Ryan Ricard

@firewally.bsky.social

213 Followers 347 Following

When I was driving once I saw this painted on a bridge: "I don't want the world, I just want your half"

A small brown bird with a rust stripe on the top of his head and a black eye-band sitting on a spruce branch. We’re zoomed in fairly close on the bird and behind is a blurred backdrop of branches and leaves
Silver road bike equipped with: u-lock, saddle bag, headlight, can koozy in the bottle cage, small camping chair strapped to the top tube
Three wooden tulips are mounted on some kind of box in front of a tree amongst some little bushy plants. The tulips are squared off and geometric, with three horizontal pieces and three triangular flower segments, painted yellow, blue-white, and red
Close-up shot of a small brown snail with a spiral shell crawling on an asphalt trail. Two pointy little appendages on the snails head are pointed in the direction of a light green leaf to the right of the frame
Two waterfowl out in the open lake around sunset. Red beaks are more visible and you can see the female’s fuzzy crest, from what I am reading in this thread the common merganser makes sense
Two ducks navigate a narrow channel along some docks - seems to me like a male and female of the same species but I’m barely a photographer and even less of an ornithologist. The lead duck has a striking white body, black head , with a diagonal black stripe across their chest area
A red-winged blackbird captured in mid-flight with wings fully splayed. Streaky white clouds and pine trees are in the background
CM Noecker: As our County grows, we must make it safer and more enjoyable for people to get around without a car. This starts with designing roads holistically, with all users in mind. If we address this incrementally, for example by adding sidewalks without reducing speed limits and narrowing roads, we do a disservice to all non-drivers. Separated biking and walking paths, narrower roads, lower speeds, and year-round maintenance plans are all critical for people to feel safe and comfortable getting around without a car. Ramsey County recently released their All-Abilities 2050 Transportation Plan which will guide transportation projects across the County. This plan prioritized transportation-system users from most vulnerable to least vulnerable: pedestrians to bicyclists to transit users to drivers to freight operators. We need to do more of this inclusive planning to de-center cars and encourage alternate forms of transit.
CM Noecker: The County can improve access by centering people with disabilities or mobility challenges. When we design spaces to be more accessible, we improve the experience for everyone. For walking and biking paths, the County must make sure that equitable year-round maintenance plans are part of all projects. During winter months, some paths may turn into cross-country skiing trails, which is a great wintertime activity, but we need to make sure there are equitable winter activities for people with disabilities or mobility issues, walkers, and bikers. If we turn a path into a ski trail, there should still be a maintained trail in the park that is accessible to walkers/bikers/rollers and that’s close to parking and transit. For getting around Ramsey County after a snowfall, the County has a three-phase approach for snow removal. In the first phase, the County clears snow from roadways and on-street bike lanes, but they don’t clear pedestrian ramps at intersections with traffic lights until phase two. I’d advocate for clearing pedestrian ramps in phase one, so those in wheelchairs and mobility devices are able to get around as soon as possible.
CM Noecker: I fully support the acquisition of the CP Rail Spur. Acquiring the spur, and constructing a multi-use trail along it, would be a big win for West 7th, a neighborhood that has too long been neglected, and a win for St. Paul, the County and the region. The Ford Spur could be a tremendous community asset. It could create vibrancy, economic development, recreation, and trail-based transportation. It’s far-sighted investments like these that will make a difference now and for generations to come.
A photo of the Highland Park water tower, a brick octagonal tower with just a hint of some kind of metal roof and an antenna. The slightly-yellow beige bricks of the tower contrast against a blue afternoon sky
A group of musicians are playing under a large gazebo in the middle of a outdoor biergarten patio. You've got at least a clarinet, cornet, trombone, stand-up bass, guitar, and banjo. The sign in front says Dixie Company Poland
A gray squirrel runs along conduit attached to the exterior of a white stucco building. The squirrel is captured mid-leap with all four limbs extended.
A big shareable rose-pistachio baklava is center stage, flanked by a date-syrup old fashioned and a jallab with almond milk and fresh mint. This was dessert but our whole meal was totally delightful
Simpsons S12E15 - Homer looks at a hot dog and remarks on the mango-lime salsa
An empty high school gym, which was the site of my precinct caucus last night
The Minnesota state flag hanging off a bicycle prominent in the foreground. A good many cyclists are enjoying coffee snacks and fellowship at the conclusion of the Minneapolis memorial ride for Alex Pretti
YouGov “most popular events”, which shows that 79% of people polled have a favorable view of Thanksgiving and Christmas
Doe: a deer, a female deer (scampering away from the camera across a bike trail)
Screenshot donation receipt from Neighborhood House in Minnesota
Aurora fades from green in the bottom-left to red across the top-center, with a pretty nice starfield behind. Silhouettes of trees and utility poles along the bottom
Night sky in the background shows a brilliant aurora in pink and teal, trees and houses in the foreground are lit purple by a streetlight
A raucous crowd at Black Hart of St Paul chanting “Bill! Bill! Bill!” as Bill Lindeke takes the stage
Email: “Peggy (Flanagan) here… sent from my iPhone”
Instructions for the Kneipp pool therapy - I don't understand enough Deutsch but I think it involves warming your body through exercise and alternating with floating in the cold water and letting yourself air-dry. Dogs are definitely not allowed
A short wooden fence surrounds a small pool and stone patio in what appears to be the middle of a forest. The pool would be about 2 feet deep if filled, but it's only got a few inches and the state of the water gives a general vibe of disuse and neglect
Large-ish (they’d be like 16oz cans in America) cans advertising “delicate softwurstl”, long tan-colored sausages that appear to be delicious enough to preserve forever in a tin can
A stone monument adjacent to a gravel trail. Two statuettes are carved seemingly out of a craggy boulder and there’s a metal plaque that says Trinkwasser, indicating that the small water feature beneath the sculptures is safe to drink
A souvenir machine where you can insert 2 Euro coins, crank a wheel, and receive a souvenir coin created from a smashed 5-cent coin
Sure enough, it’s a cigarette machine with a credit card reader and contactless tap dingus. “Bekleben und Plakatieren verboten!”
Up close, Part of my face, in the distance, a big pile of cardboard boxes is being distributed to 3-4 UPS-branded e-cargo bikes
Shot out a train window, you can see a train track, a well-graffiti’d metal barrier, and in the distance the pointy spire of a chapel near the city of Ulm
A building that extends a few meters further from its neighbor has been decorated with a multi-story mural featuring Tintin and the gang coming down a metal fire escape
At a festival in a village town square, a choir of older gentlemen dressed in matching white shirts and skipper hats is regaling the crowd with a song
Three posters up on a brick wall all advertising “Wind Farmed Seaweed Snacks”. The left panel has Samuel L Jackson in a fisherman’s hat and rain coat, the middle panel says “Motherf*cking wind farms” and the right panel shows a bag of the snacks
Parked on the sidewalk next to a shrub is a small green car, like this car is incredibly small by American standards, two adults barely fit side-by-side and ride inches above the ground. These little guys are pretty common around town for practicality and (I’m told) licensing reasons
Looking down at a painted black door from the sidewalk. There are 5-6 steps down to the door, and along the right-hand side of the stairwell there’s a narrow metal tray bolted to the stairs
A moving van is parked in front of a prototypical tall and narrow 5-story 17th century building. Parked in front of the building is a motorized ladder-lift thing used to transport boxes up to the top floor
Exterior of the Riksmuseum, a huge ornate art museum in Amsterdam. A very wide bikeway flanked by comfortable sidewalks extends toward and under the museum. This bikeway serves as both the main entrance to the museum and a connection to the rest of the many bike routes through central Amsterdam. No cars are in sight
A faded photo of me at around 2/3 years old. I’m wearing a red jumpsuit and riding a blue plastic tricycle in a family member’s carpeted basement
First page of an interview with Melvin Whitfield Carter Sr, a lifelong musician who served in the Navy and worked as head custodian at St Paul Humboldt High School.
Top down view of my jeans and a pair of somewhat beaten-up white leather hockey skates.
Grocery store display of Runamok Sparkle Syrup, which claims to be maple syrup “with sparkles”. The clear bottle shows a medium-brown glittery substance inside
Album cover for John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together. It features the aforementioned performers dressed for cold weather and smiling
Artwork for the "Square Joker" card from the game Balatro. It's a blocky-low res joker figure that looks like a 2D sprite from the Atari era of video games, including the word "Joker" in correspondingly pixel-ish font
Close up of a white cable with clear RJ45 connector held in my hand. Individual colored wires are visible inside the connector, and a smattering of tools and bits of wire are on a patio table behind
A print copy of The Onion, November 2024. Lead headline: “Pentagon warns China developing Love, the greatest weapon of all”
Photo from my point of view in the bike lane of a road bridge. The words "BUS ONLY" are painted in the adjacent lane. Grey concrete takes up a the majority of the frame, and you can see it's a sunny day
Bowl of a reddish bean and sausage stew with a cut-open dinner role adjacent on a plate