Southern Minnesota

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Originally uploaded by Snak Shak

My Father-in-law was discharged from the Mankato hospital this afternoon following surgery earlier this week. Molly and I headed down to 'Kato to pick him up and take him back to the farm south of Delevan. He was in good spirits and was very keen on scoring a ham sandwich from Jimmy John's before we got out of town. The photo is from my truck as I followed Molly and her Dad back to the farm. Molly will be staying with her parents for a few days but I came back because of a pending trip to Anchorage to work on the Big Pipe.

November is a tough month in MN. The leaves are down and the weather is typically partly to mostly lousy, but today was pretty good. Sunny and cool, but good clouds and a good sunset. The Beaver Moon is now in decline, but I got some good views of the waning Beaver on the drive back tonight. The Trip Planner email from Northwest/Delta promises me temps of 6 degrees in Anchorage, so I will probably end up appreciating November in MN by this time next week.

Despite the generally flat topography, the relentless wind and the agricultural land use of this part of the state, I have come to like southern Minnesota. The towns are all interesting, if a little run down, and there are good place names, like Good Thunder, Olivia, and Rapidan. There's also some quirk (Keister and Amboy, for instance). I have seen some of the best thunder storms and sunsets of my life at my in-laws as well. The landscapes, with open fields, wind breaks and old farm buildings, can be quite beautiful. Some day I am going to try a black and white photography project down there.