Author: Valerie

An Assignment

A writing assignment was to complete this thought: I have a feeling about my tree…

I like trees. I think most everyone does, but maybe most people don’t think about them much. Even though I really like trees, I can’t identify many of them.  Of course, the oaks and maples are easy, but then I struggle.

We planted 17 trees in our yard in Northfield. Many of them almost 28 years ago. Some are getting really big, or scraggly, or both. They do provide a lot of shade. I used to have sun gardens, but now I often need to consider shade plants. 

The honey locust tree in our front yard, October 2022.

One tree that we planted 28 years ago, in the front yard, was a honey locust tree. It was maybe 1-2 inches around in diameter…It grew tall, and beautiful, and full, and it became my favorite tree. I can see it outside the window above my kitchen sink.

But I have a feeling about my tree…it’s dying. Last year we had a tree service company come and trim it back. This spring it leafed out and seemed to be doing well during the summer. Now, this fall we noticed more large, dead branches and I have a feeling it won’t live much longer. I won’t give up on it yet. But I will miss it when it’s gone. It is a light and airy tree, with branches that sway in the wind and offers dappled sun light through its small leaves.

The majestic oak tree at Valley Grove Cemetery. I took this photo on September 14, 2018. A tornado felled this tree on September 20…6 days later. Little did I know.

Another tree I loved was the old, oak tree that grew in the Valley Grove cemetery. If it was planted when the first church was built in 1862… it could have been well over 150 years old…some estimate it to be 200+ years old.

Photo of a photo in a pamphlet about the Valley Grove Preservation Society.

It stood tall and mighty, with long, branches spread wide and offering protection over the gravesites. It was special. It was majestic.  It fell when the 2018 tornado came through. It was a huge loss. 

I went out to see the downed tree on September 25, 2018. Many people mourned this sad event.

While attending the Valley Grove Country Social this fall, I learned someone made crosses from oak branches that are trimmed off other oak trees on the cemetery property. These oak trees are believed to be descendants from the majestic, old, oak tree. The woodworker was an acquaintance of mine, so I decided to contact him.

The 10″ cross made from the old, oak tree.

When I asked him if it was possible to get a cross made from the old oak tree, he told me he and several others checked out the wood from the fallen tree and found the wood to be twisted and not so good, and that there was very little salvaged from it. I said OK, please make me a cross from the other oak wood.

Valley Grove Churches, without the majestic oak tree. Photo taken August 2022.

When he called to let me know the cross was ready to be picked up, he told me he was able to make a cross from the old, oak tree…that he had found enough good scrap wood to make a cross. I was blessed! 

Up in Flames

Thousands of words, hundreds of pages, years of journaling…up in flames… Intentionally. 

A few months ago, a friend and I were talking about what to do with our old, personal journals. I’ve had mine sitting around for a while thinking I’d reread them, but I’ve only glanced at them and reread a few entries. The most interesting was writing out 40 days of prayers during Lent one year.  

The content of our journals were our feelings at the time…my journaling was more therapeutic than anything else and so I decided I didn’t feel the need to keep them anymore. The same held true for my friend, so we decided to burn them, together. We would create some sort of ceremony making it an event of some significance. 

And so we did. 

She came over and we built a fire in the fire pit in our backyard. We said a prayer, and sat around talking about all the memories we accumulated over the years, while throwing our papers into the fire. 

One memory that surfaced while we were talking, was from years ago when all our kids were school age (our two families got together often and had many bon fires over the years). We would get together at the end of the school year, build a bon fire, and the kids would throw in their collected school papers from the past year into the fire.

That is what my friend and I did…We threw out all the written pages of our learning over many years, hopefully maintaining wisdom from all the experiences we had.

Amen.

The North Shore 2022

Our trip to the north shore proved to be a lot more colorful than we were expecting.

We had already started seeing pockets of beautiful fall colors on our drive up, so I started to get a little excited…and then the colors began to pop out everywhere…with wonderful contrasts to the evergreen trees. 

Caribou Lake (1)
Caribou Lake (2)
Caribou Lake (3)

The weather also turned out better than I had hoped for, with warmer temperatures and some nice sunshine and blue skies (and one cloudy day). We had packed clothes for colder weather.

Carlton Peak (1)
Carlton Peak (2)
Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (1)
Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (2)

We followed our annual routine of balancing cabin time and lake time with hiking and local drives.

Sun rise over Lake Superior.

We watched the sun rise over the big lake and had a camp fire on the rocks. We stopped in Hinckley and Duluth on the way up, and stopped in Grand Marais one day. It’s all so familiar, yet all so refreshing, relaxing, and restorative… and so much fun!

The cabin lit up at night.
Our campfire set up, on the rocks.
Lake Superior was mostly calm.
A leaf-covered hiking trail through the forest.
Lake Agnes

The colors were breathtaking…everywhere we went. It was spectacular to see and hard to photograph with my iPhone.  

Birch trees.

But it was enough to witness the colors and breath in the fresh air, smell the different whiffs of pine scents, lake water, decomposing leaves, feel the crisp air and to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a).

An artistic root system…

I stand in awe of the Creator of these incredible autumn colors.

Sawbill Trail.
Gooseberry Falls State Park
Gooseberry Falls Upper Falls

And the colors were not only up north…we saw them driving home, and right here in Northfield, and outside our front and back doors!

Our neighbor’s burning bush, where our mailbox is tucked in.

Psalm 23, Valerie’s Version

As we plan our annual trek to the north shore, I always reread my own version of Psalm 23.

The Lord is my Shepherd
I shall thank him.
He allows me to be on the shores of Lake Superior
And hear the calming waves.
He restores my soul.
He guides me on trails of the Superior National Forest, 
And leads me along the rocky shores of the big lake.
Even when the waves are rough – even when the lake is calm,
I am content to be near the water. 
And the Lord is with me.
His creation and His majesty, they comfort me.
He anoints me with many blessings
My cup overflows and I am grateful
Surely, I will praise him and follow him
All the days of my life,
I am grateful to dwell in His presence
On the shores of Lake Superior.

Below are just a few favorite photos (from hundreds!) I’ve taken over the years, of Lake Superior.

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The Valley Grove Country Social

It was a nice afternoon for the Valley Grove Country Social. It was cloudy, but no rain. A blue-sky backdrop would have been nice, but looking out from on top of the hill to the surrounding prairie and farmland is a beautiful sight no matter what the weather.

I never tire of this scene approaching these two historic churches.

The fall Country Social, which I incorrectly called Valley Grove’s fall festival, began its annual affair with a two-day event in 1995. Back then it was a local artist’s exhibit in the two churches. Various fall events took place during the ensuing years, all with different names.

This photo was taken in fall of 2020, when the sky was blue. We visit Valley Grove many times throughout the year. It’s one of my favorite places.

It wasn’t until 2002 that it officially became titled the annual “Valley Grove Country Social”, held the third weekend in September. It Is a fundraiser, and chance for folks to enjoy the area, and to learn about this very special place…two churches, a cemetery, and 52 acres of restored prairie.

A beautiful view, no matter what the weather.

This year there were a few artist’s works displayed, but it mostly was a time for joining in on two walks; a cemetery story tour led by Jeff Sauve a local historian and author, and/or a prairie walk. 

Plus, both churches were open to explore. They are both on the National Register of Historic Places. Refreshments were for sale in the 1862 stone church with photo books on display, and a few artist gifts available to buy. There was four exquisite tapestries (see below) hanging on the walls.

The bell tower on the 1894 wooden church. The bell weighing 1,433 pounds was moved from the stone church to the wood church when it was built in 1894. Using a pulley system with rope and horse power, the bell never touched the ground as it was transferred from one church to the other.

There was outdoor background music by two different Nordic groups, recitals in the 1894 church, displays and hands-on activities for everyone, and the members of the Valley Grove Preservation Society were in attendance to answer any questions you had about these two historic and beautiful churches. The group works hard to maintain these remarkable churches built by Norwegian immigrants in the 1800’s.

There were several highlights for me this Sunday afternoon… 

One was leisurely meandering the grounds, and running into people we recognized, stopping to chat…soaking in the energy of folks excited to be here in this wonderful space.

One visitor brought his pet goats.

Another highlight was the cemetery story tour with Jeff Sauve. It was interesting. He’s a great storyteller!

A view looking towards the prairie from the churches…in the corner is where the beloved, old oak tree used to stand.

Riding in a horse-drawn wagon through the surrounding prairie, which the preservation society also maintains, was fun.

Two beautiful horses…Percherons.
The horse-drawn wagon ride was popular with folks.

And, I really enjoyed seeing four beautiful tapestries on display in the old stone church.

This tapestry depicts the 1894 white wooden church, birds in the area, the Minnesota state flower and also the dwarf trout lily (found in Rice County, one of three places in the world).

Funded by a grant, a Minneapolis textile artist, Robbie LeFleur, was hired to depict the Valley Grove churches and life in Valley Grove, back in the day.

The tapestry for the 1862 Stone Church. It was common at that time for women in the area to raise chickens and sell their eggs.

LeFleur designed and created the tapestries (20”X26”) using a traditional Norwegian type of handiwork.

Nils. A. Quamman was the longest serving pastor for the congregation. According to church lore, he sometimes skied from Farmington to Valley Grove, staying overnight with parishioners.

The tapestries were made to hang beneath four light sconces in the stone church. Each tapestry had a write-up explaining the various scenes on each one.

This tapestry depicts the beautiful old oak tree that grew tall and wide in the corner of the cemetery, and was felled by a storm in 2018. It is surrounded by animals of the area.

What a lovely display to peruse on a delightful afternoon at Valley Grove, one of my favorite places!

Hair

I can’t tell you how many times I went to turn on a light switch, or look at the clock yesterday morning…and neither of them worked. The electricity went out in our neighborhood Sunday morning, as we were getting ready for church.

I had showered and dried my hair…the next step was to use the flat iron to smooth out and curl my hair under a bit. But that’s when the electricity went out. I thought, if it doesn’t start up soon I won’t be going to church because of my hair.

Next, a text came through saying the electricity would not be restored for a couple hours. Hmmm

OK, so I wondered if I should stay home from church because of my hair? That’s not a very good reason…yet it kind of is…then I thought of some old Velcro curlers I had in my dresser drawer. I retrieved them and set my hair, and looked a sight– think 1960’s! 

Although my hair was dry I thought maybe the curl would still take, especially if I used hairspray. I let the curlers set for ten minutes and then took them out. It did help enough, so I did get to Sunday school, and church.

I learned the power went out in much of Northfield, and I talked with others who struggled with the same issues of no electricity…shaving, curling hair, getting the car out of the garage (electric garage door openers)…

The power came back on in time for church, everyone settled in and no one paid one bit of attention to my hair… imagine that! Ha

And on the subject of hair…after church, I couldn’t resist taking a photo of these three characters from our church who were talking together…

Photo taken with permission to publish on my blog. 😉

Bees on the Trail

These past few days have been glorious. Bright sunshine and low humidity and comfortable temperatures. Great days for bike rides.

The new mile markers on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail.

We were bicycling on the Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail on one of these fine weather days. The trail is in good condition. We rode out several miles, stopped for lunch and then turned around and rode back. It’s a delightful, easy ride.

There are about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers.

Once again, this time of year, we were surrounded by yellow daisy-type flowers and goldenrod and yellow cone flowers. It is pretty, especially with blue skies. 

This field of yellow flowers were full of bees. I couldn’t capture them on camera, but there were hundreds of them.

We stopped for a water break and noticed one field of flowers bursting with busy bees. It seemed as though there was a little bee on every flower, collecting nectar and pollen. It was a good sight to see.

I appreciate these colorful, autumn bike rides, especially during the week when there are few riders on the trail. We saw more bees than people!