today felt like a Monday

Truly it did. And that’s not the way I wish to start the week.

We had a super busy three-day weekend, the kind that results in a discombobulating feeling rather than one of restoration or rejuvenation. One of the highlights of the long weekend was seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It's rare that we see a movie on opening day.

John and I took Winston to the movie on Friday night at the Grandview Theater, while Simon played at a friend’s house. We couldn’t convince—or bribe—Simon to come with us on a family outing. He’d rather see the movie in the comfort of our home, so he can put a blanket over his head or run out of the room when confronted with his fears: “dusty.” This would be the armies of skeletons and miles of spider webs emblematic of any Indiana Jones movie.

John, Win, and I loved the movie, which had ample action and a perfect evil enemy in the KGB (it’s all Cold War, baby). There were double crosses. Harrison Ford has aged gracefully and does not disappoint. I also appreciated the return of Karen Allen, as well as newcomer Shia LaBoeuf. Cate Blanchett was fine, no complaints. John Hurt played a colleague gone missing and messed up to great affect. Along the way, there were many subtle and delightful pay-offs for those who have stuck with the franchise. If Simon should change his mind, I’ll see the movie again in the theater. At full price.



Another weekend highlight was driving to Taylors Falls, where we took a three-mile hike, with a few other families, in Interstate State Park. Here’s a word about Interstate from the Minnesota DNR website:

About 1.1 billion years ago, earthquakes erupted from Taylors Falls to Lake Superior. At least 10 different lava flows were the result. The hardened basalt rock from these lava flows was partly responsible for the formation of the Dalles of the St. Croix and the bottom of the river. From 530 million years ago up until 70 million years ago, the state was washed by advancing and retreating seas. Evidence of these ancient seas is revealed in the sedimentary rocks and formations found in the park. These rocks contain fossil remains of ancient animals, evidence of various creatures, and ripple marks left in stone by the now vanished seas. Actually, there have been many different St. Croix Valleys down through the ages. The original one was formed about 70 million years ago. The last one, which exists today, was formed about 10,000 years ago. This last glacier formed both Glacial Lake Duluth, now Lake Superior, and Glacial Lake Grantsburg, now extinct. Glacial Lake Duluth was much larger than Lake Superior is now. As this giant body of ice thawed, its meltwaters roared south to carve out the broad valley of the St. Croix. Only very resistant basalts were able to partially withstand the torrent, resulted in the dalles, potholes, and cliffs.

The potholes are very cool—perfectly smooth and deep holes bored in the basalt.



While the hike is not necessarily strenuous, it does have a few challenges, especially when you’re wrangling kids. On the outbound segment, I had the lead and struggled to stay ahead of two very energetic little girls, who skipped and hopped along in their water shoes (egads!) and regaled me with stories of My Pretty Pony and Barbie. For the last half mile, I straggled at the tail end with Winston, who was tired and having a hard time staying motivated to finish. But we met everyone at the end of the trail and rewarded ourselves with ice-cream cones before our long drive back to the Twin Cities. In holiday traffic.