The tropical beaches of Minneapolis

This is SO predictable, but one of the things I like to do in summer is go to the beach. It's more to loll in the sun and read than anything else. Being at the beach is like saying to my mind: time to relax! Your computer is NOT HERE! I am a total workaholic, so it's really important that I do that...I say scoldingly to myself.

Yes, Minneapolis has beaches. Actually, Minneapolis has these three little city lakes that are connected and form a hub of recreation for me and lots of other South Minneapolis residents. Each lake has several beaches, all a different flavor. There's a baby-dominated beach, a college-y city beach, a more teen oriented beach, a cookout-heavy beach.

Anyway, each lake is about 3 miles around, with lovely paths around them, so walking around the lake is something nice for summer, too. Or winter, actually.

This is a beach on Lake Harriet, the lake nearest to us, which I can walk to, and my current running lake. Lake Harriet is also my favorite lake for beaches to read at, because the beaches are sleepier.  

A path around Lake Calhoun, my second favorite lake, but my husband's first favorite lake. But this is my favorite part of the walk around Calhoun. In Minneapolis in summer, walking around a lake is a 'thing to do'. It's a fun thing to do where you can have a nice long conversation. Like, if you are going to hang around with a friend, one of the options is walking around a lake together. In fact, local authors Mira Lynn Kelly and Amanda Carlson and I have walked Lake Harriet together in the past. 

Here is Lake Calhoun in the winter. This is the windiest, coldest part, but the skies are often so brilliant. Even in winter, walking the lakes is a thing to do, but not as much as in summer. 

I have been in a quandary about a certain novella, feeling unhappy about it, and it makes me think maybe that is a sign  to go to the beach. What am I doing at my computer?