I always get excited when I reach Belview, Minnesota because for me it is the gateway to the gorgeous Minnesota River Valley.  I travel through this little community when I drive to Granite Falls from my parent's farm in southwestern Minnesota.

This last weekend I decided to stop and poke around a little bit.  Belview is an interesting combination of history, culture and creativity. 

Main Street has a number of preserved historic buildings, (Odeon Hall, The Gimmestad Land Office and the Belview Depot) an impressive antique shop, a grain elevator and the usual businesses that keep the needs of rural families met.

I had a stroke of good luck and ran into an important member of the community's administrative team who told me about the  hot air balloon display they hosted recently.  Now that would be one jukin' sight! 

I especially enjoyed the depot on the edge of town.  It's the last historic building you see heading north to the Minnesota River Valley.  A few minutes out of town the road starts twisting and turning and there's no question you're entering the valley.  My dad used to take us to the river valley on Sunday afternoons for picnics, and would always point out a tree on the side of the road with a boulder lodged in its branches.  Evidently, dynamite had been used in the area, and that's where the boulder landed.  I can't drive past there without thinking about it.  Thanks for the memory dad!

I took myself out to my parent's farm in southwestern Minnesota this last weekend and it was lovely.  I swear, the ditches smelled like rosemary.  It took me right back to my country roots.  There's no call for being high-falutin' when you're on the farm.

 I can't think of anything as spiritual as being smack-dab in the midst of such bounty.  The soybeans all seemed to have been harvested, but it looks like we're still in the middle of corn-picking season.  Back when I was a kid, I complained about pretty much every job I was given - except for one big task that I remember with fondness.

It was the year the little old corn picker my dad was using dropped a lot of ears on the ground all over the field, and my dad sent a half-dozen or so of us kids out for a couple of days to pick them up.  The days were absolutely golden with the kind of blue in the sky artists only wish they could paint.  We walked behind the old manure-spreader (without the manure) picking up the ears and tossing them in. 

We used a manure spreader because the sides are very low and it has a mechanism that shoves whatever it's hauling out the back when it's engaged with the tractor and it's time to unload.  I remember this old guy in the nursing home who used to joke, "We stand behind everything we sell, except our manure spreaders."  Get it?

My mom would bring our lunch out to us in the field, and we'd sit out there and eat summer-sausage sandwiches on homemade bread that had been spread with real butter.  We ate apples and brownies, and had nectar to drink.  The town kids called it Kool-aid.  I didn't know a lot, but I think that was the year I first started to realize what a privilege it could be to be work so close to the land.  I think I get why farmers do what they do. 

From the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Website:

The question that will be on the 2008 General Election ballot will state:

"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to dedicate funding to protect our drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore our wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve our arts and cultural heritage; to support our parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore our lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater by increasing the sales and use tax rate beginning July 1, 2009, by three-eighths of one percent on taxable sales until the year 2034?"

Do it for the kids.

And the wildlife.

Do it for yourself.

And for the rest of us!

When I was a child, I occasionally stayed overnight at my grandma Emma's house.  It was one of those 1950's cape cods with oak floors and blonde woodwork.  It had a distinct smell of wool carpet and gas stove.  The window screens were those wonderful "shade" screens that looked a little bit like corduroy.  They must have been pressed out of a sheet of very thin metal, and each thin thread of metal was angled slightly like an awning.  You had to look very close to see the threads, but they worked beautifully, and I've often wondered why we don't see them around any more.

Anyway, to get to the point of my story, my grandma Emma would fire up her little gas stove and fry pancakes in the morning. But these weren't just any pancakes.  Grandma's pancakes were made with lots of eggs and didn't fluff up like an ordinary pancake.  They were fried in grease and were crispy on the edges and I had never tasted anything like it - until I ate at the Original Pancake House in Edina, Minnesota and ordered up the 49er.  Talk about a slice of heaven!

I had a craving for my grandma's pancakes and talked Melanie into visiting the OPH where you always have to wait for a table on the weekends.  Judging by the crowd in the waiting area and out on the sidewalk, the wait is clearly worth it.  When Melanie and I were seated I knew right away what I wanted to order.  I ordered the cherry crepes which is a juked up version of my grandma's eggy pancakes. (Oh snap!  I found a way to use the word juked! Check it out.) 

Melanie ordered the strawberry crepes with an extra lop of whipped cream.  She even requested sourcream.  That girl knows how to eat a crepe!  The Original Pancake House offers more than great breakfast.  The setting is like an old fashioned dining room with lots of woodwork and warm colors.  The place settings are old-fashioned and the coffee cups have the proper heft to them.  Not to mention that the coffee is made with a big dose of love in it.  Oh man.  I'm getting a hankering to head back to OPH real soon.  Pancakes anybody?

Melanie and I had a night out at Sweeney's Saloon in Saint Paul, Minnesota last Thursday.  We were invited to attend a Bloginar hosted by WCCO-TV.  It was a chance to rub shoulders with fellow Minnesota bloggers. We left Crabby Dave at home, which probably made him a little happier.  That guy.

Guest speakers were Esme Murphy, blogger and reporter for WCCO-TV, and a gentleman named Chuck Olsen who has created a website called TheUpTake.org, a non-profit group known for training citizen journalists and helping to distribute their work. We also received tips on beefing up our marketing skills from David Erickson, Director of e-Strategy at Tunheim Partners, located in Minneapolis.

Sweeney's Saloon is a great place with lots of character. Based on the volume of the guests in the next room, it's also a great place to let your hair down.  Oh, and guess what? I won four tickets to an upcoming Minnesota Wild game.  Winning isn't really my thing, but I think I could get used to it!

Jojo and I spent the day together and here's what we did . . .

We started the day by taking pictures in the rose garden along the Lake Harriet Parkway in Minneapolis . . .

then took a little drive and watched the guys tidying up at the Lakewood Cemetery . . .

We watched Box Elder bugs . . .

and climbed tons of stairs in Minnehaha Park . . .

stopping to enjoy the view with our binoculars . . .

We ate lunch at the Sea Salt Eatery in Minnehaha Park . . .

where Jojo ate a huge crawfish sandwich (with my help) . . .

We figured we'd better wear off our lunch by moseying through the park and past the historic John H. Stevens House . . .

We needed a rest and stopped a moment at the train depot . . .

and followed a deserted railroad track back to our car.  Big day!

See more photos here!

Melanie suggested we take a drive through the country yesterday to look at the colors, so I hopped in my car and headed over to her house.  Oh my!  In spite of the day looking relatively gloomy in the absence of sunshine, the colors on either side of the highway were almost overwhelming.  It won't last long. 

I think a lot of the leaves are hanging on by a thread, and one big puff of wind will pretty much take them out in a whirlwind of color.  You know how unreliable leaves are in the fall.

Melanie and I drove to Hastings, Minnesota, a community I had heard a lot about, but had never seen.  Hastings is pretty close to the Twin Cities and it didn't take us long to get there.  I wish we hadn't been on a such a tight schedule because there was so much to see, with a record number of historic buildings carefully preserved.

Our first course of business was to locate a good hearty breakfast which we found at Karl's Red Rock Cafe.  This version of eggs Benedict featured country sausage and cream cheese.  I was fully prepared to request one of those styrofoam boxes to carry half of it home in, when, what to my surprise, my plate was suddenly empty.  It must have happened while we were admiring the photos of Paul Newman in a recent People Magazine.

Knowing we short-changed ourselves on this trip, Melanie and I have decided to skip work one of these days and really immerse ourselves in the community.  I can't wait!  I think I saw a chocolate shop.

The day of Angie's birthday, it turned out one of her wishes was to visit Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  I like parks as well as the next person, but Minnehaha was so much more than that.  We drove the lovely Minnehaha Parkway from our neighborhood to the park, getting a little thrill that only a change of season can give you.

An aquaintance had recently told me about the John H. Stevens house which was the first authorized house on the west bank of the Mississippi River.  It served as a gathering place for the founders of Minneapolis and Hennepin County.

Angie and I were both quite taken by the setting the John H. Stevens house is now resting in.  We were completely charmed by the large shade trees, the funny little outhouse, and the old fashioned garden.

The John H. Stevens is easy to miss when visiting the park, because it is several blocks from Minnehaha Falls. 

Although we drove, visitors can stroll to the site on paved pathways.  I'm sure we missed a lot of the park's highlights by driving, but it gives us a good reason to visit again and bring others with us.

For those who love architecture and history, there are other  beautifully preserved buildings in Minnehaha Park, and maps are posted on the park grounds.  Although the John H. Stevens house wasn't open for touring, Angie and I found our walk-by very satisfying.

Melanie finally got a pygmy goat for her back yard.  Crabby Dave had to put the ky-bosh on getting a real one.  It's a precious work of art, handcrafted from metal, looking perfectly happy there.  As luck would have it Tangletown Gardens, on Nicollet Avenue in South Minneapolis, had a sale and Melanie picked out the cutest goat they had.

Melanie has an amazing back yard creeping down into a wooded ravine.  It's decorated with unusual items.  For instance, look at the photo below.  What is that thing?

We think it was formed in a body of water somewhere, but we don't really know.  Dave and I figured out how to display it.  It was Melanie's idea to put flotsam and jetsam on it.  You should see how sneaky and underhanded Melanie is, wrangling me into helping with her garden and yard.  She'll call me up to come visit and say "we'll go do something fun!" Then, when I get to her house, she's up to her elbows in dirt.

The minute I get out of the car and see her, I yell, "I didn't come here to work.  I don't want to get all sweaty." She always smiles good-naturedly and says that's alright.  "You can just sit and watch while I finish up here."  Well, she knows I was raised right.  I know it's wrong to just sit and watch someone else working.  When there's a job to do, everyone pitches in. So I end up with dirt up to my elbows and I get all sweaty anyway.  Turns out, that is a lot of fun.

Let's face it.  What Melanie wants, Melanie gets.  Just ask Crabby Dave.