Last Friday morning the moving van arrived in the driveway of our old house. The four movers packed up all our heavy furniture and moved it a mile south to our new house. It took about six hours. We set up the beds and slept in our new place for the first time Friday night, and slept well. It was an exhausting day.
7:30 am, Saturday, December 7, 2024.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise Saturday morning, over the field and bluff out our back windows.
4:54 pm, Saturday December 7, 2024.
And saw the beautiful sunset that evening.
We’ve been unpacking for almost a week and we’re making progress.
As we continue our preparations to move, I brought to light a couple of old dresses I had tucked into the back of our closet. It was fun to think back on their stories.
In junior high I learned to sew and continued sewing a lot of my clothes through high school (and a few years beyond)…including prom dresses. I liked a lot of the clothes I made…I guess that’s the beauty of making your own clothes…picking out the right fabric, adding details to make them your own, and they fit well. Of all the clothes I made, there are only two dresses, from the 1960’s and 70’s, that I kept.
This red/white dress I made in high school…the hem length was short, as was the style back then!
I loved adding detail to my dresses. The flared-cuff and the lace trim around the neckline, wrists and small waist, made this dress unique. It used to fit!
The cranberry color dress has interesting details; front pleats, a peter pan collar with a knot, and a belt I made.
I did not make the black and blue party dress, but I fell in love with it when I first saw it. I wish it still fit! I felt really good in it and it was a pleasure to wear. I remember finding it at an extremely low price on a clearance sale. There was a time when Gary worked for a company that threw elaborate Christmas parties (in the 80’s) and they were dress-up events. It does have shoulder pads which definitely dates it, but I couldn’t part with it, so it hangs in my closet.
The cream color peasant dress was another dressy-dress I wore for special occasions, including wedding soirées. I’ll wash it up and give it to a thrift store. I can imagine a young woman wearing it today…maybe I’m wrong…
My delicate baptism gown – I have pictures of me in this dress at my baptism, but obviously I do not remember wearing it…but it does have special meaning and I’ll keep it.
As I thought about my sewing days, I envisioned the basement in the house where I grew up. I realized between practicing on the upright piano and sewing with a Singer sewing machine, I spent a lot of time down in that finished-off basement. I enjoyed it. I pondered whether to bring my sewing machine (bought in 1978) with me to our new house, and decided I will take it with me – just in case I get inspired to sew something!
We are moving one mile south of where we currently live. When we moved to Northfield in 1994, we moved into a house on the edge of town, with a cornfield in the backyard. The community grew and houses were built up all around us. Thirty years later we decided it was time to downsize and move into a smaller place. We are having a twin home built one mile south of us, and the backyard is the same cornfield view that was behind us 30 years ago. Only smaller.
So, moving into a smaller, one level space is exciting, but challenging. It is bittersweet to be leaving this beautiful green house on the corner, which I love. We have so many wonderful memories here. We were a happy family in this house. But now it’s time for a change, and to downsize.
In doing so there are many decisions to be made. It was easy to sell some stuff, donate some stuff, toss some stuff, but what about family heirlooms? Thankfully, family members wanted them. I cherish these items, but have no room for them in our new house. That they remain in the family brings me comfort!
My grandma’s desk: When my mother was given this wooden drop-front desk, she painted it. When she handed down the desk to me years later, I stripped off the paint and brought it back to its natural wood beauty (that was many years ago).
My grandmother’s china: My grandma’s beautiful, Noritake china set included more pieces than the average china set. The dishes were given to me by my beloved aunt because she knew I loved dishes. I thought of keeping part of the set, but when I knew it was to stay in the family, I gave it all away.
A military flag: The Department of Veterans Affairs provides a US flag to honor a deceased veteran’s military service. We framed this military flag that was given to my mother at my father’s funeral.
A cedar chest: My mother bought this cedar chest in 1947, the year she and my father were married. It cost $54.95 and included a 2-year moth insurance policy! Imagine that. It’s all recorded on papers inside the sweet-smelling chest.
A Norwegian painting: A 28”X38” print of the famous Bridal Procession on the Hardangerfjord is a framed print that my mother and father brought home from their trip to Norway in 1969. My mother had it hanging in her house for many years. It’s beautiful, but it’s large and we have no place for it.
A roasting pan: My mother made the best roast ever! Of course, when I asked for the recipe, she told me how she made it without any measurements. I tried to recreate it, but never got it right. So, when I brought her roasting pan home after her funeral, I thought roasting in that pan would be the secret…but it was not. My roast never did turn out the way hers did.
It would have been hard to part with these items, but it was made much easier to keep them all in the family. I am grateful.
Since we have been downsizing, we have been selling our more useful items on Marketplace and Craig’s list. It has been interesting to see what sells and what doesn’t sell, and for how much it sells. Our experience has been positive. With smaller items we usually meet the buyer at a public parking lot in town, but for larger items people do have to come to our house. We always ask for cash.
Sometimes, if we can’t figure out a mutual meeting time I’ll take a chance and use the honor system. I tell folks I’ll leave the item outside our front door and they can pick it up. I tell them to leave the cash under the front mat. So far, it’s worked every time. And that makes me happy.
When one party asked if I’d send a small item through the mail, I decided to go with the honor system again. I packaged it for mailing, took it to the post office and sent it off. I let the person how much the shipping cost and she said she would send me the money for the item, plus shipping. She did send the cash. And she included a few extra dollars for my time. And that makes me happy.
I’ve come to the place where I am not too worried if someone doesn’t honor the honor system. My experience is most people are honest and I am willing to trust them. And that makes me happy.
St. Olaf College’s annual family orchestra concert’s program is put together with children in mind, using fun and unusual antics.
The concert was held in St. Olaf’s beautiful Boe Chapel.
During the opening piece by Bach, Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Glory unto Thee be Given) the students played their instruments while walking up and down the aisles. That was different, and very engaging. I liked the idea.
Students playing their violins while walking the aisles.
And when I heard the very first notes of the concert I immediately was jolted to a place of enjoyment and contentment, and I said to myself, it’s been too long since I’ve had the pleasure of listening to this beautiful music. What a gift it is.
Louis & Dan and the Invisible Band, with the St. Olaf orchestra.
This year’s concert featured a guest appearance by Louis & Dan and the Invisible Band. Their catchy music and lyrics may work with an invisible band (as indicated in their name), but the St. Olaf orchestra was too loud for them and drowned out the two male vocal artists.
Dr. Chung Park, the St. Olaf orchestra conductor.
The traditional highlight of choosing a child conductor (this year three) from the audience is a favorite. Dr. Chung Park, the orchestra conductor, chose three kids from the audience who came forward to “try out” to be a conductor. As the students played Rossini’s famous William Tell Overture the three young kids started to conduct, however, Dr. Fang had to tell them to turn around and face the orchestra. It was comical.
The three young children conducting the William Tell Overture (facing the right direction.)
A segment called the “audience orchestra” was interesting. A student stood up front and turned to face the audience, and without words directed our hands and feet to make sounds/music. It was very well done…and during this time Dr. Fang went back stage and changed into a Lord of the Rings costume. He came out as Gandalf and conducted the final piece of the concert, “Symphonic Suite” from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
Gandalf conducting the St. Olaf orchestra.
This concert was a unique opportunity for the St. Olaf students to reach out to the children of the Northfield community. It was well attended, by the young, and the young-at-heart.
Over twenty years ago now…yikes…our oldest son was in college. At one point he moved out of the dorms into college apartments and he needed a desk. We went to the local big box store and picked out a desk that he and Gary assembled.
The best photo of my desk before I began to paint it. I forgot to take a “before” picture.
Who knew that when we bought that inexpensive desk so long ago, it would be with us today and be so functional. I have been using that desk for many years. It is a nice size. I’ve grown accustomed to it, and I like it. When I went looking for a new desk, I couldn’t find one quite like it, so I gave up looking and decided to transform the desk I had.
I used chalk paint, a product that has been around for a few years, and has good ratings. There are a lot of color choices too. I was hoping it would work as well as the reviews said. The only prep work is to clean the surface with a degreaser, let it dry, and paint it. And usually one coat works, it said in the instructions.
So I gave it the “old college try”…and it did work well, although I did have to put a second coat on the top. But I’m sure that is user error…I’m not the best painter in the world.
The color I chose is Silverado Sage. I like it.
I was happy with the results of this paint job. I was happy for the low-cost transformation and the easy process of painting the desk.
The writing assignment was to write a joyful memory of night. Joyful is not the right word for my story, but it is an unforgettable night memory…
It was a dark and stormy night (in 2014)…
We had a delayed start to our day, as we headed north to our vacation destination: Zongoene Lodge, a beautiful resort on the Indian Ocean in Mozambique, Africa. The hired drivers of a 15-passenger van were late to arrive at our apartment.
Our 2 1/2 month old granddaughter, in 2014.
When the driver’s arrived, seven family members filed into the rented van, with everyone’s luggage. Our son, his wife and 2 1/2 month old daughter, and Gary and I, piled into our son’s car. Finally, we were on our way. We drove out of the city on a good four-lane highway. After a couple of hours, we turned off the highway and started driving down a muddy, dirt road that had been washed out by all the rain from the previous night.
Our resort was still 35 kilometers away (22 miles). As we drove further into the countryside, the road got muddier, the puddles got deeper, and the ride got bumpier. The road was rugged, full of ruts and major pot holes, with large standing mini-lakes and water flowing over the road. You couldn’t see the potholes through the mud puddles.
By now the sun was setting, and it had started to rain.
Looking out over a few flooded areas towards our resort and the Indian Ocean. (2014)
Tim and Gary were in the front seat of our son’s car, Baby Zoey was strapped in her car seat in back with Andrea and me. The van, with the two hired drivers, and seven others from our party were behind us. The road kept getting worse. At one point, about 14 km in, our car slid down a steep hill and almost toppled over, but we made it to the bottom and stopped along side the road. We waited for the van, and watched it slide down the hill. I was praying it would reach the bottom without tipping over.
Once the van stopped, the angry drivers got out and said they would go no further. One said he had not been told the road would be so undriveable. But how could we have known the rains would cause such a mess?
Now that we were all stopped, it was obvious nobody was going to go any farther without help. But how? We were in the middle of nowhere, at night, in Mozambique Africa – a dark sky, made darker with clouds, and no traffic or traffic lights or city lights within miles and miles of where we were stranded…with a 2 ½ month old baby! Hmmm…I said to Andrea…”it will be interesting to see how God gets us out of this mess.”
Well, unbelievably, Tim’s cell phone worked. He was able to call the lodge. The manager rounded up twofour-wheel drive vehicles (one belonged to a guest of the lodge) and they came to rescue us.
We waited over an hour when we finally saw headlights coming our way. The manager of the resort was in one of the vehicles. We transferred our luggage and rearranged the twelve of us into three vehicles. Once everyone and our luggage was out of the van, the van drivers stepped on the accelerator, spun their tires in the mud, turned the van around and sped away…madder than a hornet’s nest (after demanding more money.) They drove back up the hill (unbelievably they made it) and headed back to the city, while we headed to the resort, another ten miles down the dark, flooded, washed-out dirt road. We had all been dispersed into different vehicles with strangers, in the middle of nowhere, trusting we would all end up in the same place in a short while.
Grandma, Avó (Portuguese for grandma) and baby Zoey in 2014.
The resort owner drove Tim’s car, since he knew the road and could maneuver the dangerous spots. He led the way. Dan, Tim’s friend, was a good sport. He ended up in the bed of a pickup truck bouncing all the way back… in the rain! Finally, we all made it to the resort at midnight, after a very scary ride. We all let out a sigh of relief and a praise to God.
The staff had been waiting for us to arrive and had prepared a special drink to toast us as we walked into the lobby of Zongoene Lodge. A toast to our safe arrival, a toast to welcome us, and a toast to a night none of us would ever forget!
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
First morning light…6:35 am 10/1/24
7:03 am on 10/1/24… the moment of sunrise.
7:04 am on 10/1/24…here comes the sun.
A couple hours later we trekked up Oberg Mountain and saw more beautiful colors of a different kind. Once again, I was grateful to be able to hike this trail, and was thankful to have the opportunity to do so.
10:00 am on 10/1/24…Oberg Lake
10:00 am on 10/1/24
10:15 am on 10/1/24…a view out to Lake Superior on the Oberg Trail.
10:30 am on 10/1/24… one of seven outlooks on the Oberg Trail.
And back at the cabin…the lovely, wispy clouds.
2:30 pm on 10/1/24
The sky was constantly changing, but the waves continue to roll in, year after year, reminding me of God’s faithfulness.
7:43 pm on 10/1/24… the cabin backlit by the early evening light.
8:30 pm on 10/1/24 …the end of our day, fire light on the rocks and a stunning display of stars overhead in the night sky.
While driving south into Faribault last week, I noticed a sign advertising a flea market for the upcoming Saturday. I mentioned to Gary that maybe we could host a stand at the flea market as a way to sell some of our stuff. We stopped in and found that a $20 donation to the History Center was all that was needed to reserve a spot. We thought we could recover our $20 and maybe make some money, while recycling our useable, but unwanted goods.
The flea market started in front parking lot of the historical society. We were in the back section.
So, we signed up and had two days to gather and mark our stuff. That worked out well… since we didn’t have weeks to think about it…just a day to gather, and a day to mark.
Setting up at 7 am.
We didn’t know we would end up with an ideal spot for our tables. We were under a shade tree the whole time, from 8 am -2pm. We had a money belt, coffee, and donuts …we were settled in for an adventure.
We did sell our things at a good price…cheap. We did get rid of a lot of our stuff. It was fun to people watch, and we had a several good interactions with people.
There were some interesting characters…one guy admitted to buying our stuff for cheap and told us he will sell it for a profit next spring! Good for him.
Enjoying the people watching, and interactions.
One guy was enthralled with an unusual buoy off a fishing net that my mother brought back from Norway in 1969. He said he’s never seen anything like it, and he bought it.
We had a wonderful spot for our tables.
I printed up a story for the glass canister I had for sale. After an older woman from my church passed away years ago, her son gave me her one remaining painted-glass canister jar, which he knew I liked. She had told me she wanted metal canisters when she set up housekeeping in the 1940’s, but because of the war she had to settle for glass. A customer at the flee market saw that story and said she had to have the canister.
The Rice County Historical Society’s old church and school in the background.
It made me feel good that some of our items were really appreciated, and going to good homes.
This new adventure for us, selling our wares at a flea market, was fun. We hope to do it again sometime.
