Minnesota's Next Governor!

Nancy and I met the next governor of Minnesota last night, Margaret Anderson Kelliher. We were at a fund-raiser and a "get-to-know," and, boy, were we impressed with Ms. Kelliher.

I plan to report frequently on the blog about Margaret's background, accomplishments, integrity, values and plans for the Great State of MN. Let's say for now that she's developed a solid, smart and do-able plan to reverse the decline in the quality and accessibility of education in MN, shore up our crumbling infrastructure too long ignored, and create more than 100,000 new jobs in a sensible and sustainable way.

There's volunteer work to be done before the August 10th Primary, and Pina and I plan to do work to "Make History with Margaret!"

Cap'n Ed, Scallop Fisherman.

My new mariner friend in the foto to the left is skipper of a scallop dragger named "Furious" out of Stonington, CT. Hugo and I hung out with Cap'n Ed at the Town Dock a few weeks back. Very enlightening experience.

The funky item in Ed's right hand -- looks like the sole of a huarache sandal -- is a rubber "skid" that fits on the chain blanket pulled behind the boat.

As the "Furious" makes her way up and down the Eastern Seaboard, as far south as New Jersey, and almost to the Canadian border, the chain blanket kicks up scallops from the seabed, which get scooped up in nets.

The rubber skid protects the chain from its inevitable damage, and every now and then the Cap'n and his crew repair and replace the rubber bumpers.

Hugo and I happened on the "Furious" at just the right time. What an education for us! Good luck, "Furious," and your sister ship, "Regulus."

Jolly Jimmy Butler.

One of my best East Coast pals lives in Greenwich, CT. Jim Butler, pictured to the left, and his dear wife Margot keep the lights on for me when I'm on my road trips from Minnesota.

Butler's pad is central to my girls and their families. And I can hop on a Metro North commuter train and, for the price of a senior citizen, off-peak ticket, be in Grand Central Station in less than an hour.

When I play my cards right, and cajole and coach Jimmy just right, I can get him to break into a BIG smile as I snap a digi foto of these two old pals together.

Sky's Art at Cate Charles Gallery.

How proud old Poppy is of Sky and her paintings!

Together Sky and I took some of her recent pieces to the Cate Charles Gallery in Stonington last week. Gallery owner Kim Charles gave Sky both windows to show off some of her recent her work -- how very cool I think that is!

All you art fans had better get down there, fast, before this exquisite work finds its way to the wall of another collector!

Here's looking at you, folks!

Jess and Chris took a liking to local Twin Cities java brewer Dunn Bros. Coffee when they came to visit Poppina and me a couple of weeks back. Indeed, for my d'day the Hoytdulases gifted me with a 1/2 gallon "growler" of Black Infinity cold-press. And is it ever tasty!

When you drink as much of this stuff as some of us do (!), you're entitled to a Dunn Bros. loyalty glass, pictured above. So, here's to you, and have a happy java day.

Uncle Cubby Hunts + Pecks.

Brother Charlie "Cubby" Hoyt celebrates his 60th birthday soon. And as an early b'day gift, he admires this very cool laptop from Compaq that brother Joe Hoyt drove up to Delray Beach from Coral Gables to present to The Cub.

You've come to know Joe well on this blog. And you'll continue to read of his exploits. As Charlie reports on developments in his life, we'll post them as well.

Very Bright College Years!

Our dear buddy Margot Butler snapped this beaut yesterday up in New Haven, CT. The boys and their wives had gathered from all over the world to celebrate the 45th Reunion of the esteemed and distinguished Yale Class of 1965.

In the foto, boys first: Jim Butler (Margot's hubby), John Schenck, Steve "Grumbo Fjellman ,and Earl Potter. The lady on the end is Earl's wife I believe.

I'm sitting this reunion out back in Long Lake. Jason is home with us to visit and I've been called up on jury duty. But I'm tuning up my pipes to sing Bright College Years at our 50th in 2015. More on all that in due time.

Chris Hoyt: Urban Garden Entrepreneur.

Join me in reading this inspiring piece that ran in today's Birmingham, AL news. It's about my brother Chris Hoyt and an urban gardening initiative his company has undertaken.

Dunn Real Estate, a Birmingham developer where Chris is a senior exec, turned unsold property into "an urban construction garden" by planting vegetables and fruit on the property. Hoyt and other Dunn employees have planted apple trees, blueberries, pumpkins, corn and tomatoes at the site. They plan to partner with nonprofit organizations and community food execs like L'Tryce Slade, in the foto with Chris, that are willing to cultivate gardens in return for vegetables and fruit, grown without pesticides and other chemicals.

"By using this unsold land for vegetable production," says Chris, "we'll assist local food shelters in this very difficult recession."

Slade said she hopes the concept of a construction garden on unused property catches on in the Birmingham area. The Dunn project was appealing to her, she said, because her late grandfather, George Washington Slade, once owned land in North Carolina that produced cotton, soybeans and tobacco.

Poppina's Poppin' Pink Poppy.

This, dear readers, is growing in the garden on the west side of the garage. I call it Poppina's Poppin' Pink Poppy. If you were looking over my shoulder just now as I type these words on my iBook, you'd see that I've made it my screensaver. Some kind of Spring we're having in Long Lake!