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In April 2016 I moved to St. Paul. Moving can make a person feel disoriented, but I felt a little more grounded after discovering these butterflies on the sidewalk outside Riverside Library. And there's a reason for that. This blog by my friend Karen Henry Clark explains it all.      Years ago, someone decided that a little sapling in the lawn would be allowed to live. It would NOT be pulled up or mowed down. That is one lucky, plucky tree.  I love the colors and textures here...seeds and stones.  Not sure if this is funny or creepy.  Real church for real "people." Hmmm...Those quotation marks make me a little nervous. What kind of people are we talking about here? The best for last...I was walking along Winslow Avenue and was absolutely delighted to discover a short poem stamped in the sidewalk. And then I found some more! Turns out the poems are part of an ongoing public art project by the city of St. Paul. Here's a link to the Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk page. 
 A little less war A little more peace A little less poor A little more eats.
I'm kind of glad I didn't know about this project beforehand. Coming across these poems totally out of the blue—what a surprise and a joy!
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 I discovered this armless lady-dude cookie jar at the Good Will in West St. Paul. Was tempted to buy it, but $19.95 was too many cookies for me.  Don't you love this? How often do you see an "official" sign with a sense of humor? Found at a rest stop in Iowa along I-29.  Stick horses are still a thing in Nebraska, apparently! As well they should be. A toy that requires imagination AND movement.
Speaking of imagination and movement...Here we have a cat looming on its hind legs like Sasquatch, reaching for a ball of yarn on a bouncy spring. We have a plate of what looks to be cheese. We have a supine companion. And—what's this? Sasquatch Cat's tail is resting on a book. WHY???  This sign was on the wall at my dad's nursing home in Windom. So just who is this Positive Dog? Does it live inside us or among us? Maybe it doesn't matter. The sign definitely makes me want to smile real and laugh big, so mission accomplished.
 I found this in the Good Will Outlet in St. Paul. The outlets are crazy places—big bins overflowing with all the stuff that didn't sell at the regular Good Will stores. And yet, in all the shabbiness and chaos, little messages of hope are everywhere.  Proving yet again that you never know what awaits you when you open a door...This horse was in one of the classrooms (not mine) at the Rochester Technical College, site of the Young Author, Young Artist Conference I took part in recently. I later found out that the classroom was used for veterinary science, so the horse makes perfect sense. If I'd been a child in that room, though, I would have been sorely tempted to climb on top. Some of my happiest times as a kid were in our grove, pretending that an old fuel tank was my trusty steed.
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Nancy Loewenis a children's book author, editor, tutor, mom of two young adults and one feisty cat, and collector of weird things. Featured Posts
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