lilacs in the wind

It was windy most every day last week.  Usually I can photographs of flowers if I take them at a high shutter speed which is what I did or this picture.  There was a lot of wind and I can of like the effect and I love lilacs.   My children gave me lilac bushes or mothers day many years ago and now the oldest of them is about 15 feet high.

Xcel Center - Wild Game

I was supposed to be shooting inside on Saturday night but I can’t resist the blue hour.  These blurry people are headed to the Xcel center for a Minnesota wild hokey game.

Union Depot - 2011

It still looks messy but the light rail construction is progressing and one day I will be taking photos of this historic building with tracks in front of it and people walking around. . . and that is the way it should be.

Dayton Avenue

I have been collecting photographs of historic row houses and condo buildings for a directory I am building. As soon as I started taking the pictures I was reminded how much I love historic architecture and how much I enjoy photographing it.  The best time or year to capture it is just after the snow melts and the trees start turning green.  It will be awhile before that happens . . maybe six months . . but I decided to get started anyway.

This is one of several brick buildings on Dayton Avenue not far from John Ireland Blvd.  Some of the buildings are rentals and some are condos.  It is a great area to live in and there is a park close by and it is just one block off of Selby Avenue where there are shops and restaurants not to mention the cathedral.

Wakefield Street

If I had grown up it would have been in this house on Wakefield street in St. Paul.  It was my home until I was 20.  My mom asked me if I would take a photo of it.  She asked the way moms sometimes do . . “if it isn’t any trouble and you are in the area anyway”.  I was in the area and it wasn’t any trouble. I had my camera set up to photograph a home I have listed a few blocks away.

The place has changed some.  The porch used to be enclosed and it looks like a bigger window was put in the kitchen on the back of the house.  The house was built in 1926 and they really don’t build them like that any more.  Beautiful oak floors and oak cove molding, built in buffet and a fireplace with built-in book cases on both sides, there are two piano windows but you can only see one in the photo.   I don’t need photos of the inside.  I have a few but the best pictures are in my mind.  I can see it all just like it was and that is probably better than it is.

Golden Leaves

Purple Asters

Purple Astors – another Minnesota wildflower that blooms in the fall.  They just started opening and in another week or so they will be gorgeous.  I found these at Harriet Island regional park.  There is a patch of them right by the parking lot closest to the pavilion.

fire fighters

The Saint Paul fire department on the scene putting out a fire.  The owner wasn’t home.  At first I resisted the temptation to take pictures but the home would have burned no matter what I did.  Watching the firefighters made me realize how important it is to live near  a fire department and how hard they work. They are all ways there for us ready to risk their lives to save us and our homes.

Roller Coaster

My state fair theme would not work with out at least one picture of a roller coaster. Is there such a thing as a state fair without one?

Haunted house

I remember how much I enjoyed the haunted house when I was a kid.  I still enjoy a good scare but there are so many things in life that are frightening I don’t have to go to the fair for a little terror.