I took my dog for a walk today. He slipped and fell, since he’s a basset hound he didn’t have to fall too far… only about a couple inches. It was kinda like he just rolled over. Here you can see an almost perfect outline of his body. This is an icy driveway that we were walking past.

Because of the problems of water running into the sewer the city required homeowners to install sump pumps in their basements. Most sump pumps drain out onto the sidewalk which is causing horrible ice dams. Even though I had been avoiding this spot for a couple weeks. I miscalculated, slipped an fell hard at  this spot two days ago.

From Lake Superior Streams.com The reason for the sump pumps is because the footings in old houses were connected to the sanitary sewer which causes overflow during rainstorms.

If you own an old house footing drains were connected to the sanitary sewer system, and are now one of the causes of overflow problems in Duluth.

While old footing drains are good at keeping water away from the foundation of the house and help to keep basements dry, they are one of the largest contributors of clear water to the sanitary sewer system. Footing drains should be redirected to empty into a sump pit. The water can then be pumped out by a sump pump into the yard where it can be dispersed into the natural soil-groundwater and then flow harmlessly away in the storm sewer system

In keeping with the theme of the City Daily Photo project, I am posting the only photo I took outdoors on the 30th I took a bunch indoors that you may see on my Naomi’s Duluth Adventures blog. The past few days I’ve noticed logging trucks heading east on Superior Street. It took me a while to get make camera out of my bag, but you can see the truck of logs on the left hand side.

The lines were long in the Post Office in Lincoln Park on Monday. But they move pretty quickly and the postal employees as well as the customers were in nice mood. Many were telling acquaintances, “Merry Christmas!”

I was so surprised to see this “spring green” tree near the end of October that I had to take it’s photo. As you can see the leaves next to it are all crinkled and have turned brown or fallen. I’m not sure why this tree still has the bright green leaves.  This tree is downtown in an alley.

In the distance you can see a laker. In real life your mind’s eye edits out the power lines and poles. A person really notices them in a photo. We didn’t even notice the two young men (probably college students as this restaurant is in East Hillside) eating their lunches on the hood of the car until we notice the laker and took a photo.  We were sitting on the balcony of Burrito Union Here is a story I wrote  a few years ago about “the Burrito”: Duluth restaurant capitalizes on socialist theme. (Read the story to see how I chose the title of this post.)

We chose to sit outside because we love the food, but the aucostics in the building a bad. We wanted to talk to each other and actually hear each other. It’s very loud. It was a little chilly outside on the baclony in back overlooking the parking lot as well as a peek a boo view of the lake.

The photo below is a closeup of  the laker gracefully gliding by as we eat our meals of the “Happy Worker”  (veggie blend, red rice, black beans, ding sauce, red onions, dice tomatoes, cheese bland and pico de gallo  salsa.)  and the “Vegan Socialist.” ( Veggie blend, red rice, black beans, jalapenos, cilantro, red onions, cilantro lime vinaigrette, guacamole.) Mine, the “Vegan Socialist” was a burrito, my companion’s was a salad taco bowl. When my husband eats at the “B.U.” he usually gets the Fat Capitalist ( Achiote pork, red rice, black beans, cheese blend, red onion, seasoned sour cream and roasted tomato salsa.

Below is my favorite item on the menu: the Happy Worker; today I ventured out and explored something new: the Vegan Socialist. It was a very good burrito, but I ate so fast that I forgot to get a photo of it.  Next time I go with my hubby I will take a photo of his Fat Capitalist pork burrito.

In Duluth any day you can eat good food outside and see a lake glide by is a good day!