some updates from Minneapolis

I'm in a mood to put seeds into flats, although we're still many weeks from ground thaw, and the seedlings wouldn't be safe from frost on the porch yet. My indoor holiday cactus is blooming again in its semi-annual tradition, and earlier than last spring. I hope I get a job soon, so I can stay with my garden.

I took this photo yesterday morning. The knee-high corner of the raised garden bed is beginning to show again after the recent snowfall. Today is another overcast day, although the temperature is supposed to rise above freezing again this afternoon. Snow has been there on the ground since November, which is typical for Minneapolis winters. The last news I saw said that we were in our 8th snowiest winter ever. Some people are having fun with the evidence.

There's been more gunfire here in the local warzone, with some of it fully automatic. The police dashboard is a mixed bag. Some crimes are down significantly, but others (car theft) up significantly. If you choose the dropdown menu to select only "Precinct 4" data (where I live), you'll see that homicides are nearly double the rate from last year locally. Obviously, I'm very safe and very rich, if you average me with Bill Gates instead of my actual neighbors.

I've used the local Asian grocery for two months now. It's a good place to find fresh fruit and vegetables, although "organic" isn't really available, like it was at Aldi's. One day, the cashier asked if I found everything, and I asked if the instant (think: Ramen) noodles had any gluten-free options? They went in back to look, didn't find any, then came back to me and said to check next week after they ordered some. Now, I'm glad to report that the rice-based Mama and Mamy brand instant noodle meal packets are enjoyable. This is in addition to the huge bags of potato noodles that I found back in October on my first visit to the store (when I had a car). Plus, I get gluten-free flours by postal delivery from Target to make my own cookies, so I'm not hurting for food choices necessarily.

Another major food source is closing nearby, though. It's a neighboring city, but it's the one where Daunte Wright was killed in 2021, one of the areas near to "north Minneapolis". I'm beginning to wonder if insurance companies have had sternly worded conversations with their corporate customers and made it clear it will become expensive to insure in areas where they forecast increased unrest soon. Is corporate withdrawal happening in other metros in the USA? What new crisis are they expecting, or is it just the usual SNAFU with continuation of terrible wages compared to cost of rent and food as evictions continue?