Ephemera #175

I can't call this post Weekly Ephemera when I haven't been even close to being weekly.   Let's see if I can catch up with what has been happening over the month since my last ephemera post.

• Three weeks ago we went to the Hot Shops open house.  It had been a few years since the last time we'd attended one of these biannual open houses.  It was a beautiful day for it.  We went downtown, had lunch near the stadium, and walked over to Hot Shops.  We browsed the artists' studios and had a nice afternoon.  The Wife bought some Nun note cards and I bought a t-shirt with original art.
• Last weekend we went to Minneapolis to attend the confirmations of three of the Wife's cousins (third removed).  The Wife was sponsor for one of them.  We had a party and attended the ceremony at the cathedral.  It was nice.
• 
  Usually, when we visit family in Minneapolis we usually just do things with the cousins but this time we had some free time and we went to see Paisley Park, the studio, and eventually home, of Prince.  It was a very put together museum and tour.  The Wife was more into Prince than I was but I still found it interesting.  Photos were restricted in most areas but they did allow a few in one area of the complex.  (2026-05-18 Paisley Park Google Photos album)
• The weekend we went to the Brownville Flea Market, market as the world largest which I think is a bit exaggerated.  This is another thing we used to do regularly but haven't done in over five years.  We tried hard but we didn't find any treasures to buy.  We ate some delicious pulled pork and mac-n-cheese and headed back home empty handed.  I wasn't really looking for anything in particular but you could probably find anything you wanted there if you looked hard enough.
• I had my biannual blood draw a week ago.  My glucose and A1C numbers did improve a bit but my lipids inch up.  Most of those are still in the normal range but my HDL (good cholesterol) was well below the good range which sucks.  I have a visit with my nurse practitioner this coming week so we'll see what she thinks.
• My walking has been a bit sporadic.  Since my last Ephemera post, I've walked only 44.3 miles (71.2 km).  I even took last week off which wasn't helpful.  This week i'm going to get back into it ... as I have promises again and again and again and ...

Fifteenth Caminoversary ... How Time Flies

Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of me starting my first Camino de Santiago.  I was excited and a bit nervous as I left St Jean Pied de Port, FR on a five hundred plus mile trek across northern Spain.  A walk that would change how I saw myself.  I have tried to recapture that feeling on other hikes but some first times cannot be repeated.

A sunrise full of promise.

This also marks the beginning of the Wife's Camino in 2023.  She also had a meaningful experience.  I guess the Camino has a way of touching people in special ways.