A flicker of light~
Twinkling and twirling around...
Fireflies at night.
While in Minnesota, our Ukrainian friends saw fireflies for the first time. They were excited. We were with them one evening, and the fireflies were dancing all around us. We all enjoyed seeing the fireflies, as well as our friend’s excitement.
A hedgehog I saw in the wild in Ukraine, 2008.
I told them the one and only time I saw a hedgehog was in Ukraine, and it was exciting to see it. We walked to a village after class one day, to an interpreter’s home, and we saw a cute, little hedgehog tucked away on the side of the path.
God is creative!
“God made the animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the crates that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:24
In 2004, 2005, and 2008 I was in the Ukraine on three separate mission trips. Each time we went to Cherkasy, a city south of the capital, Kiev. We conducted English Language Camps at the House of Gospel church.
Maria and Vladimir, 2004.
My host family was a lovely couple that opened their home to my friend, Kay, and I. More host families from their church took in the other members on our team. But each year, Kay and I stayed together with this same family. Our home stays were about 7-8 days…enough time to build relationships.
Valerie, Kay, Maria, 2004 in Ukraine.
Valerie, Maria, Kay, 2023, in Minnesota, USA.
This couple and their son, who was living at home at the time, were gracious and loving and took good care of us. The English Language Camps were held at their church. The camps were promoted for kids ages 15-20. We used Bible stories as our resource. There were eight group leaders. We each had interpreters with our small groups of 8-10 kids. The kids were excited to practice their English language skills on native speakers. Many kids attended (~90) and many kids had never been to church. It was rewarding.
The table decorations for the pot luck reception at Emmaus Church: Sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower.
After our first trip in 2004, our church started supporting our host family’s daughter and her husband, who are missionaries in Odesa, a city in the southern part of the Ukraine. Every few years the missionaries, Caleb and Christina, come to our church to give an update and thank Emmaus for our support. This year they brought along Christina’s parents, our hosts from those trips many years ago.
It was such a privilege and joy to have them stay in our home. I never thought I’d see them in Minnesota! It was great to visit with them and get an update on the current situation in Ukraine, and to just bond with them and strengthen our relationship. We had a delightful time together.
Maria and Valerie, 2023.
Sometimes I’m amazed when I think about having friends and family that I know and love in other places in this world. For me, those places include Norway, Ukraine, Mozambique and Japan. What an honor and blessing.
This year’s summer solstice officially began on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – it’s the shortest night of the year. The night before, Tuesday, June 20th, the sun set at 9:14 pm in Crosslake Minnesota, with lingering twilight until 10 pm.
Near Crosslake Minnesota – 10 pm on 6/20/23.
I decided I would drive up my friend’s cabin near Crosslake Minnesota after a fun visit with our son and his family Tuesday night. I left the south metro about 8 pm.
Driving by myself, up north, at night, I reasoned; 1- I was excited to get up there so I could sleep on the porch and wake up by the lake on Wednesday, 2- I have a reliable vehicle, 3- my friend was expecting me so if anything happened, she’d be concerned (she was sound asleep when I got there!!!), and 4- the sun set late so there was more light than usual that evening.
Looking out on Lake Mille Lacs – 9:30 pm on 6/20/23.
Since the shortest night of the year was the next evening, I expected it to stay light late but, little did I know I’d have twilight for almost 45 minutes after sunset. Only the last half hour did I drive in the dark. Of course, that was when I was making many turns on back roads to get to her cabin, but I made it, and I felt good!
A large family of Canadian Geese.
Nature abounds up north. Of course, there is always deer, and I saw several including a mama and young doe. We heard many loons the first night – we thought there was a convention right off her dock. We laid in our beds listening to their distinctive calls. We saw 20+ goslings swimming in a row between Mr. & Mrs. Canadian Geese – that is one large family. We saw the resident eagle fly by several times, and we heard (!) 4 racoons under the porch where we slept. They woke us up each night. The first two nights we didn’t know what kind of animal was under there…it’s not a good place for animals to be. Finally, my friend saw the culprits outside the cabin at 4:30 in the morning of the third night…a mama raccoon and her three babies. That’s a problem that needs to be solved…
Me on a jet ski, on Daggett Lake in 2014.
We enjoyed sunny, warm and comfortable weather, by the lake. We did take out the jet skis one afternoon. We sometimes forget we are in our 70’s! But, we did well (after calling her 10-year-old-granddaughter to remind us how to start them!) We trolled along the shore to look at the cabins, then took a couple speed rides across Daggett Lake.
It’s amazing to see all the cabins, all the docks, all the boat lifts with boats in them, on this one not-so-large lake, and then multiple it by 15,000 lakes in Minnesota. Whew! That’s a lot of recreation.
My drive home was not as exciting as my drive up, but I am grateful for the time we had up north, and for a different way of experiencing the summer solstice.
The radio on the end table looked authentic, but we soon learned it was a replica. It fit well into the décor of the historic Redwood Lodge, built in 1934 by the VCC, Veteran’s Conservation Corp, in what was to become Camden State Park.
(I had heard of the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, that Franklin D. Roosevelt established in 1933 as part of the New Deal Program to provide jobs and help lift the US out of the Great Depression. Similarly, the VCC hired veterans of WWI during the same time period for the same purpose.)
Redwood Lodge, Camden State Park
We stayed a couple of nights in the historic lodge. It was fun to learn the 1930’s look-alike radio on the end table had two buttons to push: one told the history of the park and lodge, the other button was a recording of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Speech.
The radio replica in the lodge.
It was enjoyable sitting back and listening to this information without seeing anything on a screen. We could picture in our minds what it was like before television, when people sat around their radios and just listened.
The living area of the Redwood Lodge. Photo by ba.
During the Great Depression (August 1934 for this particular VCC group), war veterans came by train, were transferred to trucks and then driven to newly purchased state land in the Redwood River valley in southwestern Minnesota, to build a new state park.
An updated bridge in the park…designed to match park building’s stonework.
The men of “Company 2713”, as this group were named, worked through two winters to build picnic shelters, bath houses, restrooms, bridges, trails, and in this case, a custodian’s lodge (renovated in 2018 for rental), all within the new Camden State Park. We learned the “custodian” was the park manager.
Redwood River, runs through Camden State Park…as does an active railroad track.
The buildings are made of stone and logs. They are beautiful and well-built. Similar buildings are found throughout 27 of Minnesota’s state parks, built by the CCC or VCC.
View of the prairie from Camden State Park.
What a legacy these men left us to enjoy for so many years.
There are many fields of pink clover in the park and surrounding area.
I received a gift in the mail the other day. A 2024 Collector’s calendar: Norway, Visions and Verse of Vikingland…41st edition.
Rosemaling is a significant feature on these calendars.
And the reason I was given this calendar is because one of the photos I took while visiting Norway last summer was chosen to be in the calendar.
My photo was used for the month of Juli.
This is the photo I submitted.
It was fun looking through each month to see all the lovely pictures of this amazingly beautiful country, and finding one of my own, taken on the Island of Stord.
It was fun to see my name in the credits too.
The back of the calendar has a snapshot of all 12 photos in the calendar.
On a warm, summer’s evening in Northfield, Bridge Square and the Riverwalk draw a lot of people. It is a nice place to stroll along the Cannon River, to look at the water falling over the dam, to see people fishing off the bridge, or just sitting and visiting or eating ice cream.
The log jam at the dam in Northfield.
The other night we took our ice cream treat down to Bridge Square and looked out on the river. To our surprise there was a log jam.
Another view of the messy log jam.
A couple big tree trunks were stuck in the dam and hundreds of branches and sticks have accumulated at the blockage. We’ve never seen it backed up so much.
There are always many folks fishing along Bridge Square.
It was a sight to see. Hopefully it will be cleaned up soon.
I don’t consider myself a sports fan. I may watch a couple of football games during the winter, and we usually watch the Super Bowl, but that’s about it.
Target Field, downtown Minneapolis.
But, the other evening, friends called and said they had been given four free tickets to the Minnesota Twins game and wondered if we wanted to join them.
The man in the purple shirt, near center, sang the National Anthem.
We did, and it ended up being a beautiful night for sitting outdoors and watching baseball.
The baseball stadium filling up with fans.
We had good seats…and that made a big difference from other other games we’ve attended over the years, when we’ve been mostly in the upper-deck stadium seats. This evening we were eight rows back, between home-plate and first base. We could see the players well.
We had wonderful seats. We found it interesting to see the condo across the field, near third base, being built.
The Twins won by getting one run in the 8th inning, and the other team, the Cleveland Guardians, did not score at all. Baseball can be a lot of waiting for spurts of excitement. I’m glad we won.
I’m not sure why the bear mascot, but he was fun to watch and he churned up the crowd.
In 1987 and 1991 the Minnesota Twins did well and went to the World Series. We did not attend a World Series game, but we did go to a couple games during the respective seasons. We bought Homer Hankies as a remembrance of those games. I wonder if they are worth anything now???
Our Homer Hankies from 1987 and 1991 Minnesota Twins.
There were a lot of fans at the Minnesota Twins game, and they’ll be back. We had a good time, but I’m not sure I will be back this year.
I wasn’t planning to blog about the Asplund peony garden when I drove out for a quick look on Saturday, but I just cannot not post some pictures I captured.
There are no words to describe this gorgeous display of color.
Once again, the intense colors and variety of color for one kind of flower is astounding. I am often reminded of what I told my boys once, “God created the colors long before Crayola!”
There were many bushes blooming, some were already done, some were buds ready to bloom, like mine at home…
The buds are about to bloom on this yellow peony bush in the Ashland peony gardens.
Long rows of peony bushes throughout the garden. Photo by cb.
All were a joy to see.
On another note, the Asplund Farm also grows grapes and had opened a winery for many years, but the winery has permanently closed.
Three of us were walking along the road at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, looking for the azalea gardens. It was farther than we thought, and it was getting warm and humid, and we were getting tired so we turned around. Just then, a big, vintage, white convertible, with its top down, slowly drove by. As we commented to each other about the car, the older gentleman behind the wheel stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride.
Hmmm… there are three of us older women…it has been a long time since any guys have asked us to go for a ride anywhere. HA! We all looked at each other, silently accessing the situation, and all thinking there is strength in numbers. This seemed pretty innocent and sounded like a lot of fun – so we jumped in!!!
My moment behind the wheel! Photo by ba.
He took us directly to the main building where we were headed anyways. He stopped the car and we got out and asked if we could take pictures. He said sure. It was a 1964 Cadilac Eldorado convertible, in mint condition. He bought it last fall from a guy who had stored it in an outbuilding. He fixed the four flat tires, but that was about all that was wrong with it, he said.
We thanked him for the ride, and then we laughed all the way to the cafeteria.
A parting shot…one more stunning iris. Photo by ba.
