POTD: Garmo Stave Church

"Timbers soaked with time,
Withstand a thousand winters.
Strong the stave and stone."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 07 Lillehammer

Today's photo-of-the-day shows the Garmo Stave Church in the Maihaugen outdoor museum in Lillehammer, Norway. It "originally came from the village of Garmo in Lom. It was built circa 1150 on the site of a previous church believed to have been built in 1021 by a Viking chieftain. In 1730, it was expanded into a timber cruciform church...It was dissembled and brought to Lillehammer in sections. It was re-erected at Maihaugen in 1920—1921."

POTD: Turf Roof Above Lillehammer

"Perched where flight begins,
Watching skiers pierce the sky,
Wood and sod stand still."
— h/t ChatGPT

From 2024 07 07 Lillehammer

Today's photo-of-the-day is from Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 Winter Olympics. At the top of the ski jump stands this turf-roofed house, its firm grounding to the solid earth offering a counterpoint to the soaring skiers nearby.

My Coffee with Alan C. North

Source: RichardsonMayor.com.

It turns out that newly-elected Mayor Amir Omar is not the only candidate who has coffee with voters. This week, mayoral candidate Alan C. North had coffee with me. And now, with his permission, I'm here to answer all your questions.

The Sandlot (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes

The Sandlot (1993): Family-friendly nostalgia from the '90s about growing up playing baseball in a neighborhood sandlot — in 1962, just like I did. A Christmas Story did the nostalgia better. So did TV's The Wonder Years. But this movie comes in a close third. I don't know why it's not better known. B-

Disney+

h/t to Leo for this #VeryTardyReview

An Open Letter to Our New Mayor

Dear Mayor Amir Omar,

Congratulations on winning election to become Richardson's Mayor. You worked long and hard for this. You deserve it. Before you decided to run this year, you individually met with 200 Richardson residents for coffee. Friends, foes, and strangers. You tried to understand what the community cared about. Then, after you decided that you had something to offer, you kept on meeting with Richardson residents. Your latest count of coffee meetings is over 400. You had your finger on the pulse of Richardson. And the voters rewarded that. You were the clear choice of a majority of voters to lead our City.