Valerie's Voice – Musings on Life

Santa Barbara Vibes

We had a wonderful time in California visiting our son and his family. I understand why people love the weather there. We flew back to a “turtle-paced” spring in Minnesota, and it has been difficult to readjust to the cold.

During our flight to Santa Barbara, I was captivated by the cloud formations outside the plane windows. I wanted to jump out of the plane and fall into their puffy softness.

Fluffy clouds outside the window of the plane.

On our first day, there were some lingering, beautiful clouds at sunset, but they eventually blew away and we had sunshine and blue skies for the rest of our trip. So much for more cloud pictures.

Beautiful cloud art over the Pacific Ocean.

Our days were full of activity, and our evenings were relaxing. Some evenings we sat around the firepit gazing at the stars,

and other evenings we walked along the ocean to watch the harbor light up. The reflections of the boat lights on the still, calm water were truly enchanting. I enjoyed taking pictures of the harbor.

Walking towards the Santa Barbara harbor at dusk.

Boats and lights reflecting on the calm water at dusk.

A lighted palm tree. It looks really awesome in person…not so much in the picture.

One day we went on a whale-watching excursion hoping to see, and take pictures of, migrating Gray and Humpback whales, but alas – we did not see any.

Much to our surprise, Condor Express gave us a “whale-check” coupon for a future excursion. We will plan to use it the next time we’re in Santa Barbara.

Although we didn’t see any whales, we really enjoyed our three-hour cruise on the water.

Looking towards the coast from our boat.

We enjoyed seeing flowers blooming everywhere, but I didn’t focus on taking pictures of them. The fun, diving pelicans and iconic seagulls were everywhere too, but I only took these three bird pictures below:

The week flew by while we soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed quality time with family amidst the delightful charm of Santa Barbara.

Happy Spring Flowers

Spring flowers are a wonderful sight to see…. their vibrant, happy faces pop out through the winter’s leftover debris of dead grass, twigs and dirt, and really stand out. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, scilla are all perky little reminders that spring is in the air.

Here’s a fun spring poem:

Daffydowndilly

"She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,
She wore her greenest gown;
She turned to the south wind
And curtsied up and down.
She turned to the sunlight
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbour:
"Winter is dead." 

        - A.A. Milne from her book When We Were Very Young (1924)*

Often this time of year l buy some tulips to put in a vase to bring a little spring indoors. For several days the tulips stand perky and bright, and then the blooms open wider and their stems start to arch and bend and they take on a wild look.

I love it when that happens. It reminds me of the beautiful messiness of life.

Scilla siberica can be invasive. There is a lawn in Northfield covered in purple scilla…
It does look beautiful this time of year. 04/06/26

Spring is officially here in Minnesota, yet it usually takes longer to arrive than what the calendar says. But I’m ready for the colors of spring…tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, scilla, forsythia…all signs of hope and rebirth.

* If you are in the U.S., you can generally post poems from A.A. Milne’s early collections—specifically When We Were Very Young (1924) and Now We Are Six (1927)—without infringement.

Happy Easter

Christ is risen.

He has risen indeed!

Alleluia!

The Donkey

With Spring officially here the weather has been a mix of cold and windy, or warm and sunny – which is what I experienced when I visited the farm this week. It was a beautiful day to enjoy the country side, to help feed the animals, to groom Abigail the miniature horse, and groom the two donkeys, Zacchaeus and Barnabas.

I had a deeper appreciation for the two donkeys this Holy Week as I thought about the poem by Mary Oliver, “The Poet thinks About the Donkey.”

Barnabas and Zacchaeus, the two resident donkeys.

This poem was read at our church on Palm Sunday. It focuses on the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem – how the donkey waited, not knowing what for, then let himself be led and mounted. He was obedient as he placed one hoof in front of the other, and stepped into the crowd.

An excerpt:

But the donkey, tied to a tree as usual, waited.
Then he let himself be led away.
Then he let the stranger mount.

Never had he seen such crowds!
And I wonder if he at all imagined what was to happen.
Still, he was what he had always been: small, dark, obedient.

Here is a link to the entire poem: “The Poet Thinks About the Donkey“. I enjoyed the poet’s interesting perspective.

I had to include this photo of the newest additions to the farm… Jonathan and David.
I call them, large dryer balls.

As I was leaving the farm, I spotted my first crocus in bloom this season. Its simple elegance stood out against the backdrop of dried grass and twigs.

A beautiful spring sighting. Photo Credit: S. Holm

Have a blessed Holy Week.

A Fishy Story

On our trip to the north shore, once again we were blessed with beautiful sunrises…always a highlight when we are up at the cabin…looking out over the great expanse of water, Lake Superior. I never tire of seeing the orange ball.

We did have unseasonably warm weather while up north. On our first day we drove into a park looking for cross-country skiing. The weather had been too warm, so there was none to be found. I asked the ranger if there were any clear paved paths to walk or hike on, and her customer chimed in that he had been looking all around the area and hadn’t found any. It is that in-between season in Minnesota, a lot of slushy-icy-melting snow cover.

It was a beautiful sunny day and since we couldn’t ski we drove into Two Harbors and parked at Agate Bay to walk out on the pier. The path was clear and it is always fun to walk out “on the water.” Along the pier we saw the gentleman I had talked to earlier at the park. He recognized me and said, “looks like we both found some clear pavement to walk on.” And we laughed.

The beacon at the end of the long pier. We saw its warning beam at night.

Soon we were almost to the beacon at the end of the pier. There was a fisherman along the side and he looked like he was struggling to hold onto his pole. Then, I heard him ask the guy (our new friend) who was walking in front of us if he would help him pull in a fish. Now that’s an unusual request.

The guy willingly hopped down on the ledge and grabbed the large net, ready to swoop in and capture the fish. It took a while…the fisherman kept reeling in the line, and then letting out a little slack to keep the line from snapping…and it took several minutes of alternating between the two. Gary and I stopped to watch the process and take some photos.

After several minutes we could see the fish on the line, in the water, near the surface and it was a big one! A really big one. The guy on the pier with the net went into action and caught the fish in the net. It was exciting. The fish measured 24-30″, from the fisherman’s mid-thigh to the ground.

I asked the fisherman what kind of fish it was…he said a “Lake Trout”. Nobody guessed the weight, but everyone (a few others had gathered to watch) realized it was unusually large. I took some pictures and the fisherman gave me his text number. I sent the photos on to him and thanked him for “the show.” And we merrily walked back towards shore.

We ended our day by sitting around a bon fire outside the cabin.

Fiery orange in the morning, fiery orange at night, and a serendipity in-between…how splendid.

Black Beach

Several years ago, a new beach opened up to the public near Silver Bay, Minnesota. It’s called Black Beach.

It’s along the shores of Lake Superior and it’s made up of small black pebbles…so it looks like a black sand beach, thus the name. This is unusual for this area of Lake Superior. We’re used to seeing rocky shores and colored rocks, so this is a fun addition.

We’ve never spent a lot of time on Black Beach…we just stop by on our way up the north shore. There is parking lot with vault toilets, the path leading to the beach and some picnic tables set back from the water. It is pretty, so it’s a fun stop.

So, when we were staying up at a cabin near Two Harbors recently, we took a drive one morning, up Scenic Hwy. 61 and decided to stop at Black Beach to see if there was any white snow left on the black beach.

This shows perspective on the size of these ice drifts.

Wow! Were we surprised! There were humungous ice drifts settled on the beach.

As we walked out closer to the lake, we realized how large these ice drifts… ice chunks… ice boulders were.

Are we still in Minnesota? This is another view of the path through the ice formations

It was fun and amazing to walk up to the ice formations, and walk through a row of them. I can only imagine what it was like earlier this winter. This is March and they were melting in the 38* weather…icicles were forming on the bottoms of the masses, dripping water back into the lake.

The icicles forming as they drip back into the lake.

In a small way, it reminded me of the sea caves we walked to several years ago near Bayfield, Wisconsin, when the DNR created a path on the frozen Lake Superior so folks could walk out to see the sea caves, usually only seen by kayakers on the open water.

Gary walking towards the lake. The photo is deceiving. There is a big drop off to the beach at the edge of the ice, with ice packs below, lining the shore.

We are continually amazed at the variety of adventures we find on our trips to the north shore of Lake Superior…my happy place!

Books in the Mail

Recently in the mail, I received a book from Norway entitled, About America: Stories of Faith, Struggle, and Hope among Norwegian Emigrants. This book was sent to me by my second cousin in Norway, Sigrun. Her nephew, Jarle Haktorson, finished translating this book from Norwegian to English in 2025. The book was first published in 1904.

About America was written by Hans Seland, Jarle’s great-grandfather (Sigrun’s grandfather on her mother’s side). Apparently, he was a well-known writer in his day. As stated on the back cover, “Norwegian author Hans Seland traveled across the United States to meet the early emigrants who had left Norway behind in search of a new life. From the crowded streets of New York to the wide prairies of the Midwest, he recorded their voices, their hardships and their hopes for the future.”

It was interesting to read the stories of the emigrants finding their way in America. Having a grandparent emigrate to America is a fairly common story in Minnesota. Many folks have a story to tell about a family member leaving their homeland (typically Norway or Sweden) and finding their way to settle in Minnesota. My own grandfather Torkel, did. He came from Norway in 1907 (after this book was written.)

It was a fun surprise to receive this book in the mail. I am thrilled that, years ago, through my father’s ambitions, we reconnected with our family in Norway and enjoy good relationships with them to this day.

And then…this week I received three more books in the mail.

Three books full of letters from my father from 1942-1943.

When my aunt’s friend died in 2020, her family was going through her possessions and found a stack of letters my dad had written to his family during WWII. We did not know the letters existed until then.

My brother, bless his heart, scanned each letter and complied them into Shutterfly books. They filled three volumes. It is wonderful to have these letters in book form for easy access to them.

A page from one of his letters, dated May 10, 1942.

My dad was a prolific writer. We were reflecting on the large amount number of letters he wrote back home. But then, it was the most common way of communication at that time.

I like this unusual postcard of a night scene with moon, sent from Tampa Florida where he was stationed for a while.

My dad was in the army, serving on a medic team (not a medic himself.) He served in England and France. We have letters he wrote to his parents, his sister and sometimes his brothers. We can glean attributes of my dad from these letters…his humor, his love for his family, and his caring concern for others.

Discovering these letters was a beautiful gift. These books will be treasured.

Books in the mail…how fun is that?

BrainDance

Cannon Valley Elder Collegium (CVEC), in Northfield, oﬀers learning experiences for learners aged 50+, and has done so for nearly 30 years. Classes are are taught by retired professors or anyone with knowledge on a certain subject, and are usually eight weeks in length. It’s a wonderful offering.

For the second time, I signed up for a class called BrainDance through CVEC. The instructor is a professional dance artist and educator who lives in New York, but grew up in Minnesota and comes back to teach dance classes occasionally.

The BrainDance, is an “official” dance, created by Anne Green Gilbert. It is a sequence of eight developmental movement patterns (adopted from infant/toddler development) that reorganizes the brain, improves focus, and reduces stress.

It is a fun class! We practice the brain dance to music, before moving onto other movements and dances, using our creative minds plus exercising our bodies. I wish this class continued all year.

This picture makes me smile. Each week I put my mat and water bottle under this picture in the dance hall. It brings joy to my heart every time I see it. I remember it from last year too. Sometimes I’d mimic her movement in our free dance.

Each week we took time to practice a choreographed piece to the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. A fitting song for these days. At the end of our eight weeks, we put on a recital! We invited family and friends to watch our “production” and then the instructor invited the audience to join us in a circle dance…which my husband did! He couldn’t say no! Everyone enjoyed themselves.

BrainDance is described as “cultivating joy and enriching your mind, body, and spirit through the power of dance… it improves balance, strength and flexibility…” In addition to all that, I found it to be a delightful and energizing experience.

Sunrise, Sunset Quote

“What would you pay to see the sunrise or sunset if it were not free entertainment?”

I heard this question/quote years ago, but I don’t remember where, and I can’t find a source (but I’ve always remembered it).

We saw this sunset out our back window the other night. Amazing! It lasted only a few minutes…

The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
                                                              Psalm 19:1

Beauty Way

St. Johns Lutheran Church in Northfield hosts a monthly event called Creating Community for Common Good – Courageous Conversations, and it is open to the public. Their focus is to invite speakers who will “enlighten local and national implications for education, housing, health care and the environment, as well as freedom of expression and equality.”

On this evening, Lupita McClanahan, a Navajo elder from Arizona’s Canyon de Chelly, was the speaker. She’s a storyteller and cultural historian and she drew a crowd. The room was full. Her event was focused on personal resilience and strengthening culture identity through adversity.

When I learned a native American elder was speaking, I knew I wanted to attend and hear first-hand stories of her experiences. Lupita focused on her people’s way, her upbringing. She grew up in a world that doesn’t exist anymore.

She explained her people are the Diné people (clan of Navajo) and her upbringing was known as Beauty Way. She told antidotes…how her people would introduce themselves including four pieces of information: first your clan name, then where you come from, who your grandparents are, and finally your name. She told how a baby’s name was whispered into to baby’s ear and not revealed to the community for a long time, how they would hold a celebration for the baby’s first laugh, and many more.

She talked about her experience in boarding school. “They” couldn’t pronounce the names so “they” called people by a number. Her name was Number 55. She was at the school for nine years. She overcame the trauma and chose to become a bridge-builder between cultures by sharing her stories.

She talked about the belief that their purpose in life is to take care of the earth and its four elements; earth and water, air and fire. They believe that the land owns us, we do not own the land, and we must take care of it.

Picture from Canyon de Chelly National Monument, highlighting organization footpathjourneys.com

Lupita currently lives in NW Arizona, when she is not on speaking tours. She lives with no electricity, she tends sheep, grows corn and hauls her own water. She also guides public tours of her native land through the organization footpathjourneys.com

Canyon de Chelly National Monument (Four Corners Area) is considered one of the jewels of the Navajo Nation.

I always enjoy hearing other people’s stories. An hour and a half went quickly and I’m glad I ventured out on this evening to hear Lupita and learn about her Beauty Way.