Flying Down Xenwood

the Xenwood downhill

had been cleared of ice patches by the afternoon's sun

so I could hear the studded tires 

against the asphalt

I could hear the tempo increasing

hear the speed 

my numb fingers grabbed for the brakes

it was nighttime, after all

I was cold and cautious of the intersection 

the driveways between snow piles

that emptied onto Xenwood

near the bottom I let go

as the brakes eased off the disks

the bike relaxed 

and flowed into the straightaway

the rush was small

but not 

incomprehensible

I pedaled to the street's end where I turned

away from home

and I pedaled up Webster, over 29th

where I saw myself 10 minutes prior

in the tracks of the wet snow 

they wobbled left and right

I remembered holding my line

the snow lies

I coasted full-out the second time down

crouched

watching

tires buzzing

fingers ready to grab

but they 

didn't

the third time 

I stood pedaling up Webster

over 29th 

in the sloppy snow

I hit the big ring, pedaled over the top

I flew down Xenwood

spinning

body warm

toes freezing

smile spreading 

and this time 

at the bottom

turned toward home

- TOfinally satisfiedB

...and Tigers and Bears

neighborhood ride

it's always fun to look at houses, to get ideas

nice landscaping

I'd like nice landscaping

brick on the front façade

I'd like brick on my house

that one has stone

no, not brick...stone! Stone would look nice.

as I went east, the houses got bigger

a bigger house would be so great, yes...big, with big rooms...with, but I only have a couple of chairs

one of the houses stretched around the entire corner of a block

I wonder how much flooring there is to clean in a house like that

with lots of windows

just think of the views! and the Windex...Windex makes me cough...vinegar works, though

and houses that faced the lake!

oh the lake, with all the walking on the trails and there's always people close by, especially in the summer...all the people, people are...lots of them, there...with their cars...parking in front of the house so they could walk by the lake all summer...all those people

and manicured lawns

and puttering around the yard, picking daisies! and weeds, the weeding...you could golf on those lawns...how do they, do they pay to have that done? why doesn't anyone ever plant native prairie??

and lions

...

.

?


-TOB doesn't have lion envy

July 11th

I stood on my front step
an old lady looking for the fireworks pranksters
been popping for a week
the border collie afraid to go outside
to GO outside
from the bedroom window I had seen what looked like a 13-year-old girl
standing near the last round fired off in front of the neighbors house
a crowd of teenagers drove up
didn't look like the cohort of teens from down the block
I knew their mother would've had their hide
were these kids from blocks over?

the new neighbor from two houses down hopped out to join the group
the group not teenagers, but legal adults
the girl not thirteen
he's young
a homeowner
contractor
moved his girlfriend's car
set down a cardboard tube on a square base
lighter to the fuse
ran back several feet
it wasn't the pop of a bottle rocket but
fwhhhooooom
with a bouquet of colors cascading above the trees and rooftops
hhhiiiiisssssssssss, poppoppop
above trees
rooftops
old trees, large trees
in a dry, hot summer
branches bending over rooftops of houses ten feet apart
rooftop connected to rooftop by tinder

hayuk, hayuk, dude, whoa man! later!
five of the group slammed their doors
drove off

I started my walk toward the remaining four
smoldering
you move your CAR?!
this is a neighborhood
a neighborhood with elderly and toddlers
who may not have an easy time of it if their
HOUSE
smolders
this is our investment
inside are our treasures
and now you're in my neighborhood, our neighborhood
blind to the ramifications of your teenaged actions
yukking it up with your buddies


Hi. I'm Jeanne.
I turned to him and called him by name
he looked at me surprised I knew
we'd met last fall when I stopped by after a ride and he was outside
he had shown me his kitchen redo
his face shamed at being called out
lost the cockiness of anonymity
look, these houses are just too close together
sparks landing on one roof....

he looked at the cracks in the street
at me
it won't happen again

just
too
close...

it won't happen again



- tob

Neighborhood

He did the whole block...for the second time in less than a week -- 10" last weekend, another 10" today....

- The Old Bag it's supposed to stop on Saturday

What a Snowfall it Was

Close to Home

The OB's neighborhood

Neighborhood Cycle

the cloudy night sky
holds close the purples and deep blues of the city
translucent energy
finally well enough to go for a run
or for a walk dressed like I’m running
to rejoin the rhythm of the neighborhood
old houses alike and close
drapes left open to see the life inside exuberant
in the step aerobics
the visiting grandparents
the TV movie
the thick book
even in the redecorating ideas
(but I won’t be painting my living room deep red)
Florida Avenue down toward the elementary school
new warming house and hockey rink
where icy mist captures arcs of brightness beneath the tall rink lights
a broomball game
goalie is quick in the pick-up hockey match
her brown hair dances
evening train blares at the skaters who raise their sticks to wave
the rhythm of its cars
join the rhythm of the neighborhood

- it just doesn’t get any better for The Ol’ Bag

Cold Enough Fer Ya?

OK, my profile lies who wrote that thing?? I don’t really actually live in Minneapolis...technically. At least technically not anymore -- I guess not....since.....1886. Although, I do frequently receive mail addressed to me living at my current street address in Minneapolis....and there are times after entering my zip code online that the gremlin on the other end insists the zip and the city I’ve entered don’t naturally correspond SO WHERE SHOULD THIS PACKAGE BE SENT TO, ANYWAY?!? at which point I know better than to argue with this Gollum so I hit the submit button in the dim hopes that the wool slippers I’ve ordered from Sierra really will show up on my Minneapolis doorstep thereby saving me from a winter of misery in my old house with no insulation where the walls meet the floor isn't that what baseboards are for whaddayawant?

Besides, I still have the holdovers of living in Eden Prairie: anything east of Highway 169 is urban and urban = Minneapolis.

So, welcome to Suburbanites Anonymous.

Hi. I'm The Old Bag and I live in St. Louis Park, once a Minneapolis neighborhood called Elmwood, which is a friendly community of diverse racial and religious populations including walkers, bus-ers, and cyclers. Anything I could want is within 4-15 blocks from home: library, post office, service station, LBS, pizza, videos, oriental takeout, groceries, beer, Target, Big Lots, Ax-Man, bank.... For anything outside the radius I’ve got road shoulders and trails. I’m smack in-between the Cedar Lake Trail (AKA the bike highway) to the north which leads into downtown and through its pedestrian mall to the Mississippi River and its old flour-milling district; and the Midtown Greenway to the south which takes me into Uptown with its sidewalk cafes and urban lakes on over to the Grand Rounds and off to the parkways of St. Paul.

I'm still working on changing the way I think. When I first moved here, I continued to operate under the assumption that everything was at least 15 minutes away by car. Last-minute to the core of my being, I suddenly found myself arriving early...to everything! The first time I ordered pizza from the local Beek’s I hopped into the car and drove myself 5 short blocks (yes, as opposed to 5 long blocks...things are rectangular here) then sat for 10 minutes at the red and white checkered table while supper finished baking.

When I finally adjusted I found the gift of time. The gift of fresh air as I walked my errands. The gift of friendly people out in their yards.

The one thing I just couldn’t quite get my thoughts around was the walk to the grocery store. It’s at the outer edge of my radius...and walking back with BAGS?! of CANS and MILK CARTONS?!

So, I was at Cub Foods the other blustery day locking up my bicycle. A friendly soul hurrying in from the parking lot asked if I was cold -- he had that Minnesotan I-know look, and he even nodded as he asked since he knew what my answer would be. I got a kick out of his surprised change of face when I caught myself saying Actually no! Windblocker is a beautiful thing! We smiled and wished each other a good day as we headed inside.

- The Warm Old Bag