Where did that giant marshmellow come from?*

West St. Paul recently held the grand opening of its new Regional Athletics Center.

The Activities for Seniors page on the website says

Winter is here.  Escape the cold and join us for your morning walk or run on our state of the art field turf.

• Open Walk/Run Monday-Friday 7:00am-9:00am Free to the Public

• Open Field Time Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm $5 per person

But we have it from a reliable authority that the actual open walk times are 7AM -3PM.


Putting aside when it is open, it is a beautiful facility that should provide us one more activity venue that doesn't involve huge slabs of ice and teeny tiny temperatures.

[Walkers are safe from flying soccer balls]

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* The RAC is the second largest dome in Minnesota!

Townhouse? Not so much

According to http://www.bringmethenews.com/2012/12/23/interest-in-townhouses-tumbles-in-todays-real-estate-market/, townhouse sales are not going well in the metro area

Townhouses in the suburbs and small towns ringing the Twin Cities have long  held special appeal for first-time buyers and empty nesters. But today’s younger buyers appear more interested in single-family homes and the older ones are renting or remaining in their existing property.

What can we learn from this to help spread the word about the co-op alternative?

Winter sleep

It’s winter 

and the co-op’s garden has closed down under a cover of snow.  

Some

 of the 24 plots sleep knowing that their purpose next spring is assured.

They

 already embrace the roots of roses, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb.  

Others

are bare and expectant: 

will they host tomato plants, peppers, lettuce, something exotic?

Eight feet square,

Will they have veggies and flowers?   

All 

relax to know that there is water inside the garden,

the vinylled steel fence protects their produce from critters.

The plots

sense it is prideful to flaunt their space

to the gardeners who select them.

Yet spring comes

and the plots call out in soil-speak,

"Choose me, choose me."

The plots

feel special to have partners in the miracle of garden growth.

Meanwhile, they rest.

Group work

To commit or not to commit; that is the question.  Happily, at our cooperative, the answer is positive, which results in . . . COMMITTEES.

With a foundation of basic housing legislation, internal by-laws, and managerial and maintenance staff,  what makes our home thrive are the many residents who regularly gather to share and put into action ideas to benefit the whole: Resident Board, Building, Marketing, Decorating, Security, Activity, Communications, Finance, and various ad-hoc groups see to maintaining a safe, affordable, comfortable, attractive, and sociable community.

This allows us to be individuals with our own space and way of spending time while relying on a cohesive system of governance and association with neighbors.

We’re lucky.  It works!

Winter scene

I just thought you might like to see the view from the 3rd floor, or as I call it: my piece of heaven. Stay warm, and stop to enjoy the frozen beauty. Liz

Elves pay a visit

 

[click to view larger slideshow]

One last swim

A day or so before the snow, Thompson Lake at Thompson Park

The parable of the Bleu Mississippi burger

Looking for the best tasting black and bleu burger can get to be a hobby, the latest entry enjoyed at the Cherokee Tavern as part of a two hour lunch with old friends.

$9 can sound high for a hamburger, but it's a moderate price for a lunch delivered by attentive wait staff to a booth we occupied for over two hours, not to mention the choice of potato, or just how good it tastes.

Meanwhile, the 9 billion sold cheeseburger is now on the Dollar Menu along with the competition. Now that it's there, they will never be able to sell it for more than a dollar no matter how hard they try. Worse, we usually need a coupon before we'll go there.

Silver Tsunami

In the December 2012 issue of the St. Paul Voice, staff reporter Mary Diedrick Hansen brings us up to date on the activities of the Living Longer and Stronger Initiative (West St. Paul braces for the 'Silver Tsunami', embraces senior living program). The group meets at 1:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month at the Thompson Park Community Center.

Highlighting an available home - 108

Setting the standard for open and spacious, 108 is a freshly redecorated example of our F floor plan.

[click image to embiggen]

20° in mid-November? Go outside!

The wind is a bit nippy high on the Mississippi River bluff in Lilydale Regional Park, but the view is worth it.

The Cathedral of St. Paul

The Minneapolis skyline

65° in mid-November? Go outside!

Tired of sidewalks? A field trip to the Dodge Nature Center is just the ticket. These were on the Marie Property (PDF) south of Marie.

Too bad the camera wasn't handy to capture the two bucks fighting over a skittish doe.

More of this, please

Member ES has a mission to recycle as much as possible and reduce the waste that winds up in landfills. By the way, it makes money for the co-op too!

So, by doing less of this

and more of this

ES brought in $89 in October. A big hand, and let's all not pitch in.

Safe and Sound!

A report given to the November 2012 board meeting confirms it - the Fire Department's inspection of our building found no violations or fire risks.  Let's keep it that way!

Vote like you mean it!

Get yourself one of these!

Augustana Lutheran, the polling place for RealifeWSP, is right at the bottom of our west side path.

Speaking of our grandkids, here is some relevant Dr. Seuss:

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own.
And you know what you know.
And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go....
Oh, the Places You'll Go

Step with care and great tact
And remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
Oh, the Places You'll Go

Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better. It's not.
The Lorax

Chili Days

The Open House gave prospective members and volunteer tour guides a chance to score a bowl of member ND's world class chili. The recipe's a secret, but ND shared this advice: "not too much chili powder when you are serving the public."

Yum!

Where's the leaf?

Members MF and SF returned from the LAKE to find the view from their balcony had been 'improved'. They report: "we can see the street much better with all that habitat gone."

The squirrels agree.