Just Some Simple Beauty

Have you ever been struck by a simple, beautiful scene in an ordinary setting, at the most unsuspecting time?  Here, I share the view from my dish washing duties at the kitchen sink.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that certainly is true here.  There is nothing spectacular captured here and to some these may seem quite ordinary and even flawed. But with the sun shining, and the flowers coming out after days of gray and rain, it was hard not to feel alive.

Please, Autumn, I beg of you, be slow and easy on us.

My Baby

An unfurled Morning Glory

Virtual Video Visit - The Goddess of Glass and Friends

Last weekend while I was enjoying Lowry Avenue Harvest Fest, I ran into The Goddess of Glass, who has already been featured here on NoMi Passenger. Today she takes us on a video tour of her gift + art + frame shoppe. Enjoy! And stop in to see her in person soon!

Laugh for the Day - The Busy Hectic Life of NoMi Revitalizer

they aren't even close...wtf?

A fun hearted laugh at my expense...

Keeping up with neighborhood volunteering and the activism life as a NoMi revitalizer can be hectic and hurried.  This morning I got a glaring reminder to slow down and have a good natured laugh at life, ya know, keep my celebrity status from blowing up my head too much (sarcasm font). (after all, people are very concerned with my footwear, as already documented elsewhere...kisses to my fan club!)

This morning, sitting next to my front door, where I removed my rain soaked shoes at 9pm last evening upon returning from the Northside Transportation Network light rail meeting held at UROC, I noticed two different shoes sitting by the front door. Not two different pairs of shoes. Two different shoes.  I wore two different shoes last evening as I hurried out the door to get to UROC by the six o'clock start time.

It reminded me of Mayor Rybak and his mismatched socks.  Needless to say it gave me and my morning coffee NoMi Homie a good chuckle.

Word of advice: if you are hurrying out the door to get to a NoMi revitalization meeting, double check your shoes and socks. (Don Samuels, I'm talking to you!)

Happy Friday NoMi Homies! xoxo

Harvest Fest on Lowry Avenue - Photo Journal

Yesterday was the 2nd Annual Lowry Avenue Harvest Festival, which seems to mainly be spearheaded by the community icon North End Hardware and Rental (go see them! best service, best hardware and tons of rentals to get things done!)

Here's a few of the pictures to share with everyone. I'm already looking forward to next year's Harvest Festival, kinda like the way I start looking forward to the Fourth of July on the Jordan Pond around July 5th of each year.

First, a Who's Who at Harvest Fest.  There were so many prominent and well known northsiders in attendance I did not do a good job of getting them all on camera, but here's a few:

Owner of North End Hardware, Darryl Weivoda is with Lynn Moriarty, one of the event organizers and resident of the Cleveland neighborhood, and Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein

Nicole Doran, Willard Hay neighbor and home rehab financier and mortgage extraordinaire helps pass out info for the NoMi Home Tour

Brian Mondl, Upper WHO neighbor and watson band member, also sometimes referred to as "the thongmaster" from an infamous encounter on the Jordan Pond

Jordan neighbors Tyrone and Alexandra Jaramillo with their little one and friend Katie

Another Jordan neighbor, Michael Spivak with his baby, Bear

Anybody who knows me knows I can't resist the chance to thank these hard working officers for the service to the 4th precinct neighborhoods.  Remember to always take the chance to talk to our cops, since mostly they only get to interact with the residents at crisis and low points. GBTFP. (God Bless the Fourth Precinct)

McKinley neighbor and City Hall V.I.P. "Uncle Sherm" was making the rounds. 

City Councilman Don Samuels, resident in the Jordan neighborhood, was spotted talking with Sherman Patterson (Uncle Sherm) and a constituent....

...and started a new bro-mance.

One of the mini-Samuels, as I like to call them.

The other mini-Samuels.

And here's just some of the fun happenings, good food and neat things to take home.  Looking at my photo gallery I see I was so busy chatting with all the various northside community members that I slacked off in capturing a whole lot of the art, jewelry, handmade crafts and other things on display for sale. But here's a glimpse:

NoMi Bumper Stickers were available, if you want a sticker email Joel at

These Camden neighbors Mike and John make yard art from scrap pieces, grow flowers in their backyard greenhouse and gardens and share their fun, funky, pretty stuff for really good prices.

These guys tent was my favorite, so I took a lot of pictures to share..

I'm currently trying to get their permission to put their contact info up here, in case someone is interested in buying mums for $1 or some of their yard art. Stay tuned.

They've got some grapevines in their yard, and each year he takes some trimmings and makes something pretty.

I love the use of old paint can lids.

This bird came to him when the BP oil spill was heavy on his heart.

Everybody loves Pair of Dice Pizza

Most of the northside neighborhood associations had a presence at the festival and were recruiting new participation. This is the main grass roots way of getting involved where you live.

These students from Ascension Academy were having a blast and would have posed for a million pictures, as they were sure they would end up famous.

The back entrance of North End. Super easy parking in the back to get all your hardware and rental needs. I love this place.

This is a pretty well known old timer car that many have spotted around the northside.

The stage had musical acts, some martial arts, cultural performances, the announcements of various contest winners and of course the obligatory greetings from our local politicians.

The Classic Car show and contest was fun, however next year they need to nail down the numbering and voting process so the right cars are getting the right votes and there is no confusion about which number to vote for.

We aren't quite sure what ran in front of her while she was test driving this classic car.

Some of the car collectors were very generous to allow the folks to have a bit of fun while posing for pictures.

A vegetable contest took place inside the Lowry Cafe. 

There was a pie contest, too. Here North End owner Darryl and Cleveland neighbor John Helgeland display the contestants. Dorothy Leathers won the contest, her pie is on the far left. 

Lots of fun to be had here....

Melissa Pohlman, Pastor at Christ English Lutheran Church, helps with the face painting fun.

The Petting Zoo might have been the most fun.

Could the baby cow be any cuter?

This last picture pretty much sums up what the whole day was about: meeting and greeting northside neighbors.

Check out the tiger stripes!