The Sertoma Christmas in the Park is their best show yet. I am not sure when the tradition of light displays through Oak Park in Minot North Dakota started but I know it was well before I moved here twenty years ago. Over the years it has been pretty static as who (what businesses) participated in it with the exception of a good boost during the "oil boom" years.HOWEVER this year it's seemed to have boomed once again. The little clip below is from my dash-cam and is of low quality but it gives you a little idea of all the action going on this year. There are 58 businesses involved this year.The show goes on through January 1st 2022. 12/24/2021

This is very last minute and there is NO WAY a purchase today is going to be shipped before Christmas but Timmothy Timm and The Titus & Philemon Art Gallery is having it's first ever 11" X 17" Originals art sale. Original 11" X 17" Titus and Philemon art work will be sold at half price ($50.00) from now until Christmas Eve.50% OFF Timmothy Timm's TITUS & PHILEMON 11" by 17" hand drawn original panels. Can you imagine what a similar drawing of Charles Schultz's PEANUTS or Jim Davis's GARFIELD would be worth today? Timmothy Timm's comic strip has been running for over a year in the Minot Daily News and is poised to take off just like Schultz's and Davis's comics did years ago. It's not hard to imagine today's purchase being worth thousands of dollars later on in Timmothy Timm's career whe... 12/17/2021

We have been very lucky this Fall of 2021 that this is our first real snowfall of the season. We were predicted to get 5" to 8" of snow but I think this was more like 3". Because the temperature was close to freezing the snow has pretty much stayed put and not blown around.One of the members of our church drives past the Minot Air Force Base to get to worship said she only saw one Airman in the ditch on her way to worship... that's pretty good. There are times that the first snowfall will cause a dozen or more cars from the base to be in the ditch. Keep in mind that many of these Airmen/women have never even seen snow before today much less driven in it.   12/05/2021

Originally I was going to title this "Put your money where your mouth is" but I'm old enough and wise enough to know that the following demand is someone asking the government to use my money, NOT theirs.In the 1970's the City of Minot took on a huge project to thwart the damage from future flooding of the Mouse River which flows through the heart of the city. Part of this monstrous project was to "straighten out" the river by cutting a new, wider and straighter path to let the water get through the city ASAP.This was a great and effective idea (until 2011) BUT what do you do with those now cut off sections of the original river bed? The answer, back then, was to label them as dead loops and to manage the water flow in and out of them to add to the over-all flood mitigation. Sounds good... 12/04/2021

Carol and Timmothy are done decorating the house and it looks excellent. Carol's Christmas mug collection (a very small section shown above) is out. The tree and everything else is in it's place where it will decorate the house until what ever weekend follows New Years Day.I, however have just gotten started at the office. At least I got the tree up.In the interest of full disclosure the tree is always up and the hearts are always on it. Even the mouse is a permanent fixture so all I really did was throw some lights on the tree and add the Christmas mug.  Normally I bring in several totes of stuff but this year I'm a bit concerned about clutter as the art gallery keeps growing with works from our resident artist (Timmothy N. Timm). 11/29/2021

Don't forget the Downtown Minot HauntsIf you are looking for well decorated properties or for Halloween cards and gifts don't forget about Downtown Minot. Here are a few window scenes I shot just this morning. We don't have much for window display space at the Titus & Philemon Art Gallery but Timmothy did create this 11" X 14" acrylic painting on canvas featuring Titus & Philemon for Halloween. (You can own this original Timmothy N. Timm piece for just $50.00).A special thanks to Kathy Streib for encouraging me to write this by offering a October Challenge- Help Us FALL In Love With Your Area!. Check out the other posts joining in the challenge HERE. 10/28/2021

I'm afraid that the BEST show of Fall colors in Minot may be past already, or at least near it's end by now, but I'm sure can still find some remnants if you "get on it" right away. The shot below was taken at the Game and Fish pond a couple of weeks ago in the middle of The ND State Fairgrounds. It's a small spot but if you get out of your car and walk around you will be sure to enjoy it.This next shot was taken a month ago in the center of Oak Park. The bridge in the center of the picture is the bridge that leads to the Girl Scout Camp in the very center of Oak Park.Through out Minot ND are several "dead loops" which were once part of The Mouse River.  They were part of a huge flood control project in the 70's where the Corp of Engineers "straightened" out the river so it would flow t... 10/27/2021

In the City limits of Minot and in the heart of The North Dakota State Fairgrounds is a little oasis maintained by the ND State Game and Fish Department. They maintain two little ponds that they stock so families can enjoy time together fishing (catch and release).The area around the pond is a wonderful place to have a picnic, meditate, read a book, or anything else that helps you forget about the pressures of the day.This Cormorant was also enjoying the pond as we were.Although this area is, what I would guess, only four acres it's a great place to "lose" yourself from the city. It is open spring, summer, and fall. Bring the family, a picnic basket, and a fishing pole for a time of R&R.  09/30/2021

I'm back into the photo walk mode thanks to my son's new photography class. Timmothy is in his second year of college (majoring in Art) and this semester he has a photo class.Ever since Tina and Timmothy could hold a camera I've made sure they each owned a good one but that spark did not really take off for Timmothy until this year. He rented a Canon EOS7 for the class and it's been a real challenge for him but he is enjoying the challenge.Yesterday we walked through Oak Park in Minot ND and here are a few shots I took along the way.  09/20/2021

I came up with this yesterday and I have yet to ask Timmothy if I could use his characters, Titus & Philemon, so if you don't like what I did please do not hold it against the author of the Titus & Philemon comic strip... it's not his work.This is NOT a political statement. In my office you are free to mask if you want to and free not to if you do not wish to. My personal default is NOT to mask but if anyone entering my office requests that I do while they are here their request WILL be granted. 09/01/2021

If you have ever strolled along the walking path of Minot's Oak Park you surely have seen the story boards along the way.  The story boards are maintained by The Minot Public Library and typically have a pictorial story by Dr. Seuss or another popular artist. The storyboards have been in place for many years and well maintained. They have never featured a local author/illustrator... until NOW! Timmothy N. Timm, Author of two comic strip books, will be the first with his art being installed this week on the Oak Park story boards. Timmoth's books are about two guinea pigs, Titus and Philemon (fi-lee-man), and their owner Joe. Timmothy created individual panels for this special project as opposed to using the strips in his two published books. Here are some samples.  08/05/2021

Every drop of rain is a jewel this year in the State of North Dakota as much of the State is in the highest drought catagory given by the National Weather Service. However these drops actually looked like jewels after a recent sprinkle. You may recognize the plant that used to be in my office. 06/27/2021

Like most cities, big and small, Minot is always doing little things to create tourist photo ops hoping those photos will end up on social media. Well we (the Timm family) took the bait with the new "Magic Minot" sculpture at the end of Main Street and here it is on social media.Two out of Three stands for the members of my family that I love. Tina is in Japan for two weeks with her Guard unit. You notice Carol is wearing a jacket, that was a week ago, over the last two days we have set record high temps in the 90's. 06/04/2021

Pretty easy trivia but just in case you need a hint hereis a video to help you out.Roosevelt Park has a lot to offer and it holds a lot of good memories for me personally. First I will do my best to discribe all that Roosevelt Park offers.Let's start at the South entrance because it's where I enter most often (my house is just a block away). When you enter the parking lot The Roosevelt Park Zoo is right there and they share the same parking lot.You have several choices to make as soon as you step out of your car. You can head to the Zoo, relax under a beautiful gazeebo, or on the bridge over the pond, or on one of the benches overlooking the pond. Also, right at the enterance is the North Dakota Medal of Honor Memorial.The park is a beautiful place for the whole family to walk, picnic, ... 04/30/2021

Minot ND is a city of constant change. While our population has remained faily stable by the numbers (aside from the oil boom and the flood of 2011) we do see a larger than average number of people come and go every year due to our association with the Minot Air Force Base. The population of the MAFB varies from 5,500 to over 7,000 and when you consider troops (men and women) often get reassigned every 3 years that is a lot of people coming and going.It may seem silly to locals that I am going to tell you about Oak Park, Minot ND's largest and most popular park, but as someone who deals with newly relocated troops every day I know some of these young men, women, and families have no clue what is available in Minot.Oak Park is Minot's largest and most popular park. It offers some great w... 04/26/2021

When it comes to signs of Spring on the North Coast you take what you can get. Here are three signs I saw this week.Carol received this buld for Christmas. We followed directions and nothing appeared to be happening for about 6 weeks. Then BOOM! It grow at a rate of about 2 inches a day until it reached 24". This week it fully bloomed.Cattle on the road means that they are not cooped up in the barn or in a feed area. It also means they are going to find a path to the "greener grass" on the other side of the fence. I encountered this bag of beef on my way home from an assignment yesterday.Last of all the Boys of Summer made their first appearance across the street from my home at historic Corbett Field. It was just a practice but it was great to see them. Before the artificial turf was i... 03/05/2021

Yes, I am using the proper "Buy" in this case.In my post immediately prior to this one I had let you know about Timmothy's book signing today and tomorrow but I forgot that many people reading the post may not have a clue as to what books I was talking about.My son, Timmothy N. Timm, is a 19 year old published Author, Illustrator. Most of Timmothy's work is his comic strip about two guinea pigs named Titus & Philemon and their lives with Joe, their friend and owner.Each book is 50 pages of comic strips and we are sitting on enough material to publish at least another six books. Titus and Philemon is also published daily In the Minot Daily News.Timmothy and I office together at 201 Main Street South in the heart of Minot ND's business district. I have my area where I work as a Notary Pub... 11/27/2020

THETitus & PhilemonArt Gallery And TheTimmothy TimmArt Studio Will be open on Black Friday (11/27/2020) with the author/illustrator signing and personalizing books from 2:00 to 4:30 PM. AS WELL AS Small Business Saturday (11/28/2020) from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.  11/27/2020

Drastic times call for drastic measures.  The key word here is drastic. We have all learned in the last year how important it is to protect our health and we all have been taking measures we would have thought were drastic in January of this year. The measures that many of us are taking are to protect our physical health. The measure I am taking these days is to protect my mental health.  The current pandemic is effecting everyone mentally one way or another and for one reason or another. Believe it or not the problem it is causing me is TOO MUCH BUSINESS! I retired from Real Estate two years ago in an effort to slow down and enjoy life. My choice of semi-retirement occupations is to be a Notary Public/Signing Agent. I have been a licensed Notary Public for about 20 years and I enjoyed ... 10/29/2020

 Meet Helen McCormack, Author and regular contributor to the Minot Daily News. Helen was a delight to interview.Here is a book for everyone including those with attention deficit orders like myself. ORDINARY LIFE - EXTRAORDINARY GOD!is a collection of short stories that will keep you reading from cover to cover. I like short stories and none of these are more than a couple of pages. Each story will leave you wanting more. It was nice to visit with Helen "live" as I have been reading here column in the Minot Daily News for many years.           10/26/2020