spring forward

Even though the vernal equinox is a week away, spring seems to have begun in earnest. The day's high temperature was 64 degrees, when historically we're at 39 degrees for the second week of March. I am not complaining.

On top of the ridiculously amazing weather, my friend Sarah called this morning and asked if I knew that we "sprang forward" to daylight savings overnight. And, shockingly, I did not. I am so used to having Eric Englund remind me at the Homeplans' Monday morning meeting whenever the time was changing. Sadly, this lapse indicates just how myopic I have become since second semester began. Just so head down—get kids to bus stop, get self to campus, listen/participate in lectures and studios, do projects. Wash, rinse, repeat. I count on routine to get everything done, but clearly need to step back and see life's bigger picture.

Thankfully, spring break occupies my next seven days. Seven days that I hope go s-l-o-w-l-y. After I got my head wrapped around the time change, discharged the overnight guest, and shuffled a kid out the door to play with a friend for the WHOLE day, I looked around and wondered what to do next. Anything or nothing was possible. Winston was playing the wii, which he would continue to do until bedtime if I didn't stop him, but since his brother was gone, I knew Win would be at loose ends. Only one thing to do about that—get out of the house and have an adventure.

First stop: Uncle Sven's Comic Shoppe, where Winston picked up a pet avengers comic (I refrained, having brought my own). Then we grabbed a bite at the Groveland Tap, while we watched a little NHL and read our books.

Next stop: Minneapolis, shape of culture vultures at the Walker. We wandered through various galleries until we arrived at the current "show," "Benches and Binoculars," highlights from the Walker's permanent collection. Arranged salon style, the paintings crowd two adjacent walls, covering every surface from floor to ceiling. John and Simon saw the exhibit last week so I was anticipating this part of our visit. Certain I'd find "Benches and Binoculars" gimmicky (it is, a little), I was enthralled by the way the paintings were arranged, and I was thrilled to see some of the work, such as the Chuck Close and an actual Joseph Albers. When the exhibit is done, it would be nice to see some of these pieces back in galleries. The installations, which have become so pervasive at the Walker, can go into storage or travel to other museums.

Also, I think it's safe to say that since I have started taking art classes, I have come to see art in a new way. Mostly I wonder how an artist came to their technique and how long a particular piece took to make and when the artist knew they were done.

After the Walker, Winston and I headed to Linden Hills, the charming and secluded Minneapolis neighborhood. First we hit Wild Rumpus. Visited all the animals and browsed sections before settling on Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Demigod Files for Winston and Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? for me (score! especially since the guys at The Source told me I'd never find this Neil Gaiman collectible). To put the cherry on the cake of our day, we had ice cream at Sebastian Joe's.

Winston and I had a spectacular day. We marveled at how warm and sunny it was. Driving around Lake Calhoun, we saw a scene unique to early spring in Minnesota: snowkiting on the still-frozen lake while shorts-clad joggers and cyclists took their laps.

Hope your return to daylight savings was a spring forward as ours!