Both of Us .org

The summer passes very quickly. I neglected to post here for a variety of reasons, mainly because there are so many other things to do. Our summer has been very active, and I can't help but notice that it is rapidly coming to an end. I try not to dwell too much on the end of this season in Minnesota, but many signs point to the end of summer nonetheless.

In its second full year, our garden is again a great success. Over the last many weeks we have harvested bountiful crops of green beans, cherry tomatoes, basil, peppers, sweet peas, greens (including arugala, lettuce and mustard), and herbs (including basil, French tarragon, sage, rosemary and fennel). Still to come are eggplant, celery and big tomatoes.

The garden is nearly out of control. Despite the lack of rain this season, we water well and have a forest of tomato plants. Two days ago, JayBee harvesting tomatoes and found himself in a little fort made of tomato vines.

Yesterday was another beautiful Saturday. We enjoyed a party in Newell Park in St Paul, where our good friends Don and Sarah had their wedding/moving/new job party. Many of Sarah and Don's family and friends were in attendance. We enjoyed potluck food... very tasty including bars for desert too! As JayBee mentioned in a previous post, we really enjoyed having Don and Sarah living with us and are happy that they now live close to us in the Twin Cities.

Another party is in sight. JayBee's brother Tom and Tom's fiance, Jennifer, are marrying next weekend.

Again we have been very happy to have Tom, Jennifer and their cat J.P. living with us. It is enjoyable to have people in the house, it facilitates good conversation and usually more game playing. In the last month we have played Catan at least a dozen times.

I am starting my third year at the company I am working at. There have been many changes there and honestly, I am somewhat apprehensive about my future there. In April, Tim, a research scientist that worked at my bench and with whom I became good friends with, died unexpectedly. We had enjoyed conversations, grumblings about work and happy hours together several times. His passing left a void in the area for many people. Time has healed his loss somewhat, however I still often wish Tim was around to talk with.

Another void was created this past week, as my research assistant Kelsey resigned to take up graduate school at the U of MN. Kelsey worked as my research assistant for the last year and we became good partners in science and became friends too. Thankfully Kelsey lives only a few blocks away in fabulous NE Minneapolis and I look forward to keeping in contact as we both continue our lives. The last year working together was very enjoyable and productive.

I have a new assistant these days, working on training him in on the important areas of our work. I keep my fingers crossed that he also turns out to be a good scientist.

What other thoughts occupy my head? Well, I was impressed by opening ceremonies of the Olympic games in Beijing. The size and grandiosity was overwhelming on HDTV. I can't imagine being there in person. I work with many Chinese scientists, and I look forward to talking with them about their impressions of their homeland's hosting role in the games.

I probably will not spend too much time watching the games themselves... why? Mainly because NBC sucks. I am totally uninterested in the silly human interest stories and would rather watch the athletes perform. We were in Holland during the last Olympic games and were spoiled by European television. In Europe you get to see an event...in its entirety. In America you see snippets and clips of mostly Americans and those damn human interest stories. I understand he/she overcame illness/tragedy to win gold/silver/bronze, but I simply do not care. Show me the performance; I'll pass on the drama.

I hope to soak up another few months of summer weather here in Minneapolis before dealing with that next season. Not sure how that will effect the frequency of my writing, but I have been prompted by JayBee to write more here. I will pen more of my thoughts and observations.

Labels: friends, garden, Northeast Minneapolis, Olympics, Summer

JSP and I have enjoyed the past few weeks. Work has been going well for both of us and we spent our last two weekends out of town. Last weekend we went to the beautiful town of Bayfield, Wisconsin, and went sailing with our friends Rod and Georgianne on Lake Superior. Sailing in and out of the apostle islands in a luxurious sailing vessel was fantastic. JSP and I are now big fans of sailboats.

This weekend we went to a beautiful piece of land outside of Finlayson, Minnesota. Although the insects were not so friendly, everyone else was. We enjoyed nature walks, a bonfire, games of boccie ball and Catan, yummy food and and good times with Cosmic Monkey, Emma, and a whole gang of fun, friendly people. I especially enjoyed seeing the Digging In garden that Cosmic Monkey and Emma started been writing about. A special thanks to Hilty clan for their hospitality.

Elsewhere, from their South Minneapolis home, my friends Patrick and Morgon Mae have begun documenting their participation in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) on their blog CSAte. The photos they share illustrate the bounty of tasty food they write about. CSA's are a great way of supporting local farmers while receiving copious amounts of fantastic food.

On a completely unrelated note, my sister published a book review on a Web site called Donne Tempo. Her review, Love the One You're With by Emily Giffin. is compelling and well written. If you are looking for a new book to read, check out Julie's review.

Labels: friends, garden, Minnesota

On Friday evening I saw an old friend that I grew up with that I have not laid eyes on for perhaps 15 years. Perry, a neighbor from my childhood had heard about my cancer through his grapevine and had tracked me down. He came over with a bundle of organic produce and we talked about the paths our respective lives, and the lives of our family members and common friends had taken in the last fifteen or so years.

A few of hours after Perry went home, another friend, Keenan, stopped in to crash at our home, having just made the journey from Madison, Wisconsin. He was being a good son for the weekend and would help his father repair some broken fencing the following day.

Saturday morning JSP planted at least 50 seedling plants in our back garden. I was amazed to walk out in the back garden to see the black soil that seemed almost lifeless the day before transformed into a garden full of green plants. The garden is infused with new vegetable life.

Artists in Northeast Minneapolis have a yearly open door weekend called Art-A-Whirl each spring, and this weekend was Art-A-Whirl. On Saturday JSP, Pat Morgon Mae, Marcos, Jaime, Connie and and I toured the Northrup King Building which houses about 150 artists in four floors of studio spaces. It was a fun afternoon.

We started, without Jaime and Connie, at our home and then went to lunch at The Vegetarian, an unassuming Indian restaurant with a fantastic buffet in Columbia Heights. The food was delicious and it was hard to choose when to stop eating. Palak paneer was on the buffet and I indulged in the flavors that I crave. I was thrilled to see a completely vegetarian buffet where I can choose from anything on the buffet instead of only one or two vegetarian options.

Eventually we connected with both Connie and Jaime and meandered through Art-A-Whirl's largest venue. I picked up a number a cards from artists and got an idea about what artists I might be interested in buying from in the future.

After trekking around the artist studios for several hours we re "arted out." We went to the Holy Land for dinner. I got a plate of tabouli and a plate of humus that went wonderfully with pita bread. My companions chose a variety of food and everyone seemed very satisfied with their choices.

That night I played a thoughtful game of Go with my friend Keenan. One big error on his part late in the game allowed me to take one of his groups and win the game. I love playing with Keenan because he plays Go frequently and improves between each game that I play with him.

On Sunday morning Keenan, Pat and I had breakfast at the Seward Cafe which is always nutritious, organic and delicious. Sometimes I marvel at the number of choices that I have in the Minneapolis restaurant scene in terms of being able to get organic vegetarian food in so many places. I do not take this gift for granted and it reminds me why, despite the cold, that I love Minneapolis. I decided on organic huevos rancheros and organic freshly made yogurt. I was not disappointed as both were magically delicious. My companions again were very pleased with their food choices, and the thing that stands out in my mind is the cold pressed coffee, steamed to perfection, that they enjoyed during our breakfast.

After breakfast and saying goodbye to my friends, JSP and I began our journey to Grantsburg, Wisconsin where our friend Vanessa was graduating from high school. Georgianne, Vanessa's mother, had invited us to come with her to the graduation ceremony and to enjoy the graduation party that followed at their home. After the ceremony, we were treated to beautiful weather delicious filled cupcakes and delicately layered cakes that tempted me to eat them despite the fact that they are not allowed contained lots of refined white sugar and refined white flour. Georgianne and Vanessa showed that they could be fantastic hostesses as it seemed the whole village of Grantsburg filtered through their home over the course of the afternoon.

During our drive back to Minneapolis, we noticed that the silver moon was almost full. The moon is completely full tonight.

Needless to say, JSP and I slept deeply last night.

Labels: art-a-whirl, arts, entertainment, food, friends, friendship, garden, Northeast Minneapolis

Greetings this Saturday morning,
At 9:oo AM in Minneapolis, the sun is shining but it is only 22 degrees outside. The snow melted to a large extent this week. We had 40 degree weather and bit of rain. It will be many weeks until the grass starts to green and flowers start to pop out of the ground.

Thankfully I do not have to wait that long. The tulips and crocus that I planted indoors just over a month ago have begun to bloom. Crocus are fast burners. There have been two white flowers and one purple flower, but sadly they open and within about two days they dry up and wither away. I hope to see a few more blooms before they are completely finished.

Tulips have more stamina. The blooms take a bit longer to develop and after a half a week being open, are still beautiful. Two purple and many red tulips bloom today.

Last week I had lasik eye corrective procedure done on my left eye. At this moment it has been four days since the procedure. I have to say that for the 5-10 minutes that it takes to do one eye, it was uncomfortable. Not miserable pain, but certainly uncomfortable. They take the eye and apply some suction to lift the contour of the eye. This feels...icky! Then a bit more manipulation and the eye flap is created. This is basically lifting up the lens to allow for the laser to do its thing. Then they turn on the laser, with its click click click noise. I could smell the burning of tissue. They put back down the flap and with some tiny brush like tool make sure it is in place on my eye. Then we were done; it was less than ten minutes.

I am required to put drops in my eye to help it heal for two weeks and also lubricating drops every hour. I see perfectly out of my left eye now and I will not have to wear glasses, which is pretty cool.

This morning, many of you are hearing the news that JayBee will be going into the hospital on Monday morning to start Interleukin-2 (IL-2) treatment. Cannot sugar coat this one, by all accounts it is going to be rough. Dr. A. suggests that JayBee's immune system is already working, as evident by the biopsy of lymph nodes that were recently removed (they were full of lymphocytes and necrotic melanoma cells). As hard as his immune system is working, it is unable to keep up with some of the cancer, thus the IL-2 is going to give his lymphocytes a super boost to enable them to work overtime.

JayBee links to IL-2 in the previous post. I also am familiar with this cytokine, since I work for a company that actually makes IL-2. The company I work for is in the business of making cytokines, which are growth factors in the body that tell cells what to do and when to do it. Our version of IL-2 is research grade and not meant for treating humans. I personally have not been involved with the purification of IL-2 at work. It is heartening to know that I am working with a company makes products that might be helping scientists develop treatments for the cancer my beloved parter is currently fighting.

Labels: cold weather, garden, Melanoma

The eclipse will begin at 7:43pm (Central Standard Time) and last until 11:10pm. Totality will last from 9:01-9:52pm. Make sure that you dress appropriately and get outside to view this wonderful event.

The last lunar eclipse that JSP and I witnessed was from the streets of Philadelphia outside of our favorite dive, Frank's Bar. That event seems like yesterday, but it also seems like a lifetime ago.

Labels: cold weather, garden, winter

Tonight my friend Cosmic Monkey came over to play. We considered doing art projects together, but first we'd have to locate my oil paints. After searching the first floor, second floor, basement and garage, we gave up looking for the illusive oil colors and settled for playing some old school games on an antiquated Nintendo 64 that I was given by a friend many months ago. These games held our attention for perhaps an hour, then we moved on to the evening's main attraction, bottling beer.

I have had fifteen gallons of beer sitting in my home that I have been putting off bottling since I stopped drinking beer due to my new chronic health condition. It seemed unfair somehow that I would not allow myself to taste any of this fantastic beer hand crafted with loving detail. Since I learned beer brewing through Cosmic Monkey, it seemed poetic that he was here to help me bottle the beer I would never drink.

On this cold night in Northeast Minneapolis while bottling beer, we spoke candidly about fear, death, and loss. I brought up the Buddhist idea of impermanence which gives me comfort. He spoke of childhood in a Christian tradition, and remembered the exact moment in his childhood when he realized that his parents would eventually die. Winter does this I think, it reminds us of our mortality as we take refuge from the cold outside, nestled in our homes, brewing beer. Outside the garden is covered deep in snow, but I know that it will be green and luscious as we tend it in the spring.

Ten gallons of hand crafted bottled beer are now neatly stacked in the basement, minus a share given to Cosmic Monkey. Five gallons of my Sweet Stout and five gallons of my Phat Tyre Amber Ale will sleep soundly for the next two weeks, coming of age in their bottles. Five gallons of my Belgian Triple Ale still stare at me from a carboy wondering when it too will have the privilege of finding its way into beautiful green flip top bottles. This Belgian beer will be extra strong, strong enough perhaps to "put hair on your chest" as my father might say.

Who will drink my beer?

Labels: beer, cold weather, friendship, garden, Northeast Minneapolis

This week in Minneapolis has been one of change. The weather is turning away from summer towards fall and eventually winter. Only last week it was 90 degrees and this morning there was frost on the ground. I still marvel at the flux of the weather in the upper midwest, even after living here most of my life.

The frost warning came last night on the weather channel and I was not prepared to give up on the garden we have tended so well this season. In attempt to protect the plants I covered them with sheets and plastic last night. This morning I went out to see the garden and everything appears to be unharmed. I believe it was a very light frost, as the neighbor's garden was left uncovered and was not apparently harmed.

The weather and temperatures are already in rebound so there might easily be another few weeks of growing and harvesting. The forecast for next week shows some temperatures in the 80s even, so maybe summer has not breathed its last breath. Change is in the air certainly, and I am thankful to have enjoyed a very pleasant summer here in Minneapolis.

Labels: garden

The month of August has rapidly passed. The Minnesota State Fair has begun, which is an unofficial sign of the end of summer. Last night JayBee and myself went to the fair with Lynda, one of his seven sisters . We had a pleasant time, watching people from the city, the suburbs and rural Minnesota all interact. The food is often considered a big draw to the fair, and we enjoyed some cheese curds, ice cream and fried veggies. We also went through some exhibits including the fine art and agriculture displays.


The displays of produce and garden items fascinated me. This is mainly because we have recently become gardeners ourselves. Below are some of the vegetables that we picked from our garden, including many tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and cucumbers. We have also harvested a variety of herbs including oregano, basil, marjoram, lemon balm, chocolate mint and peppermint. I am drying some of our herbs so that we can use them in the winter on food or in tea.




We expect several more weeks of productive gardening. I have been considering next years garden: what to plant and how to arrange it.

The pictures of the garden taken yesterday tell an imperfect story. The tomatoes were planted a bit too close to each other, and we put in too many tomato plants for our needs. The eggplants, cucumbers and herbs did very well. I hope to put in more spring crops next year, such as leaf lettuce, spinach and arugula. Next spring will arrive soon, but I must admit that I am not looking forward to going through the winter.

Labels: garden

Yard work demands that we be outside to tend to our gardens. Our cat also demands attention. Put the two together and we have a cat who comes outdoors to share our green space while we are working in it.

Tegan is a wonderful cat, but she always used to be deathly afraid of the outdoors. She would howl and scream anytime I tried to take her outside. In the Netherlands we had a lovely balcony porch that we often would use to enjoy the nice weather, however Tegan would rarely venture there.

Strangely, in our new home in Northeast Minneapolis, Tegan's fears of the outdoors seem gone. Now when we open our back door, she has run outside and is in the grass enjoying munching on a tasty blade. It is sometimes difficult to persuade her to return indoors; she gets a look in her eye communicating that she is going to be chased playfully but will not obey the order to come inside.

Even the rain this afternoon and the wet grass in the garden did not keep Tegan indoors. As you can see from the photos, our kitty was very happy to be outside again today.

Labels: cat, garden

Sunday night and we have done another full weekends worth of work on getting the backyard garden up and running. I can happily say that our work is really starting to show through. Tomatoes, peppers and basil started from seed in late March have made their way into the rich ground of our new garden.

Yesterday we arranged for a truck to deliver 5 cubic yards of compost to our house. The big truck came about 2 PM and unceremoniously plopped the whole lot in our garage driveway. By the way, if you were wondering, 5 cubic yards of compost is quite a lot. The compost did not contain any animal product (i.e. cow poop) and was mostly leaf and plant debris. I thought it smelled very similar to tobacco.

We worked for about 3 hours moving the pile of compost into the garden, and then into the gardens around the rest of our house. The amount was nearly perfect for us, and by the time it started raining heavily yesterday afternoon, we 0nly had a small pile remaining. JayBee and I both commented that it would have only required another 10 minutes of work to remove the last bits of compost from the driveway, but instead the pouring rain came down.

Today we smoothed out the compost and dirt in the garden bed and plotted out where we would be planting what we had growing from seed. JayBee drew up a map and we went ahead and started digging holes and putting in the plants. We got them all in before more rain arrived this afternoon. There is about 1/3 of the garden left for planting seeds and other plants.

Labels: garden

The weather has been amazing and has inspired me to put forth some effort in getting our gardens cleaned up. Hopefully our plants will be producing flowers, fruit and vegetables in the coming months.

Last weekend I spent a significant amount of energy cleaning out the fall mulch debris in our established gardens. This weekend I spent some time making a new garden bed.

The new garden is a small plot. I planted some strawberries and rhubarb obtained from JayBee's sister Patty. I also transplanted some wild violets in this garden that were growing in the backyard. You see some photographs of the results so far.

There is a bigger spot of land which we hope will turn into a raised garden for all sorts of tasty vegetables. We are still at an early stage with this. Skimming off the top soil and mostly rocks as this space was used as a parking spot by the previous owners. We hope to get the gardens in tip top shape soon.

The Canadian Berry Tree in our backyard is beginning to bloom and smells very aromatic. The apple tree and lilac bushes are also blooming. The scents of springtime are tantalizing.
The flat of tomatoes, peppers and basil are growing nicely. They should be ready to put out in the new garden about one month from now.

Labels: garden

I blog too often about the weather, but I should not complain as it is brightly sunny out now, if only 25 degrees. 25 degrees is a more typical temperature for February. Two weeks ago we reached a record high of 81 degrees in Minneapolis. Tulips, trees and other greenery were bursting out of their winter shell. Now the same plants shiver, regretting they popped out of the ground so early. Such is Minnesota weather.

Today I made my first trip to Patel Grocery, an Indian (Asian) grocery on Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis. The store is expansive and well-stocked with everything Indian. I purchased some spices, bottled chutney, naan bread, mango juice and incense. The store has a whole isle of incense. I was a bit overwhelmed with choices; I chose Jasmine.

A new fitness center will be opening soon on Central Avenue in our neighborhood; I walked by the window this morning. I have been itching to get back into the gym since moving back to Minneapolis. One aspect of life in Philadelphia I miss was my ability to workout at the gym located only a block away from my lab. This new gym is about two blocks from our house. I can imagine getting up early, working out and returning home to clean up for work. It is a small gym, but loaded with equipment I would frequently use. April 15 is the tentative open date and that bodes well for me shedding some of my winter weight.

Labels: garden, Northeast Minneapolis

It is very white in the Twin Cities these days. Over the last week we have received nearly two feet of snow because of two large snowstorms. The first occurred while we were vacationing in Denver. When we got home last Sunday night we had a foot of heavy snow waiting to be shoveled away.

The second storm started on Wednesday and lasted until yesterday. This storm brought another foot or so of snow. It has been troublesome to find a place to put all of the snow, as the piles have grown to taller than I am. Needless to say my shoulders and back are a bit sore after several rounds of shoveling. Our neighbors have been very friendly and have used their snowblowers a few times to help us out with all the snow.

The pictures were taken today, it is finally sunny but not so warm. I am looking forward to the warm weather that has been forecast, but not to the slush and dirty snow.

Labels: garden