What a deeply satisfying set of hours! My week for friendship is drawing to a close and yet the aftertaste remains, in the best of ways. Like one of those wines which, they say, "lingers for a long time on the palate."
I loved my overnight at the Danish cottage. The breezes traveled through the spaces below, the fan pushed out the warm air and the couch, covered by a very Danish quilt, felt especially luxurious.
We were up early -- both Diane and I have that habit. Breakfast, over conversation (and a glance at the booklet about the construction of the guest cottage).
A look at the garden and a chat with the gardener par excellence, Mette (the homeowner whose son designed the small house). As always, you learn something from talking with a person who grows things.
I pocket the nuggets of information for later use.
Eventually Diane and I head out -- first for a walk across the Mississippi (you can do that in Minneapolis!).
We admire the cityscape that has been shaped so strongly by its milling past. [Minneapolis was once the "flour milling capital of the world." You can see why: the drop in the Mississippi from the St.Anthony Falls gave the industry the power it needed. Grains from the northern plains and the Dakotas were brought by train and flour sacks were then carried up to Duluth, from there they traveled to the East Coast and beyond. In its heyday, Minneapolis had some 20 mills lining the river, in much the same way that steel mills once lined Pittsburgh's riverfront.]
They're beautiful views.
We then go to a place recommended by our landlady, Mette. As a food photographer, she is very much involved with the local food scene in the Twin Cities. This spot is called "the Food Building" and it houses a flour mill and bakery (Baker's Field), a creamery (Alemar Cheese Company), a salumeria (Red Table Meat Company), and a cafe that allows you to sample any of the products made or baked here (Kieran's Kitchen).
We start off with a leisurely chat over coffee and fantastic rhubarb-ginger popovers.
But a after a while, I suppose a long while, because we are friends of long duration (time for a timed release!)...
... and so we can carry on for quite a bit, it's the lunch hour and so we move on to foods more appropriate to that meal.
All so delicious that I buy out the bakery just so Ed can sample the stuff that is good and, importantly, very different from our usual fare back home.
Very quickly I am nearing my departure hour. Diane drives me to the airport and I shuttle back to Madison.
It's a super short flight today (31 minutes!), leading me to dream about the day I would not need to fly (because someday, there will be a speedy train linking these Midwestern cities). As sometimes happens, I get upgraded to the inebriated class. Meaning, I get a seat up front where even during a flight of 31 minutes people are offered a free drink in the air. And they take it! At least most do. At 4 pm, double shots of vodka with a splash of ginger ale are are being delivered by a running flight attendant (Sorry sir, but I have to do this fast, we are about to land!). I have to think that either people are secretly fearful fliers and the slug of booze chills them a bit, or we, as a species just cannot turn down a free anything. If they offered a free gallon of gas for the car, poured into your water bottle, people would take it, sloshing it all the way home. They've spent a small fortune on a flight ticket, and if it comes with a drink, damn it, they'll take it. And who can blame them. Flying these days is so stressful. Anything to make it go faster. Anything. (My own "booze," having the same effect, is reading the latest David Sedaris book.)
I pull into the driveway of the farmette and I see a piece of beat up machinery in the place of my parking spot.
Ed!
It's a long story, gorgeous...
I am home.
