Fill the Boot

Today I went for a long bike ride. I had just returned home from the DMV after failing my written test to get my MN driver’s license, as my CA DL is about to expire in a few weeks. I couldn’t believe some of the stupid questions that were on the test. I would rank Minnesota’s test even more stupid than California’s! So, anyway, I decided to forget my driving woes, grabbed my point and shoot and jumped on my bike.

It happened that it was rush hour, so I took the Greenway east into the heart of the Twin Cities. I decided to get off on the surface streets to see if I could find something interesting to shoot. A few minutes later, I came to a busy intersection where some firefighters were running around in stopped traffic. As I got closer, I could see they were actually walking down two lanes of cars taking donations for Jerry’s Kids. It kinda gave me a warm fuzzy seeing our Minneapolis firefighters making a huge contribution to helping the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. It’s all part of the Fill the Boot campaign that Minneapolis and many other firefighter unions across the country are participating in to help Jerry’s Kids.

The driver in the truck above surprised firefighter Linda from Minneapolis Fire Station No. 7 with a $100 donation! Now that’s what I call filling the boot!

Surfing in Minnesota?

For a few weeks now, I have been wanting to photograph the windsurfers on Lake Calhoun , but every time I’ve had the chance, there’s been little or no wind. Finally, this afternoon, the winds were whipping up good on the lake. So I grabbed my sandals and headed on over to the beach.

The Lakes, as they are affectionately called by Minneapolitans, are at the heart of South Minneapolis where sailors, bikers, rollerbladers, runners, and parkway cruisers are plentiful. When there is a good wind, you can find the boaters and windsurfers going crazy out on the water. Lake Calhoun is the only lake I have seen windsurfers, since nearby Lake Harriet and Lake of the Isles are a bit more sheltered and not near as windsurfer-friendly. Actually, there is quite a healthy population of windsurfers who congregate here, and there is seldom a day that goes by when there isn’t at least a couple die-hards out chasing the wind.