Mayor Rybak Calls The Eco-Village "Ground Zero" In A Struggle To Revitalize North Minneapolis (Photo 7)

Photo courtesy of HACC

Here is what might be considered the groundbreaking...the first shovel blades full of mulch moved by Mayor Rybak and the Polish lady at the Hawthorne tree nursery. (I guess we've been saying "farm" and "nursery" interchangeably)

But I will make this little claim for the historical record. Technically, I myself threw the first shovel full of mulch. A few nights before, while Patty Cake, the Polish lady and I were making sure everything was alright at the tree farm we noticed an icky dead skeletal squirrel in a gray matted glob of fossilized fur.

It was best to cover the nasty thing up before dignitaries arrived, so I got a shovel--the very one you see Mayor Rybak holding--and made a hasty grave.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust/ If you think I'm digging a hole for you/ Squirrel, you're nuts.

At some point, after Rybak had moved a bunch of mulch, he said, "There's plenty more work to be done, here." I told him I couldn't resist a challenge like that, so I reached out and Rybak handed me the shovel. One scoop of mulch was plenty for me, and then it was somebody else's turn.

(Do not click "Read More")