Middle C

In piano, middle C is the relative center of the keyboard. This blog is a central place to share my passions: music, photography, travels and cooking. I hope you’ll join me, as I document my journey, on this blog, I call Middle C.

Chief War Eagle

Chief War Eagle
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Chief War Eagle Monument overlooks the tri-state area of Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota and offers a picturesque view of the confluence of the Sioux and Missouri rivers.

As a young man, War Eagle spent considerable time working among the white Americans. During the War of 1812, he carried messages for the U.S. government and worked among the native people to promote the cause of the United States against the British. He worked as a river guide on the upper Mississippi and also served as a messenger for the American Fur Company on the Missouri.

Two of his daughters, Dawn and Blazing Cloud, married Theophile Bruguier, a trader with the American Fur Company. They would establish the first white settlement in what would become Sioux City, Iowa.Point of South Dakota, where the Missouri River and Big Sioux River meet

January 2nd, 2013|Nature, People|Comments Off on Chief War Eagle

Merry Little Christmas


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The day indeed was merry, festive and bright, celebrated with great food, drinks and family. Here are just a few photos.


January 2nd, 2013|People|1 Comment

Queen of Peace

Queen of Peace, Sioux City Iowa
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Trinity Heights in Sioux City, Iowa offers more than two dozen shrines, memorial garden spots and quiet corners for prayer and reflection on the grounds of former Trinity College and high school.

Two impressive statues anchor Trinity Heights on each end — the Immaculate Heart of Mary Queen of Peace and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Mary Queen of Peace, Sioux City

Queen of Peace

Mary Queen of Peace, Sioux City
Mary Queen of Peace

January 1st, 2013|General|2 Comments

Family Project


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A repin on Pinterest set the ball rolling for a Christmas weekend family project. After multiple trips to Lowe’s and Menards, my brother, dad, mom and I measured and sawed the pine pieces, assembled the form (with quite a few modifications), sanded the edges and tested different colored stains. After another couple days of applying wood stain and several coats of varnish, we assembled the finished desk in the office. Made in the U.S.A.

Constructed desk on 12/26/2012:

Finished desk on 12/31/2012:

January 1st, 2013|People|Comments Off on Family Project

Cardinal

Cardinal
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With this cardinal, the tables are turned on bird watching. This bird loves people watching. For the past five weeks, he’s tapped on my parent’s kitchen window from sunrise to sundown every 10 minutes or so when the bird sees someone sitting in the kitchen. The cardinal repeatedly taps on the window 3-4 times on each attempt to enter the house. He’s well fed so it’s not like he’s begging for food, yet he’s undeterred. Bird brain.

December 31st, 2012|Nature|Comments Off on Cardinal

Toasty Fire

Target Plaza Commons
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Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful. Since we’ve no place to go (on this Friday before Christmas weekend), I guess I’ll work.

December 31st, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Toasty Fire

Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef apple peeler corer slicer
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My friend Mai gave me a housewarming gift:  a Pampered Chef apple peeler/corer/slicer. It’s the best, and now I can easily make more of these. Pampered Chef makes pretty cool kitchen tools…so much so that I have a dedicated kitchen drawer for those things. I should probably host a kitchen show, huh?

December 31st, 2012|Food & Drink|Comments Off on Pampered Chef

Front Window View

Nicollet Ave, Brit's
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A view of Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis and Vincent’s and also Brit’s Pub from the window of Target Plaza Commons.

December 31st, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Front Window View

Minnesota Christmas cookies

Frosted sugar cookies
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My alter ego chef should be called The Midnight Baker. Some nights I have an extra surge of energy around 9:30 or 10pm, which was when I started making these sugar cookies for my coworkers. I may have purposely broken a few, for tasting purposes in the name of quality control, of course. Even the “rejects” passed, if I do say so myself.

December 31st, 2012|Food & Drink|Comments Off on Minnesota Christmas cookies

Lowe’s

Lowe's Home Improvement store
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When I bought my first home this past August, I had no idea how many trips I’d take to hardware stores–Menards, Home Depot and most notably Lowe’s. I’m there regularly enough to be an employee. It’s amazing (and impressive actually) how much work we’ve done on the house in the first four months, thanks to help from my mom, dad, uncle and aunt. Pretty soon, I can complete my “To Do” list…at least for 2012.

December 31st, 2012|General|1 Comment