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I achieved a mini-escape yesterday with a hike through lovely Elm Creek Park Reserve, one of the many nature-in-the-city havens known ’round these parts as the Three Rivers Park District (formerly Hennepin Parks). We Minnesotans are blessed indeed with an incredible system of well-maintained parks, picnic grounds, beaches, hiking trails, and bike paths, many of them interconnected via the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway and regional bike trail pathways. Free parking, peace and quiet, wildflowers, birdsong…and when you’re done with solitude and near the picnic areas, some of the best food- and people-watching in town. I witnessed some serious barbecue action yesterday – lots of delicious smoke, cold beers, and tables groaning with homemade salads and desserts. And a volleyball game starring every body type, from shirtless guys with rock-hard abs to a very tan, 300-pound woman in a teeny-tiny bikini. Minnesota RAWKS!

From my walk, I headed straight to the movie theater to see Waitress, a movie I’ve been dying to see before it left the theaters. Loved. It. Loved it. My kind of movie. Unbelievable food scenes (pies, glorious, gorgeous pies, savory and sweet and everything in between), just unbelievable. And a great story and characters and style. Loved it. Sigh.

And then my date with myself was over, and I headed back home, for a little time at the pool with John, and then the Brown family. Easy, easy dinner – grilled chicken in tortillas with avocado, roasted tomatoes and onions, cheese, sour cream…all the good stuff. And potatoes on the grill made spicy by a few shakes of ancho chili powder. And that’s it. (No pie, darn, I sure had/have a hankering for pie…perhaps today…) Dinner on the deck, a little more swimming for the kids, then the Browns moseyed on home and the Levys declared bedtime. Another summer’s Saturday, gone in the blink of a squinting eye…