Moments in the Park
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Celebrating wood, wind, and words
​in St. Paul, Minnesota

What are Moments in the Park?
Moments in the park capture the essence of a sight, sound, scent, or sensation.
Moments are specific to a particular place and time. They often relate to the weather - wind, rain, snow, clouds - or seasonal changes in plants or animals - new leaves appearing, flowers blooming, birds singing.
Many of my moments are found in my local city park. But a "park" can be anywhere something catches your attention, your awareness, your imagination. I have found moments in the median of busy roads while running errands, in the play of light on the bathroom wall, and from the windows of airplanes.
The practice of being open to moments, of observing the particular details of a place and noticing changes from day to day and month to month, is a way of being mindful and present, of engaging with and appreciating the natural world wherever you happen to be.
Share Your Moments

Moment: June 30, 2017, 4:00 p.m.

6/30/2017

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PicturePhoto: pixabay user 4924546
While waiting for the train after work yesterday, I was entertained by the antics of the cabbage white butterflies fluttering around the wildflowers growing between the road and an on ramp.

Cabbage Whites
A white fultter over roadside wildflowers
Another and another and another
Half a dozen in all
Two squabble
Whirling ball of frantic flapping
The defeated flops, flattened onto a mound of leaves
The victor continues to scold
Flitting, darting quick jabs
Little butterfly, tasty morsel for a hen to peck
Becomes the hen-pecker

West Bank Station
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Moment: June 28, 2017, 6:45 a.m.

6/28/2017

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Pale orange lilies lift skyward, golden chalices raised in a toast to the rain.
Hamline Ave.
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Moment: June 23, 2017, 6:30 a.m.

6/23/2017

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A maple leaf catches early morning sun in its green net, holding the light up to be admired.
Our neighbor's back yard
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Moment Memory: June 22, 2016

6/22/2017

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Like an orchestra's brass section, the flared flowers of flashy yellow lilies trumpet a greeting from our front hill.
My front yard
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Moment: June 15, 2017, 6:30 a.m.

6/15/2017

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Picture
Dinkytown Greenway
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Moment: June 11, 2107, 12:15 p.m.

6/11/2017

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A great blue heron, bird of prehistoric proportions, lumbers overhead, broad wings undulating like canvas in water
Larpenteur Ave.
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Moments: June 7, 2017, 6:15 a.m. (2 for 1 special!)

6/7/2017

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A pair of moments of architectural creatures:
Tiny red aphids march up false sunflower stems at intervals as regular as kernels on an ear of corn.
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Horton Park
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On Regulations & Safeguards

6/5/2017

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I was in Chicago this weekend to do some networking for Moments in the Park (notably meeting with Connie Johnston of the Coordinates Society). I brought some sidewalk chalk and was planning to do some “guerrilla marketing,” chalking a sampling of moments and my web address around Millennium Park. The first chalking was a lovely experience, as curious passerby stopped to see what I was writing. I even had a nice chat with one woman and gave her a bookmark for future reference. The second one was going well too, until a couple of park maintenance guys came by in their cart and informed me that what I was doing was “defacement,” a term he repeated no fewer than three times. Since the definition of defacement is damage to property and the chalk would wash away in the next rainstorm, I disagree on the terminology. I had also looked up the park rules on their website beforehand, and had seen no mention of such a rule. But they were dead set on splashing my work with a bucket and scrubbing it away (probably without even reading it). 

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Moment: June 5, 2017, 7:00 a.m.

6/5/2017

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Wild barley seed heads ruffle in the wind, waving bristles seeming as soft as an infant's hair brush
Pierce Butler Route
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Moment: June 1, 2017, 4:30 p.m.

6/1/2017

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Picture
My back yard
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    Picture

    Tracy Kugler

    Finding nature's beauty close to home.

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