If you were here, I’d tell you that you picked the right day for it. Sunny and green and blue outside, hot but not humid, breezy. I work mornings now, so if you were an early riser I’d point you toward the Walker Sculpture Garden and tell you that there’s all kinds of lovely things to eat if you head down Hennepin. Also lovely things inside the Walker, and all the postmodernism you can stand. If you were worn out from travel or conferences or life, I’d tell you to sleep in and then take a hot bath. There’s plenty of bath salts in the closet and juice in the fridge. Either way, I’ll meet you at noon, and maybe Mister Husband will come too.

If you just had a few hours before you had to go on, I’d suggest that we drive along the Mississippi and head over to St. Anthony Falls. Maybe walk across the river towards the A Mill and St. Anthony Main and have a beer at Tuggs. If you’re a city history geek like us, maybe we’d go to the mill museum. If you’re a book geek like us, we’d go over to The Open Book.

If you had the rest of the day after that and felt like walking or riding bikes or lazing around in the shade, we’d go over to Como Park and wander around the lake and drink iced coffees. There’s a concert at the pavilion tonight, and the sun will take forever to set over the lake and golf course. We’d spread out blankets on the hill above it all, under the hundred-year oaks. Mister Husband would read and you might nap, and I’d scribble on paper and keep an eye out for suspicious bugs. There might be some fun dogs. We’d lounge under all the rustling green until it was time to grill burgers and shrimp and who knows what else, and eventually we’d contemplate strawberry rhubarb pie or maybe one made with fresh Michigan cherries, and watch all the people below us coming to the pavilion.