Slide Experiments

I found a slide projector in my attic, so I started playing with it.

Then I started projecting it onto paintings.

Bang!

Aurora Borealis

At  work a coworker was talking about how the northern lights were going to be out that night and how they wanted to drive out to the country. Realizing that I didn't have to work the next day I decided to join in to the late-night adventure.

The aurora forecast seemed decent, and the weather was perfect. 

 At about 11:30 we drove around the country and eventually found a clearing where we could see the sky. 

It was super trippy. And the strength of this aurora was only a five out of nine.

Fishing

As I got into the summer swing, I realized that summer isn't ever complete without fishing. Also since I live in northern Minnesota I figured that I should take advantage of my geographical location. I bought a license(I didn't need a MN drivers license since I'm under 21.) I also wanted my mom to mail my fishing pole from my cottage, but knowing my mother I figured that it won't happen anytime soon if ever. So I bought a sweet (and cheap) fishing pole at an antique store and some tackle from a nearby bait shop. Then after dinner I walked to Hartley Pond. 

It was a perfect evening for it. 

This is my sweet pole. 

Just about everything I was catching was tiny catfish and bluegills. But I did catch a couple of small perch as well. 

After a few hours I called it quits; mostly because walking through the woods at night without a flashlight is difficult. 

Here's a short vid I made showing the sunset. 

I also used my birthday money(that I didn't spend on food and gas) on this sweet knife. A local sells it in his bead shop. 

It was made in Finland and made with reindeer antler. 

Here come the bloody part...

I haven't filleted a fish in about five years, so I kinda sucked at it. Even back then I wasn't too great. 

 Now this is where I tell you that I am reintroducing fish into my diet, but with some conditions: I will only eat fish that I caught myself or was given/served by whoever caught it. So don't expect me getting shrimp at the grocery store or ordering salmon at a restaurant. I did eat fish for about half of my time as a vegetarian, so this isn't anything big.

Now if I could actually fillet a fish there would be only four pieces. But at least there weren't any bones. Nonetheless it was delicious. It wasn't very filling, but it's okay since it was second dinner. 

The Duluth Deluge

I was dreaming that it was snowing, everyone in Duluth was in awe as well as in distress at the extreme weather. But then I awoke. It was about 9:15 am. I checked facebook to find everyone talking about animals escaping from the zoo. Upon reading my email I discover that there is flooding in Duluth. First thing I thought about was Chester Creek. I immediately grabbed my camera then ran outside without changing clothes nor putting on shoes. 

After getting at the bottom of the ravine in my backyard this is what I found. Chester Creek had become Chester River. 

There's no hiking on the SHT today. 

But the really scary part was that there were landslides along the creek. This one got so close to this person's house. 

The stone stairs were also a waterfall. 

What was usually this:

Was this:

And what was usually this:

Was this:

It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen. While I was taking photos it started down pouring and thunder storming. So I headed home for refuge. Afterward Tyler R. told me he wanted to walk around and check out the flood, so I headed back out. 

Chester Creek again.

The retaining wall for Whole Food's parking lot had collapsed.

Some people pay a lot of money to have waterfall landscaping. 

Off course no flood is complete without having cars fall into sinkholes. 

The steam was going crazy also. 

 Amy wanted her picture taken next to the exploding storm drain. 

Well maybe Chip Cravaack will finally give us the infrastructure funding we have been trying to get for so long. 

This flood had also gave rise to flood related internet memes. Here are some of my favorites:

I'm a Tourist Too

Since I work in the tourism industry I got a bunch of free passes to different attractions in Duluth. My sister Brooke came up for a day so that we could go be tourists. 

First we went on the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad to go for a train ride. This was the only tourist attraction I've had never heard of prior to this summer. It was really neat as not many people go on it as it is slightly off the radar of the standard tourist. 

The train ride starts in West Duluth. Then it rides along the western shore of the St. Louis River to New Duluth. And finally it returns to West Duluth.

Brooke made a friend.

This is a short video of the 1940's engine during the switch over. 

"Come ride us!"

You can see here in this photo that I did enjoy the ride very much. 

After the train ride I took Brooke to Glensheen to show her around the mansion. We also had lunch in the formal gardens. 

Despite the fact that I work here, I realized that I never photographed the house. So I made sure I took one. 

Next we decided to go on a cruise. Of course we went on the Vista Fleet. 

I took more than two pictures, but seeing how this blog has an overabundant number of pictures of the Aerial Lift Bridge, Lake Superior, and downtown Duluth, I decided to not post them. 

But wait, there's more:

Finally we toured the William A. Irvin: the former flagship of the U.S. Steel Corporation. 

The engine room.

This was the dining room for guests on the ship.

I could have played this up more. 

The guests' cabins had these awesome great lake lamps. 

And finally this is in the hull. 

The Vista Fleet gave us coupon books and one coupon was a buy-one-get-one-half-off sandwiches at Amazing Grace. So we of course ate there before Brooke went home.