In flight

It's Friday the 13th! I have no new picture of my black cat. But here are some vicarious travel links:
Astronomy Picture of the Day: The Pleaides, or the Seven Sisters in their gorgeous cloud of astrodust.
Gracias a Birdchick's blog, this link to a video of clouds of starlings, like a living fireworks display.

I'm dreaming of travel. But where to go? I am following Ana and Jose on their tour of the National Parks of Utah and Colorado: their photos are stunning! I would love to do a trip like this with my family. Maybe next year? I will return to San Francisco for sure. Photographer Manuel Guerzoni posts his daily picture of San Francisco here. I must be back in Minneapolis in August, because My pronto pup reminds us that there are only 131 days until the MN State Fair!

This summer I hope to spend some time in Amsterdam. I've been through the airport at least two dozen times, but I've never had the chance to stop and see the city.This NYTimes article is giving me a headstart on how to make that trip fun but not too outrageously expensive. On my itinerary is the Van Gogh museum. Before it was built, there was a last tour of his work around the US, and I saw it when I was maybe 10 or 12. I said then that I was going to visit the museum some day.