Can't seem to sit still around here this week. Lots of action to record and report.

Great looking young people brave snow in Missoula, MT while posing for a family Christmas card. I recognize nieces and nephews in this foto, and marvel at how beautiful and handsome they've grown up to be 👫 Happy holidays to their parents Cash and Molly 👏💋

You saw this one up-top.  Briefcase is making its inaugural appearance at Harvest Moon Co-op this week.  The journal? From the Poppy Memorial Library, and contains all manner of wisdom, reflection, speculation and other gibberish.  How 'bout the fountain pens?  My eclectic faves:  a yellow Pelikan with a red ink cartridge installed;  green Lamy with turquoise ink;  and a red Schaeffer calligraphy-nibbed pen with black ink.  Coffee cup likely contains a remaining sip or two of Peace brand small batch.

No one ever accused me of being a good cook.  But I have ventured lately into "egg in a basket" creations, something my Mom used to fry up when we kids were screaming for breakfast.  I added half a ripe avocado to the dish, plus a couple of dollops of homemade pesto (a neighborly gift from our friend Liz).  I literally inhaled the goodness of this dish. 

Bone Broth is all the rage they tell me.  Can't imagine what it must taste like -- chicken, turkey and beef.  Bone broth. Ugh. The Epic brand on sale in my co-op is joined in the refrigerated case by sister products like Beef Tallow, Pork Lard and Duck Fat.  These things surely can't be good for you 🙈🙉🙊 But they are for sale in the co-op and we all know that health food store food is, well, healthy.  What do YOU think? 

My dear family-ites  surprised me this afternoon with a new cold weather ski cap.  Temps in the Twin Cities are headed south to single digits next week, so this baby should come in handy.

The Patagonia ¼ zip pullover? I'm in my 4th straight day of staying warm with my Patagucci, so I'm grateful for this thoughtful, practical Christmas present.  

Last but far from least:  senior management at Common Roots Cafe on Lyndale and 26th in Minnie, work up my iced latte.  You might think that I'm awaiting change for my twenty, but my loyalty card was punched full, and the drink was on the house.  And it tasted even better 'cause it was free 🙏😇👍

Vignettes from the day: weather-worn window and sill, and new socks for the whole family from Santa.

On the way out of Dunn Bros. downtown you can't help noticing weather-worn wooden windows and sills. Come Spring you'll likely see paint scrapers, sandpaper, caulking, glazing points, primer, brushes and overcoat, and the painting contractors who'll bring this classic window back to life.   

Santa Claus likely stopped his sleigh at Target this holiday season to do some sock shopping for these lucky feet. Wonder if any new shoes came down the chimney along with the socks? 

Open just three weeks, (Whole)sum Juice and Coffee Bar serves "Smoothie Bowls," brand new taste sensation for the Poppy Blog.

(Whole)Sum Kitchen owner Evan Tepper greets customer and well-wisher this afternoon at just-opened shop on 50th and Bryant in Minneapolis.  Speciality of the house:  Smoothie Bowls, whiich surprized and delighted the Hoyt tastebuds.

Menu hangs on wall to left as customers enter the shop.

Fellow Customer enjoying his iced latte.

Tepper and staff have done a smart, industrial-strength (and -style) job with design and accents of (Whole) Sum. The place looks clean and bright, and even feels healthy!

Our Friend Anna - another great reason to shop Wilson + Willy's in Mpls.

Such a lovely lady, this Anna. She makes shopping at Wilson + Willy's a breeze.  And while Anna didn't talk us into buying that surfboard, we did purchase a number of Christmas gifts for loved ones for the second year in a row. Special store, special person. Get to know these folks if you don't already.

Low Country Living, Dunellon Edition

Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt strike a Dunellon Pose -- Low Country Gothic comes to mind. Beautiful home, beautiful country, and decidedly a beautiful couple. Now, here's something to give thanks for.

Climbing the Steps to Deeper Love and Understanding. Unitarian Universalist Church of Minnetonka, MN

The kids poured out of Sunday school last week, pastel-colored chalks in hand. Parents encouraged these young ambassadors in their expressions of peace and justice, love and neighbors. Love trumps Hate. Keep America Kind.  Value our Somali Neighbors.

The younger generation is our hope and salvation. In a world rife with anger and meanness, where hate has become the norm, Unitarian Universalist worshipers really do carry the inspiring message.  

Thank you, thank you. 

165,005 page views on the Blog as of today.

Wow. I am so pleased that my blog has racked up more than 165,000 page views as of this morning.  Please keep coming back.  And, with your continued comments, let me know what kinds of posts you like best.

Custom Velo at MIA, built in honor of the '38 Tatra (Czech classic 4-door sedan) on permanent display on MIA 4th floor. What a beaut (not old Poppy). I

I think "Handsome Cycles" was commissioned by MIA to design and build this special bike. Aerodynamic features match pretty well the flow ot the '38 Tatra (from Czechoslovakia) on permanent display in the museum.

You're not supposed to touch ths baby, meaning you could never take her out for a spin.  So you pretend to get in the drops, and hope some MIA staffer comes along who agrees to take a foto of you "in action."

Terrible Teeth on Display, pride of redneck Florida.

My brother Clem and his friend Clem pose for post Halloween shot.  All the tooth rot happened in a 24-hour period, after the boys filled themselves to puking on Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Clem proves the old adage: if you eat enough Peanut Butter Cups, you'll be seeing double. Or is it:  if you see enough P.B. Cups you'll be feasting with your eyes and your tummy?

Here are the peanuts that went into the Reese's cups that provided the rot to the teeth that made Clem (s) puke.

Veloing around the old depot in Wayzata, and some of the fine new friends we've met in the 'hood.

This barista at Caribou knows her java drinks, and she's got a bold sense of style to boot.

Young readers have an instinct to select just the right grade-level book from Little Free Library in front of their  home.  Grandma took the foto, won't mind me including it here.

Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine a kind-of Stonehenge.  You can see it, can't you?  The circle of posts staked deep in this sandy beach are not in England, but right here along Lake Minnetonka. Our Stonehenge? Close enough.  

Single-speed cruiser catches its velo breath up next to the old RR depot in Wayzata.   Rainy afternoon doesn't make for good pedaling, but provides me the opportunity to compose an OK shot of the day. 

$5.00 reward to the first reader of the Poppy Blog who can properly identify this Nash!

Brother Joe just sent me this stunning foto of a Nash motor car, vintage unknown.  Who's the Indian Chief on the radiator cap?  What year is the vehicle? Explain the "badge."

First reader to get all those answers correct will get from me, via first class mail, a crisp 5-dollar bill for the trouble.

Woodsman: Spare that Tree.

Like a modern day Thoreau mi amigo Jim H. is one with his land.  He knows all tree species, can tell the difference between a bitter hickory nut and an acorn (both of which he found on the ground under his Red Wings, in the dirt, and presented to me as I approached with camera at the ready).   

My friend Jim has been clearing some woodland in prep for putting in an organic garden.  Jim is sustainable, the land sure is, the bitter hickory tree, of course, and that handsome and oh, so practical,  John Deere is, as well.  Ride 'em, Jim.

Java Jive this Afternoon at Askov + Finlayson.

Baristas are the best. Sophisticated service, luscious lattes, scrumptious scones.

Open, airy, plenty of room to read, write and imbibe the sublime.

Sunday menu posted on the entry way wall, though we didn't notice 'til after we'd ordered, and heading out the door.

Like the best French bistro you know, Askov provides news of day while you wait for your order. 

Whoops.  This is another spot in the North Loop, Foundry Home Goods, where the gals were shopping while I chilled on the stoop, taking my good old time.

Great service, as I said above.  Nice folks. Superbly tasty fare.  Check it out.

Boat-Builder Christian Gaggia, posing with his Mom and Dad.

You saw the sublime sailing/pulling skiff, "Cat's Paw," in the foto at the top of the blog.  It was built last year by three super-skilled shipwrights in Port Townsend, WA.  One of the builders -- Christan Gaggia, my remarkable nephew -- poses in the foto with his Mom (and my Sis) Crary, and Dad (my bro-in-law) Mark.  Venue was the recent Wooden Boat Show in Pt.Townsend, the annual place to be for anyone interested in the art, craft, performance and versatility of wooden boats, made the old-fashioned way.

Here's Cat's Paw.  Check out subtle"touches" that went into this craft. Damn, I can't get over how gorgeous this boat is, how refined, sophisticated, absolutely unique.  Photo by Mark Gaggia at Wooden Boat Show, Port Townsend.

Bag of Beans from Chromatic Coffee Co. out of San Jose, CA.  This is Burundi "Ngoma," and my thoughtful step-son Will Wick (who understands what great coffee means to a fella) surprised me with it recently.

"Descansos" - in Spanish, roadside tributes to family and friends who perished along Arizona highways and byways.

It's no longer "legal" to build a "Descanso" in most states of the Union.  In Arizona and New Mexico, in particular, the tradition continues, and lost loved ones are honored in the most creative of sacred ways.  "A F" here was likely a working cowboy or farmhand: his"Descanso" was placed in a ditch some 10 feet off a two-lane road:  likely the spot where AF perished in an auto accident of some unknown kind.

Descansos tell a life story in a small, sacred spot.  Flowers, beads, trinkets, talismans often decorate the spot the loved one perished. 

Freshly cut spring flowers have been added to the cross, itself resting in artificial garlands.  Family must tend the descanso as they would any other gravesite.  With the Snodgrass tribute, and two names -- Lynn and Gerry -- it's likely both perished in the crash.

You can almost read the name of the deceased on the horizontal bar of the cross.  Few descansos I saw were illuminated at night.  Not sure how this lantern is tended.

Poppina grabbed this shot as we headed west on Minnetonka Boulevard.

This really happened. Not a made-up foto, though it may look like one. A helmet-less scooter-er on a Vino, one up (or is it, 2?) passed us on the right side of the KIA.  Pina saw the passenger dog, with the goggles, couldn't resist the opportunity to record two-wheel history being made here in the Twin Cities. 

Hot, Topless Maids: only in City of Angeles.

The van advertises "Hot Topless Maids." Wonder what they look like? Is $99 a fair price?  Are they male and/or female?  Do they pop right out of the truck?  Can you visualize the topless maid on hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor? 

Only in L.A.

1953 Ford 4-Door: Yours for $1000 (O.B.O.)

Your humble blogger poses in a used car lot that really gives meaning to the word:  used. Shot was taken along Hwy. 60 heading east out of Wickenburg, AZ. 

Bikers for Christ, Ohio Puppy Store, $10. Barber, Burro Jim Motel.

This helmet sort of says where the owner-biker is coming from.  Lots of messages and opinions, causes and loyalties. Saw this one in Arizona a year or two ago.
 This shot was taken in Ohio, of course.  Not sure that I remember where.  I'm a native Buckeye, from Chillicothe in south central Ohio.  Puppy Mills were not welcome in my home town, at least when I was growing up there.

Nash Rambler? Anyone recognize the body style, remember the vintage?

You can get a damned good haircut "Out Wickenburg Way" and the price is a reasonable ten bucks!  After my first trim there I pulled a five spot out of my wallet, handed it to my lady barber and she gave it back, saying I'd overpaid.  When I told her it was a tip she couldn't quite believe her good fortune, and though she accepted the tip, she was never comfortable receiving a 50% bump on the cut.