We got a few more inches of snow this morning and by this afternoon, the skies cleared and the cross country skiers were swarming all over Carleton’s Upper Arb. ‘Twas gorgeous.
When I got back home, I noticed the neighbor girls building a snow fort/mound in their front yard, tunneling underneath it and trying to get their dog to go in.
The folks at Carlson Capital Management and Fifth Bridge hosted this morning’s 5th Annual Jingle Bell Run, one of many running/walking/fundraising events held in Northfield each year. This year’s beneficiary: the Northfield Area Family YMCA.
Left: 5th Bridge volunteer Blake Abdella making a pitch to a prospect
Left Center: Skip Zimmerman, Northfield YMCA executive director seeking wardrobe advice from Kevin O’Connell
Right Center: YMCA Board Member Emily Monaghan snuggling with two creatures
Right: Barry Carlson (far right) recovering with some of the many runners who finished ahead of him.
Click photos to enlarge and see 5 dozen more in 2006 Jingle Bell Run album.
Northfield’s annual Winter Walk is a huge hit. I take lots of photos of the event every year. Some of my favorites this year (click to enlarge):
Left: the scene from the Northfield Historical Society stairs
Center: Only in Minnesota – an ice cream cone, a malt, and a warm fire at 5 above zero.
Left: Bundled-up babes – Gwen Benson with my long-time arm candy, Robbie.
Left: a family in a horse-drawn buggy in front of the Archer House
Center: Rachel Matney and daughter in front of the horse pen
Right: My Locally Grown podcast colleague Ross Currier with psychologist Michelle Millenacker and her main squeeze, soon-to-be-ex-Mayor of Dundas, Glenn Switzer. Glenn’s Switzer’s Nursey and Landscaping had a huge display at 4th and Division.
See all 51 Winter Walk 2006 photos here.
Northfield has a tradition of providing free public access to the internet going back to 1997 when Northfield.org put a terminal in the Goodbye Blue Monday coffeehouse. Eight downtown locations have free w-fi, all within easy walking distance of our house.
Northfield is well-served by high-speed, broadband internet service providers. DSL is available from several ISPs, including Earthlink, Lakes Internet, and DM Broadband. Charter Communications has the cable TV contract in town — we subscribe to its 7 mg service. And MidWest Wireless has its Clearwave high-speed wireless. And with the colleges having installed the fibre for their internet2 access last year, there are now discussions going on among the town’s leaders about how some of that excess capacity could be used (the fiber runs right through the middle of downtown) for FTTP / FTTH / FTTB.
I’ve created a Flickr map with geotagged photos to show you some of what’s near our house here in Northfield: schools, trails, parks, businesses, downtown… all within 6 blocks or so, almost all connected by trails and sidewalks.
Just click the screenshot image and you’ll be taken to the map page where I recommend that you select the hybrid view (satellite plus street maps) and zoom all the way down to the lowest level.
Click the markers to see one or more photos taken at that location and a brief description of what’s in the photo.
Carleton College is on the other side of downtown from our house and adjacent to the College is the Cowling Arboretum, aka “the Arb.” It has an amazing network of trails for walking and cross country skiing, plus some for biking.
I took these fall color photos in the Arb yesterday and today. Click to enlarge and see the full album of a couple dozen high res photos here.
Last week, workers put up the outer, removable fence for the new dog park in Babcock Park next to the rodeo grounds on Hwy. 3. The park is accessible via trail/walking path from our house, once you walk north on Linden St. two blocks to Riverside Park. From there, it’s under the bridge and you’re there.
The weekend prior, volunteers from the group, Canines at Play, dug the holes and installed the poles for the permanent fence along the back of the park.
I drove by the park last weekend and took these photos of a father and his two kids giving their dog a workout. Click photos to enlarge.
The sun broke through after a rainshower late this afternoon so I grabbed my camera and my bike took photos of the schools, parks, paths, and a few stores within a 6 block radius of our house.
I plan to make a geo-map of these photos and attach descriptions of each, but for now, see the entire album here (larger photos).
I’ve added a set of links to various Northfield websites on the lower right sidebar. I’ve taken a few thousand photos of Northfield and community activities and events over the past five years as a volunteer for Northfield.org. Many of those photos, as well as from other citizen-contributors, can be seen in the site’s Northfield photo gallery. Here are 5 downtown Northfield photos I’ve taken this summer, plus one winter photo from a couple years ago. Click to enlarge.
