St. Paul is one of my favorite cities to explore. Another Saturday means it was time to head off to the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary. I’d spent so much time exploring Minneapolis that I thought it was time to take a closer look at the sister city. What I didn’t realize was just how CLOSE I would be to St. Paul in spite of exploring a nature area.
One of my favorite parts of the Bruce Vento Nature Conservancy in St. Paul is the fact that there is so much interaction with trains down in that neighborhood.
The first thing I saw was a signpost that pointed in different directions I could go and different things I could check out. To my surprise, I saw a sign that said I was one mile from downtown St. Paul. Well, I can’t let the chance go by to check out one of my favorite places to take pictures. I’m an architecture buff and love the way St. Paul was put together.
Walking a short way down the sidewalk, I saw a familiar sign in the distance; “CHS Field.” For those who don’t know, it’s the home of the St. Paul Saints, who play in the Northwoods Baseball League. I couldn’t believe I’d walked approximately a mile and went from a nature sanctuary to the edge of a major city like St. Paul in that short of a time frame. I’d driven by CHS Field many times while traveling between the Twin Cities and Rochester.
One of my biggest surprises of exploring a nature area was how close I still was to the city. A half mile directly behind me on the same sidewalk was the nature area. A half mile ahead stood St. Paul. I love the surprises you find when exploring the Twin Cities. (Photo by Chad Smith
I did see something I hadn’t come across before. It looked like a big lot that contained railroad tracks running in a half-circle before splitting into at least a half-dozen separate tracks that each ran into a large gray building. It reminded me of an auto shop that has several different doors along one side that each run into a separate repair station. I’m pretty sure I’d found a repair shop for trains, but I honestly don’t know that for sure.
Walking around the block past the train depot, I found myself in St. Paul proper. I really love the architecture down there. I saw one building from behind that looked like an abandoned warehouse. However, walking around the front, it was an immaculate series of shops up and down the length of the building.
You wind up exploring a nature area in St. Paul and find yourself on the doorsteps of a St. Paul Saints baseball game. (Photo by Chad Smith)
The only thing I was unhappy with while walking around St. Paul was the number of people holding cardboard signs. You know what I’m talking about, right? The homeless veteran signs always break my heart. I’ve spoken to more than a few homeless veterans (and handed out a few bucks too), with those some of the most heart-breaking stories you’ll hear. However, at the other end of the spectrum, there was at least one gentlemen holding a homeless sign who was literally dressed better than I was. Who knows what to believe anymore?
At least I knew for sure where I was in St. Paul today? (Photo by Chad Smith)
If you saw my last post about exploring, it should be obvious I find urban artwork (tagging) interesting. I saw my favorite tag earlier today that said “Freddy sucks eggs.” Thanks for the tip. It makes me glad my name isn’t Freddy.
I loved the red brick architecture I found here on the edge of St. Paul. (Photo by Chad Smith)
One thing I find interesting about both Minneapolis and St. Paul is the fact that they seem to have repurposed a lot of buildings for new uses. (Photo by Chad Smith)
St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Loved the colors at the Bruce Vento Nature Conservancy in St. Paul.
This is the part of city living I DON’T like… at all. I think the bridge at the Bruce Vento Conservancy could hold me up? (Photo by Chad Smith) Did I mention that was a LONG train? This was kind of weird.
If you read this far, thank you! Here the link to my Facebook photo album:
Lanesboro alum Eric Holst is a two-time national champion in the Hammer/Weight Throw and finished as a runner-up in this year’s hammer throw event at the NCAA Division Three Track and Field Championships. (Contributed photo)
Track and field has been very good to Lanesboro alum Eric Holst. He’s a three-time All-American track athlete at St. Thomas University. He’s a two-time national champion, winning the Hammer Throw (outdoor season) as a junior and the Weight Throw (indoor season) as a senior. Holst wound up taking second in the Hammer Throw at this year’s National Division Three Track and Field Championship Meet. Holst said he was initially disappointed that he couldn’t repeat in the top spot but second was still a great way to finish up his college track career.
Runner Up
“It’s second place in the nation and very few people will ever reach that in their athletic lives,” Holst said. “It’s still a great thing and I still get All-American honors. However, I still wanted to win. I don’t know a single athlete that wouldn’t want to hit that mark. It came down to one throw that didn’t go my way.
Lanesboro’s Eric Holst qualified for the NCAA Division Three National Track and Field Championship Meet in both the hammer throw and the discus. He finished as the runner-up in the hammer throw. (Contributed Photo)
“My first throw of the meet was technically sound (60.90 meters),”
Holst recalled, “it just felt soft, not full-go. However, that put me into the
finals, which meant I was All-American. I told myself at that point ‘now we can
push it.’ I attacked my second throw too hard and let go one turn too early in
order to save the mark. Still, that throw put me into second place (61.69
meters).”
Holst said he couldn’t find the rhythm again and wound up
scratching on his next four throws. The senior thrower either hit the net with
the hammer or stepped out of the launch area. The only two throws he hit all
meet were the first two attempts. “I just couldn’t find it again,” he said.
However, it wasn’t just Holst that lost his rhythm.
Zak Dysert of Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio wound up as the national champion in this year’s hammer throw. He had a couple of scratches and poor throws during his earlier attempts. However, Holst said Dysert ‘pulled it together as I should have’ and won it on his last throw (62.01 meters). Converting meters to feet shows just how close the competition turned out to be. Dysert’s best throw totaled 203 feet, 5 inches. Holst’s best throw was one-inch shy of that mark at 202-05.
A Big Change
Holst made a big change in his training last year that carried over to this season. He switched up his throwing form last year as a junior. He went from spinning three times before releasing the hammer/weight to four times. It took some time to get used to, but Holst was feeling good about the adjustment by the end of last season. This season, it took a little longer to find the rhythm during his senior year.
“Switching from three rotations to four give you more time to accelerate ahead of the throw,” Holst explained. “If you’re a very explosive athlete, three turns are generally all you need. I’m not as explosive as many other competitors are, so that fourth turn to build up more speed can help me even the field quite a bit.”
Training Harder
In addition to changing his throwing form, Holst also changed his in-season training regimen. “I trained a lot harder during the season and attempted a lot more throws in practice,” Holst recalled. “The hope was that I could break down my body a little more during the season in hopes of building up to a stronger peak by the end of the year. I cut back on the number of throws as I got to the meets where they give out titles, trying to be a little bit fresher at that point of the season.”
Because it’s a throwing event, strength is obviously
important if athletes want to be competitive. However, Holst says technique
plays an even bigger part in success. “I think it’s the most technically-driven
event in all of track and field,” he said.
“You mainly see that when you go from high school track up to the college level,” Holst said. “At the lower level of competition, you’ll see big guys that win by simply outmuscling the other competitors. However, when you get up here, you’ll notice that people aren’t quite as big as they were down below. They realize it takes more than just brute strength to compete in the throwing events. Everyone is strong, so it boils down to technique.”
Eric Holst of Lanesboro is one of the more successful Burros when it comes to collegiate sports. He’s a two-time national champ in the hammer/weight throw and a runner-up in the hammer throw at this year’s national meet. (Contributed photo)
Holst is quick to credit his coaches for pushing him to be better every day, both at practice and during competitions. However, they won’t be pushing him anymore as his St. Thomas track career ended after the Outdoor National Meet. Looking back over his four-year career, it’s been interesting to remember how things developed.
On to New Things
“It really hit me hard this year that I’m done with college
track,” he recalled. “I struggled with it for a few days. I remember back in my
freshman year when we had a thrower that placed ninth at the national meet. We
looked up to him like a god because he was one spot away from being an
All-American. A spot in the national meet seemed so unattainable that we
thought he was a ‘freak athlete.’
“It’s funny to look back and think about how I’ve made the
same level of competition as that ‘freak athlete’ back then,” Holst added.
“It’s kind of wild to think that I did it too, especially when I think about my
freshman season and what we had thought was so unattainable.”
What will he miss the most about college track? It boils
down to one word: routine.
“I’ve been used to going to class and going to track
practice for the last ten years, going all the way back to middle school,”
Holst says. “Now, there’s no more practice at all. It’s off to the workforce,
which is a whole different routine to learn.”
Sunken Cities. The name alone peaks the interest, doesn’t it? It was an interesting trip for a guy like me from a small town. Thought it would be a good idea if I got some culture. The wife bought tickets for the family to head to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to take in the Sunken Cities exhibit. If I understand it right (and I’ll post the official description in a bit), there were a couple big cities right on the northern coast of Egypt. They were huge ports of trade that suddenly seemed to disappear from existence. As near as the experts can figure, rising sea levels combined with seismic activity led to their downfall. Here’s the official history behind the exhibit.
It still blows my mind that major cities, even way back then, could just up and disappear. They were literally Sunken Cities.
Imagine being a scuba diver in the Mediterranean Sea and coming across some of these amazing artifacts. In fact, of all the items on display, the museum figures it’s only about 10 percent of what’s buried down there at the bottom of the sea. There’s much more work than someone can accomplish in one lifetime. Here’s the official description from the MIA website.
Gotta admit, this one creeped me out a little.. “the eyes say ‘Helter Skelter,’ don’t they? ((Photo by Chad Smith
A Pharaoh’s head sculpture found at the Minneapolis Institute of Art’s Sunken Cities exhibit. (Photo by Chad Smith
“More than 1200 years ago, two ancient cities were lost to natural disasters and the rising tides of the Mediterranean Sea. Two decades ago, underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio and his team discovered those Sunken Cties, revealing monumental statues, religious images carved in stone, exquisite jewelry, and delicate ceramics—and a greater understanding of life during the age of the pharaohs. Don’t miss this epic story of their discovery.”
By the way, if this is something you’re interested in, admission to the museum is free but you do need to buy tickets.
This is a wash basin built out of pink granite. Absolutely beautiful to behold. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Again, the ancient Egyptians were amazing craftsmen, weren’t they?
Here’s a link to my photo album I put up on my Facebook page:
I’m from a town of less than a thousand and currently living in a city of almost 3.3 million people, so I’m naturally out of my comfort zone. However, it is getting easier. There’s sure a lot more to do here but why does it always have to be so expensive here in the big city? I work from home and have lots of time to read and think about things. I don’t share my inner thoughts easily with people I don’t know, but I’m already way out of my comfort zone here, so let’s give blogging a try.
I really don’t care that Nike has hired Colin Kaepernick. I just don’t. I’m physically and emotionally exhausted by the great American Flag/National Anthem debate. He’s got a God-given right to do what he believes is right, and more power to him. However, before the Kap supporters get too big for their britches, other people have a similar God-given right to not support it. That’s what true freedom of speech is. Just because someone doesn’t agree with you doesn’t mean either side is wrong. We’re all allowed to have different opinions.
That leads me to another point. Are you as exhausted as I am by the division being sown daily in this country? The United States aren’t quite as “United” as they used to be. Our political “leaders” are doing a great job of stirring up dissension in the country and then doing an equally great job of promising to “fix” it. We keep believing the promises and keep electing the same morons, over and over, expecting different results. How does that make sense? And, it’s not one side of the political aisle or the other. It’s both.
We’ve left two political parties in power for far too long. It’s time for new leadership and new blood in D.C. We have to start paying attention to the candidates running for office and the promises they make.
Please Minnesota, do some research on our state candidates. For example, don’t vote for Keith Ellison to be the state’s attorney general. The man’s law license is inactive. Maybe you should ask him why? Plus, he’s got domestic assault allegations to answer for. I cannot believe that his party is so quick to attack the president for the way he views women (which itself isn’t acceptable) but actually come out in support of someone with domestic issues of his own?
Oh, and before you get huffy and go on the attack, I didn’t vote for Trump. Didn’t vote for Clinton either. Voted for Gary Johnson, who I honestly thought was the best choice for the office. That’s all I’m hoping we do in Minnesota. Vote for the best possible candidate for each office. Is that too much to ask? Don’t vote for someone just because the media tells you too, either. Do your own research and make an informed choice, no matter who you choose.
Maple Grove is quite a place. I’ll never forget one of the first days here when I took the dog for a walk. No less than three neighbors actually waved to me as I walked by. That hasn’t happened since I lived in South Dakota, where everybody knows everyone else. I’m in the middle of a big city and a major metro area and people were waving at me? Was really caught by surprise.
My dog, Jazz, is a greyhound. A black one. She’s absolutely beautiful to look at. And absolutely lazy.
