animals

Spring Is Here! Two weeks: The Zoo, a Walk, and a Sleepy Cat Introduction

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There are not many things more pleasant than having cold weather go and warm weather come again in Minnesota. Do not get me wrong; I do like winter. It just gets a bit dreary sometimes after the first few snowy days, the piles of sludgy grey on the sides of roads, no flowers or green plants outdoors (except for the evergreen trees!) I miss all of the color quite a bit.

Good news! The plants are starting to bloom and bud once again! (even though we received a little bit of snow here several days ago).

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A couple weekends back it was absolutely gorgeous, and I had the pleasure of being able to go walking Friday and Sunday around my neighborhood. My boyfriend and I went all over the area surrounding the Stone Arch Bridge and Nicollet Island. We also discovered that there was a nest of Totodile at Nicollet Island Pavillion (yay Pokémon Go!) so we hung around there for a while catching a bunch of the happy little reptiles. I managed to get enough candy to evolve one fully into a Feraligatr!

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One of many pretty cool things I saw on our walk was this tree. It looks like it was struck by lightning at some point! The bark was gone on the surface of it, you could see inside of it as it had contracted outwards, and the middle was blackened/charred. I think it is really interesting to look at!

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That Saturday I visited the Minnesota Zoo with my best friend Jenne. It was a lot of fun to see a bunch of the baby animals they have there right now, a sneak peek at their new kangaroos, the farm animal exhibit they have right now (I pet so many goats!) and I even was able to pet a shark in their Discovery Bay area. My favorite picture I took has to be of this sea dragon though!

Another fun bit of information that has occurred since I last posted: I now have a pet cat! His name is Felix, and he is one of the most cuddly cats I have ever met. I love that he really likes snuggling on laps and in the crook of your arms – like a little baby – and that when he kneads he almost never retracts his claws enough to scratch you or rip clothing. He has a very chill personality, but is always up for playing with his toys too!

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Doughnuts, Hawks, Bowling, and Technology

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Today SEVERAL fun things happened that I must elaborate on.

Starting off, when I woke up I found from a friendly text message from my boyfriend that a student group had Krispy Kreme doughnuts on sale for $5 a dozen. These doughnuts in themselves can be a big deal around here, as Minnesota has no Krispy Kreme stores. Most of the time, they can be found for $10 a dozen from student groups fundraising though. However, this particular group WAY overestimated demand within their club for the sugary treats, and so decided to mark them off by 50%. I of course hurriedly got ready for the day and went to the location they were being sold before heading to my first class.

Upon arriving there, I found another awesome surprise: a Red-Tailed Hawk was feasting on a rabbit carcass not thirty feet away from the doughnut stand! To most people, this may seem a bit…disgusting. However, I absolutely LOVE birds of prey, and seeing one up close was a real treat. I took several pictures of him/her before running to my first class: bowling.

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I must’ve had a lucky streak this morning, since my first frame for my first game of the day in bowling class was a strike! To tell of my bowling prowess, I’m extremely happy whenever I score above 100, and am lucky if I get one or two strikes/spares per game (I managed to get three for that game!)

Finally, the end of today was pretty cool, as I attended an event called MinneDemo. Seven newer apps and website groups showed off their content at this event, and I feasted on cheeses, crackers, and even had some beer. The mingling with sponsors of the event, creators, and other attendees was riveting as well, and I think I’ll definitely visit their next event April 23 if I’m able to make it work around my schedule of things I have to do.

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