Valerie – Page 3 – Valerie's Voice

Visitors from Norge

For five days my second cousin and his wife, Heine and Kari, from Norway, came to Northfield. We had a nice visit, and we were able to, once again, show off our town and southern Minnesota.

First we took them to a small town 4^th of July celebration – the oldest ongoing celebration in Minnesota. North Morristown has put on a 4^th of July celebration for 131 years, serving homemade pie, food offerings at concessions stands and live music. We enjoyed listening to the blue grass band Monroe Crossing, and traipsing over muddy paths for food, in-between rain storms.

Fireworks in Northfield were delayed until the next evening due to the rain. We walked down the street from our house to watch them on Friday, July 5^th .

We visited other relatives in the area…our grandfathers are the link. They were brothers…one went to America, the other stayed in Norway.

Me, Kari, Heine, my cousin Cindy and my aunt (in front).

Scheel’s, in the Eden Prairie Center, was a fun place to look around, especially for a hunter, which Heine is. But the home décor portion of the store is lovely to peruse too.

A beautiful field of coneflowers in the gardens outside the Marine Art Museum.

Eating outside, when possible, either on our deck or at a restaurant is always nice in the summertime and it was possible much of the time Heine and Kari were with us.

Lunch along the Mississippi River in Winona.

We went on a day trip to Winona. We stopped at Lark Toys in Kellogg for fun, and had a picnic lunch on the banks of the flooded Mississippi River.

We enjoyed the gardens around the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and went inside for a look around.

We stopped at Lock & Dam #5 north of Winona, and meandered around Lake City’s marina on our way back to Northfield.

We showed off the Norwegian immigrants historic Valley Grove churches and cemetery.

We hiked to Hidden Falls in Big Woods Nerstrand State Park.

Heine & Kari celebrating their 45th anniversary in Northfield, Minnesota.

We shopped downtown Northfield and celebrated Heine and Kari’s 45^th wedding anniversary at the Reunion in downtown Northfield.

The last stop was at Lakewood Cemetery to visit the graves of my grandmother and grandfather and beloved Auntie Ag.

My grandfathers gravestone at Lakewood Cemetery. He was the brother to Heine’s grandfather, Johannes.

We were able to get in to view the beautiful Lakewood Chapel, with 10 million 3/8 inch tile mosaics throughout.

One of the many angel mosaics in Lakewood Chapel.

Time flew, conversation and laugher abounded, family ties entwined.

Oxbow Park and The Depot

After we left Kasson and our mini-history tour, we continued on our day trip to Oxbow Park in Olmstead County, near Byron, Minnesota. It is a surprisingly special place with a picnic area, a nature center, a zoo, a discovery playground, and camping facilities.

The small, but amazing, Zollman Zoo is aligned with Oxbow Park and houses over 30 species of wild animals native to Minnesota. Many of the animals at this zoo have physical injuries so they cannot be released back into nature, and some other animals come from other zoo facilities that have surplus animals.

I told this guy I was going to take his picture…

My favorite was seeing the cougar looking very relaxed in a tree trunk, watching us from his perch. When I told him I was going to take his picture, he moved his big paw under his chin and posed for us!

The nature center, also a part of Oxbow Park, is only a year old. It is spacious, modern and well done. A few more small critters are inside, as well as a lot of displays and information on nature.

There was a bird watching station too. We sat for a few minutes and saw multiple hummingbirds drinking from a couple of feeders hanging outside the large windows.

This hidden gem is a place we hope to take our grandkids to, sometime this summer. Did I mention it is free? Donations accepted.

And what day trip is complete without ice cream? Surprisingly, we had to search many small towns to find some. But we didn’t give up, and found The Depot, a renovated train station, in the small town of Goodhue. The new owner served delicious ice cream cones in a refurbished, old railway station, with friendly folk willing to give us a tour of the station’s renovation.

Fun adventures and discovery awaits when you take the back roads of Minnesota.

Painted Rocks

I like to find small, painted rocks (especially with encouraging messages) in unexpected places. On a recent day trip, we found one, big painted rock!

It’s amazing how the artist captures the folds in the flag…it looks three dementional.

I didn’t know there was a The Freedom Rock project but according to its website: the project has a “goal of at least one Freedom Rock in every state in the union”, to honor America’s Veterans.

A Freedom Rock is a painted boulder depicting “unique to the state” military scenes, painted by Ray “Bubba” Sorensen II. Minnesota has seven Freedom Rocks in seven different areas throughout the state.

A photo of a photo of the original boulder for this Freedom Rock.

When we arrived in Kasson, Minnesota I noticed a huge, painted boulder across the street from the Clock Shop, at the American Legion on Main Street. It caught my eye because on our way to Kasson we had to take a road detour…and on that detour we noticed this stout, old limestone building on the side of the road, with a plaque and flag flying high. We stopped to check it out and discovered it was an old military recruitment station for the Civil War.

Civil War Recruiting Station in Wasioja, Minnesota.

We didn’t know such buildings existed. I also had forgotten the important role Minnesota played in the Civil War.

The plaque states that Minnesota was the first state to offer and send troops to aid the Union cause. Recruits from this station in Wasioja, MN totaled 200. The building, built in 1855, has been beautifully restored, and is there for all to see and remember.

One scene on the Freedom Rock, of the Wasioja Recruiting Station.

So, I was surprised when I stepped out of the car in Kasson and noticed the building we had just seen an hour earlier painted on a huge rock! We walked over to explore some more!

I liked this depiction of a soldier holding the SPAM can. The SPAM museum is a great place to visit too.

On another side of the rock was a painting of a WWII veteran holding a can of SPAM. Good old Minnesota SPAM. There were 100 million pounds of Hormel SPAM shipped to our troops during WWII.

A painting of the world famous Minnesota artist, LeRoy Neiman.

Another side of the rock was dedicated to a St. Paul man who was a cook in WWII and became a world-famous artist, LeRoy Neiman, when he got out of the service (although I had never heard of him.)

One more scene depicted “Kiddy Car Airlift” which was organized by Minnesota US Air Force Chaplain Colonel Russell L. Blaisdell. He rescued orphans and staff from Seoul during the Korean War. This was another mission I had not heard about.

“Doc Kelly” My father’s army picture, 1943.

And amidst this day of military blitz I thought of my own father. A few days before this day trip, while talking with family, I learned my father, who served in WWII, had the nickname of Doc Kelly. Apparently, the troops usually choose nicknames from last names, therefore “Kelly”, and my dad was a medic, assisting doctors, therefore “Doc”. I had not heard this before.

It was a great morning of discoveries and learning.

Summertime

Yesterday was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, a time that marks the beginning of summer. Unfortunately, it rained the whole long day. Again.

A non-rainy day in summer, on Daggett Lake, Minnesota.

But here’s a fun children’s poem by Robert Louis Stevenson (published in 1915) to help celebrate summertime.

Bed In Summer

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

Voilá

Several years ago I found a painting of red geraniums on a framed, window screen in a thrift store. I thought it was a clever idea and it would look good on our front porch, so I bought it. It has hung on our front porch many times over several summers, and it started to lose its pizazz.

Instead of throwing it out I decided to try touching it up myself, with my acrylic paints.

I put on an old t-shirt, squeezed paint onto a paint palette, and did my best. I filled in the reds, and mixed red and yellow paint for orange, and blue and yellow for green, and repainted the pot and added a bit of color here, and a bit there. It was a fun, creative endeavor!

And I think it turned out very well. The painting has found new life and is hanging on my front porch once again.

A Gift of Water

A writing assignment was to answer this question… Has a stranger ever helped you at a difficult time? The answer is yes, and here’s the story.

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. photo vb

In 2015 we visited our son and his wife and our first grand-baby, Zoey, in Mozambique, Africa. We planned a side trip to Cape Town, South Africa as a chance to see another part of the continent. One of our most exciting, but challenging adventures there was to climb Table Mountain.

Photo by Robert Huczek on Unsplash (free internet photos)

Table Mountain is a beautiful sight overlooking Cape Town, and from a distance it looks like a table, thus the name.

A view of Cape Town off one side of Table Mountain. photo vb

Gary and I are used to hiking and have done a lot over the years. We’ve hiked some difficult terrains. Table Mountain ended up being one of the harder hikes I’ve done, but I didn’t know that when we started out. We donned our hiking boots and hats, and filled our water bottles and started up the steep path. There were several other hikers on this trail. It was hot, it was rocky, and it was pretty much straight up.

On our way up the rocky trail to the top of Table Mountain. photo gb

We were struggling. About two-thirds the way up there was an outcropping that provided a shady area, so we stopped to rest. A fit, young man came from behind us and noticed I was overheated. He asked if we had water. Yes, we did, thank you. Then he said to me, hold out your hat. I did as he said, and he poured HIS water into my hat and told me to tip it over my head. I did, and it felt so incredibly good to drench my hot self with the cool water.

After that, the young man continued on his merry way, and I was so grateful for his random act of kindness, and soon we continued our trek upward.

Note the cable car coming down from the station at the top of Table Mountain. photo vb

We rejoiced when we arrived at the top. We joined many folks enjoying the stunning vistas on this beautiful, sunny day (reaching the top by cable car or on foot). Then, as was our plan, we took the cable car down the mountain.

From the window of the rotating cable car, going down Table Mountain. photo vb

I was grateful for this young man’s random act of kindness that day on Table Mountain. What a delight to be treated so kindly… on a mountain trail… in a foreign country.

Thankfulness

A sentence from a reading shimmered for me the other day, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

“… no pleasure is really complete without expressing gratitude, to God, for it” (italics mine).*

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Septemeber 2021

I want to take that to heart. The wonderful events in our lives are made so much more pleasurable if we give thanks for them. They are not “complete” if we don’t. I do want to nurture this discipline in my life.

*Jesus Always by Sarah Young

And then there were none…

Sad news…two days ago I was out in the yard and found the second baby robin (two of three – last week I found the first one) dead in the grass. I’m not sure what is taking them from their nest…someone suggested a Blue Jay.

On May 12 I noticed these three, beautiful blue eggs in a nest outside our window. Mama Robin has been caring for her young since then, and now all three have died.

Last night I took a photo of the last baby robin sitting contently in its nest.

And then I found it dead, this morning, under the tree where the nest is. I’m sad.

Now, I wonder if I’ll see Mama Robin anymore? I’ll miss her.

Tweets

This is an update on our resident robin and her chicks.

I noticed her nest in the tree outside our bedroom window a few weeks ago. Three beautiful eggs and a dedicated mama, sitting on the nest day and night. I kept checking in on her, and talking to Mama Robin throughout the day, and she got used to me.

Then we left town for a week. I thought of her when we were gone…wondering how she survived all the rain we heard we had, and wondering if her chicks had hatched. When I arrived home, I immediately went up to see her. I believe Mama Robin remembered me.

She was still sitting in her nest and all seemed well, but I couldn’t see any chicks.

However, the next day, when mama flew away for some food, I saw the eggs were hatched. I think I saw all three chicks, but then the next day there were only two. I found the dead chick under the tree, when I was out doing yard work.

The nest is right outside our bedroom window, and with the zoom on my camera I was able to get an unclose picture when the mama flew away for a few minutes.

When I am outside and approach Mama Robin’s nest, I warn her I’m coming. She doesn’t fly away.

It’s been a fun nature show to watch.

Bonus: Early this morning I looked out into our backyard and saw a deer.
I was surprised. By the time I got my camera she had wandered into the neighbor’s yard.

A Fun Twist

There was a twist in plans this year, for an annual get away (this would be #36) with my friend Frances. During the past year, she and her husband moved to Vermont. We wondered, what will we do for our trip this year? Then, there was a fundraising auction and she won a bid for a beachfront condo.

She asked if I wanted to join her on Fenwick Island, a coastal resort town in Delaware. Sure, I said, even though I had never heard of Fenwick Island. And then, we decided to include our husbands…that was the twist…that was new for us…and we had a delightful time.

The criteria for our get-aways include three things: some body of water to enjoy, thrift stores and/or antique shops to peruse, and gardens to meander. Would Fenwick Island meet these criteria?

The condo was facing the Atlantic Ocean and we had lovely weather so we could walk along the beach and sit on the balcony… a wonderful fulfillment for our water requirement.

We had a fun time trying on matching shirts (which we did buy).

One day all four of us drove to a nearby, historic town with tree-lined streets, and quaint boutiques – we found sidewalk sales and ice cream. Another day we left the husbands behind, and sought out the thrift stores and antique shops we always enjoy. There is usually no problem finding these kinds of stores anywhere.

A landscape by Piet Oudolf, a Dutch garden designer.

The third requirement is all about gardens, and we found out the Delaware Botanical Garden was only a half an hour away! How convenient.

The four of us walked the trails, and in addition to lovely flowers, there were other surprises along the way.

This “nest” was created as an outdoor classroom at the botanical garden.

Apparently two volunteers at the botanical garden are clever at creating sculptures with natural materials from the forest floor. They were very creative, and fun to discover as we meandered through the grounds.