloom.  What a wonderful memorial that Elliot Beltzer constructed in honor of his wife, who was a great lover of the park.

Blooming flowers

Flowers from our yard and the rose garden at Bassett Creek Park were looking so lovely yesterday  morning that I felt compelled to take their portraits.

Early blooming shrub roses

Birds perched by pond's edge

Shrub rose at the Beltzer Rose Flower Garden

With the warm weather the shrub roses at Bassett Creek Park have already begun blooming.  It feels much more like we're in the third week of June, rather than still being in the month of May.

To get a bigger view of a picture just click on the picture.

Rose hips and legacies

Rose hips are what is left behind after a rose has blossomed.  They are high in vitamin C and can be used for making herbal tea, jam and are even an essential component of Slovania's national soft drink.

This picture was taken at the Beltzer Rose garden located at Bassett Creek Park in Crystal.  Mr. Belzer donated and cares for the rose garden in memory of his wife, who enjoyed the park immensely.

What a beautiful legacy!

Global climate strange

Roses shining through misty morning

Misty morning roses

    I was dumbfounded to read a New York Times article "Whats to be done about 15 feet of snow in June?  Utah knows."  A hydrologist for the National Weather Service noted “The snowpack we have right now is 525 percent of normal.”  One ski resort, Snowbird, plans to stay open through July 4th, perhaps longer.  
    Earlier in the week my home town of Minneapolis, a northern city, recorded a high of 103 degrees Fahrenheit.  That was 8 degrees warmer than the previous record high for June 8th, and only one degree shy of the all time highest recorded temperature for Minneapolis. On that day Minneapolis was the warmest location in the United States.  I've heard the terms "Global Warming" and more accurately "Global Climate Change" bantered about, and even "Global Weirding."  This week has me thinking of another descriptor, "Global Climate Strange."
    Pictures are from 5:30 this morning. Cool temperature combined with warm water created a mist or fog over the water 

Flowers after the rain

Shrub roses in Beltzer Rose Garden

Chives

Common Salsify

Weigela by pergola

 Rain kissed flowers

Daisies

Snowy morning





Runin' in the rain

When's the best time to get something done? Generally I think NOW.

Just after I had my shoes laced up to go for a run this afternoon it started pouring rain. My first reaction was let me wait for another time. Then, I thought a moment and realized it could be pretty fun running in the rain.... bringing me back to my old college running days at Luther when nothing would stop us track and cross country boys from our training runs.

Turns out it was a blast running in the warmth of the day and the refreshing rain. I even saw about a 10-12 year old boy having fun riding through a big puddle in the street. Not to be outdone I found a puddle or two of my own to splash though. What fun.

Earlier this week I rented a log splitter during a couple of the hotter days of the summer. I could have waited, but I had the time and that pile of wood was bugging me. Got though it. And just I had imagined, lost some pounds in the process. No worse for he wear in the long run.

When is the opportune time to get something done? Why not now?! The barriers that often present themselves can often make things more interesting and almost always lead to a great sense of achievement when we've completed our project.

The rose below is from the Beltzer Rose Garden at Bassett Creek Park. Nice contrast to the picture above. And let me assure you, it smells better too ;-)