Raw Land

from flickr user kodiax2
Storm season in Minnesota (of the summer variety) better be just around the corner. Today brings blizzard conditions to the west and chilly rain here in the Twin Cities area. I'm practically tingling just thinking about how great it will be to see scenery like this once again.

Mountain iron

from flickr user capwell
Loaded taconite, still steaming. shot from the US 169 overpass in northern Minnesota's appropriately nicknamed Iron Range.

Goose Shadows

from flickr user bowlinball4
A nicely silhoutted photo of some geese taken in Hennepin County.

Icy Sunrise on Lake Superior

from flickr user tkellyphoto
The sun peers through the clouds reflecting in the breaking spring ice as Lake Superior crashes into a beach near the Poplar River in Lutsen, Minnesota.

Under the bridge

from flickr user the joy of the mundane
A slightly Photoshopped capture from under a four (or more) lane bridge. If only the photographer had identified the location...

Turquoise lights in motion

from flickr user lilith collective
More crazy-cool light trails. These photos alwyas blow my mind and while I have a good idea on how to create this visual mind-bender, I haven't done any experimentation yet.

An owlish hike

from flickr user dtredinnick13
A stark black and white photo of the early-Spring tranquility of the Minnesota River valley in Bloomington, MN.

Inside the Fargo Dome

from flickr user simminch
Spc. Jarred Munoz, of the 1818 (kneeling), and Spc. Joshua Bechtle, of the 957 Multi-role Bridge Company, with shovel, mix with civilian flood-fighting volunteers who pack the floor of the Fargo Dome in an effort to fill sandbags used to block the rising waters of the Red River, Fargo, N.D., March 24. Photo by Master Sgt. David Lipp.

At last count, there were over 6,000 volunteers filling sandbags inside the Fargo Dome to aid in shoring up the immense sandbag walls protecting the cities of Fargo and Moorhead.

For more up-close reporting from the Fargo flood zone, check out Minnesota Public Radio's Bob Collins on his News Cut blog.

Red River Flood 2009 Fargo/Moorhead

from flickr user moorheadmnjack
An aerial view of the Red River flood zone in Minnesota and North Dakota. While portions of some roads are still visible above the soon-to-be-record floodwaters, they will likely be submerged when the Red River crests tomorrow.

River view - Fargo

from flickr user jeanne lisbeth
The flood barricade along the Red River between Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota.

Still sandbagging in Fargo, North Dakota

from flickr user simminch
The photographer says: Master Sgt. Gregory Scott, of the 119th Logistics Readiness Squadron, passes a sandbag to another Airman, March 25, in Fargo, N.D. The sandbags are being placed on top of a dike to block rising river water of the Red River along the North Dakota and Minnesota border. Photo by Master Sgt. David Lipp.

This is now past a week of continuous sandbagging along the Red River. A crest of 43' is expected tomorrow (Saturday) and the sandbagging efforts are only being hindered by the cold temperatures that have blanketed the area since mid-week.

Mural Across from Roosevelt High School

from flickr user edkohler
As The Deets' Ed Kohler says: This rainy run started just to the West of the light rail on 40th St E at 31st Ave S. I headed West from there past Roosevelt High School where neighboring residents have added murals to their properties.

Check out more photos from his running excursion here.

Minneapolis Skyline & Stone Arch Bridge

from flickr user Rock Chalk Jayhawk Cartographer
Minneapolis Skyline at night, taken from the Stone Arch Bridge.

Just another reason to love nighttime photography.

An icy Duluth

from flickr user msyrjama
Check out all that ice. This photo, taken Monday at the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus, shows up close detail of the ice weighing down every structure and living thing along Lake Superior's north shore.

Making Its Way to the Red River

from flickr user Roofer 1
Taken Sunday, March 22, the photographer says: You can see by these pictures why they are preparing for a historic flood. This is actually a wheat field during the summer. Mile after mile the fields look like this and it is all heading towards the Red River of the North. It is currently raining and we are expected to get between 1 and 2 inches of rain tonight. Fargo-Moorhead are currently raising dikes surrounding the city and are asking for volunteers to help fill one and a half million sandbags.

Sandbagging in Moorhead

from flickr user advieau
A building stands like a fortress behind a wall of sandbags as the flood waters from the Red River rise at Moorhead, Minnesota.

Sandbagging in Fargo

from flickr user seanmcne
Sandbagging efforts are in full swing along the Red River in the Fargo (ND)-Moorhead (MN) area. The crest of 41' is expected Friday which is more than 20' above flood stage and higher than any other flood stage in over 100 years of records.

Quick Fix

from flickr user Midnight:30
Another photo of skateboarding alongside the Minnesota River in Manakto. Additional info here.

It's officially Spring in Minnesota

from flickr user Midnight:30
You know it's finally Spring in Minnesota when the kids eagerly drag their skateboards out of storage and take to areas seemingly made for boarding. This photo, taken in Mankato, shows the boarders on the river walk below the flood wall on teh Minnesota River in downtown Mankato, Minnesota.

Tower In The Sky

from flickr user The Joy of the Mundane
The photographer captured this intense photo which looks like a slice of country in the heart of thity while waiting to get onto I-94 just east of The Metrodome.

Carver, Minnesota Historic Railroad Water Tower

from flickr user dgwallick1
A crazy-intense photo of the historic railroad water tower and restored rail car located near the Minnesota River in Carver, MN.

Border Battle, Whose Cow is Bigger?

from flickr user dgwallick1
The photographer says: A new border battle between Minnesota (Bongards, on US Highway 212) and Wisconsin (Neillsville), who has the bigger cow?

Both were seen outside of cheese shops, one talks, and the other was festive for the holidays.

St. Patty's Day parade

from flickr user aboemonster
St. Patrick's Day parade 2009 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Proof positive that the holiday is for all ages!

Metropolitan Stadium

from flickr user dalezoom
A photo of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota taken in the mid-1980s after the HHH Metrodome opened and before the construction of Mall of America.

Minnesota Snow Puddles

from flickr user Boris n Gus
Yes, this is what kids do in Minnesota after being confined to moonboots and snowsuits for five months. Welcome back spring, we've missed you.

Glowing stones

from flickr user jddroske
A ground level perspective of the stone arch bridge in Minneapolis.

Feathered friend

from flickr user MinnTim
The photographer says: Boomer the parrot and his owner Lee. Boomer hangs out with Lee in the skyway near my office in downtown St. Paul.

Minnesota evening

from flickr user From The Road Brian
A vibrant and warm-feeling late-winter sunset near Rochester, Minnesota. The recent snow and ice in southern Minnesota should be nearly gone by the beginning of the workweek on Monday.

Austin's Buffy the cow

from flickr user angelrove
Austin, Minnesota's rather unknown "Buffy the Cow" statue. It resides in a tucked away corner of southeast Austin atop the Ankeny dairy building. I grew up drinking my fair share of Ankeny's milk which was purchased around the city ant the half-dozen or so locally-owned mini-franchise of convenience stores. There are still two or three Ankeny's stores left as Kwik-Trip has taken over that particular niche. In all my trips back to Austin, this is one of those icons I haven't photographed but will during my next visit.

7-Up silo

from flickr user angelrove
This roadside attraction (of sorts) has caught my eye for many years. It sits alongside US Highway 169 north of St. Peter, MN on the west side of the highway. I've always meant to photograph it myself and am curious about its history as the 7-Up Spot was an 80s-90s thing. Was this done by a rabid 7-Up fan or a cool piece of roadside marketing?

Desolate

from flickr user moegev
This is rural Minnesota (at least the southern and western areas) in the winter months. Yes, I'm being honest.

A camera-hungry horse

from flickr user Vintage Daydream
An extreme close-up of a miniature horse at Mankato. Minnesota's Sibley Park. The funny thing about miniature horses is that they don't look very miniature when photographed at close range.

Leaving on a jet plane

from flickr user photo.klick
A glimpse of the tarmac at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport as the photographer waited to depart snowy Minnesota for sunny Los Angeles, California.

A flock of cranes

from flickr user Gregory Roth
It's always refreshing to find beauty in an eyesore and while a gawdy display of industrial equipment is rarely pleasant to look at, this photo is an exception.

Angry skies

from flickr user -Chad Johnson
This cloud photo makes me shudder with fear. Seriously. That's an angry looking sky. Nice work capturing the moodiness of March in Minnesota.

Polar Bear Plunge

from flickr user epmd
The photographer says: The 2009 Lake Calhoun Polar Bear Plunge, to help raise money for the Special Olympics. This is when they came back above water. And yes those are ice blocks behind them that they cut out of the lake to make the hole to jump in.

A relic

from flickr user tromasbronot
Rooftop antennas such as this one are more likely to be seen in the Smithsonian museum than on an actual roof. While the picture quality already has received a boost with the impending DTV transition, few take advantage of free TV anymore.

The black hole of Minnesota

from flickr user kodiax2
A truly unique, if not weird, approach to creating a panoramic photo. This one is of the Minneapolis, Minnesota skyline.

Spring in St. Paul

from flickr user The Ishman's
A skyline photo of downtown St. Paul from warmer days. This was a bad idea to choose this photo because it makes me even more anxious for spring.

There's a bike somewhere under that snow

from flickr user Vintage Daydream
The snow which blanketed the Twin Cities last week also packed a punch in Mankato as this snow-covered bike shows. Look for the snow to receed this week as temperatures supposedly climb into the mid-40s.

The bluest skies in Minnesota

from flickr user All Seeing
A truly gritty feeling cityscape. The graffiti on the rusty rail car in contrast with the deep blue of the sky make for a very surreal capture.

Blue raspberry ice

from flickr user bill.roehl
The vibrant blue of the ice of a frozen waterfall brings some cold color to our freshly whitened landscape in Minnesota. A perfect companion to this photo from last week.

Duluth International Airport

from flickr user jeffree 2671
Yes, they do have air travel in Duluth as this barren photograph of the winter landscape at the Duluth International Airport reminds us.