Seems quiet downtown, but actually everyone is safely up in the skyways.

The holidays are past and normalcy has been reestablished. The skyways are quiet. Minneapolis has a second level that becomes the only means of getting around the city in the winter. The extensive skyway system is a fun place to explore; the styles way wildly, over by the government building they are scary modernist things resembling the set design from Kubrick’s 2001. This is the skyway between the Target Center and Block E. It looks like a cantilevered bridge, but the cables are for show: you can see them sag in the summer.

This view from the skyway caught my eye at first because the reflection and small panes of the windows created a foreground layer and clearly separated the viewer from the scene. Then I realized the matching grid in the design of the Target Center facade. The reflection is of the new Target Field so the summer and winter sports are contrasts as well. I then positioned the large pillar in the middle to split the two buildings, the new Target Center and the old Butler Square warehouse.

Nature’s promise of summer’s return, no longer festooned with gaudy Edison light, once again assumes it’s quiet place under the purple sky. In just a few months our emerald city of lakes will bristle with life again.

Merry Christmas! Remember, lift with your legs and take breaks.

There’s a float in the Holidazzle parade that’s a circus train with animals; this is the Tiger. Not often you see a small tiger holding his tail while waiting for a bus.

Like a proud parent, the mighty luminously-crowned Target corporate headquarters watches over the Holidazzle Parade glide down Nicollet Avenue.

A loss of focus is commonly regarded as a negative, but in the realm of photography, it’s a highly desired quality called bokeh.

Happy Birthday Barbara Billingsley!

The night started with the parade and ended across the street at the Local; a touch of whiskey makes the cold go away. If you get the chance to visit the Local, be sure to get the roast & mash. Great way to spend a cold evening with friends.

The worst part of winter is having to wait months for lightning storms to return.