So here we are approaching September already. I spent three weeks in Rochester, MN just soaking up the green and the coolness. I’m hoping it will sustain me through two more months of heat here in the valley. My AirBnB was just as adorable as it looked online. So cute and so ME. Everyone loved it and I may be renting there for a month next year.

Being with friends almost daily was just a wonderful treat! As much as I sometimes hate being the 5^th wheel, it also feels really good to be around male energy when we’re all together.

Highlights included: a visit with our 4^th musketeer – Rebecca – from Portland. Such fun memories with her in Lanesboro having lunch on the river and the funniest play I’ve seen in years. Dinner on a rooftop restaurant in downtown, walks along the Zumbro and reminiscing a little as we drove past previous homes and hangouts. I’m so glad she could make it.

Other highlights: Fireflies in the park at dark. Geese at Silver Lake. The Genome exhibit sponsored by Mayo at the new (to me) art center. Getting a library card at the new (to me) library. Shopping at what was once the Red Owl grocer and Hunt Drug. Grandma’s Kitchen. Bridgeman’s ice cream. The old rec center where I spent hours waiting for the kids to finish with gymnastics and ice skating and ballet.

Squirrels who visited each morning and bunny rabbits that silently stood watch just off the deck. Thursdays on first and third. Movies. Car shopping. Lunch and dinner with Dianne and catching up on life. We’ve been friends since our husbands opened Rochester Meats back in 1970? Something like that.

The city has grown so much, I got lost numerous times, but the growth has created a beautiful, vibrant, cultural and international city. The skyscrapers didn’t exist in the old days, and the traffic and parking are a concern for the locals. But the buildings themselves are beautiful and the entire downtown is connected with glass walkways that span block after block. (much needed when it’s below zero).

So I’m back in AZ, looking at pictures of green trees, green grass, green everything and missing my MN friends. But perhaps I will finally get back to editing this final manuscript which I managed to ignore during my time up north. My goal was to finish it by Sept. 1^st.  “aint’ happening!” ha

Good to be back to a normal routine I suppose and I’m setting a new goal for completion – October 1^st.

Looking for Readers. I need six to eight people who will read with a critical eye and a red pen! Let me know if you’re willing.

Enjoy the memories below…