Walking at Carleton

Literally, within minutes, we got dressed in our winter gear, drove to the upper arb in Northfield, just a few blocks away from our house, buckled on our snowshoes and started walking in the woods in the early morning after a lovely snow fall the day before.

This photo of the colorful sunrise was sent by a friend (used with permission). We had seen a portion of this sunrise from our window which enticed us to get outside and snowshoe.

We went “off trail” and followed deer tracks and had a delightful time while getting exercise and fresh air. The sun was rising and it was very calm and peaceful. A great way to start the day.

We had fun following fresh tracks in the newly fallen snow.
An evergreen tree among pin oaks.

And we were back home an hour later. It’s wonderful to have the Carleton Arboretum so close and available. 

The upper arb at Carleton College.

The campus of Carleton College is also a great place to walk in the winter – without snowshoes. Carleton keeps their sidewalks clear and safe and there are lots of places to roam and get in a good walk, while weaving in-between the beautiful buildings and green spaces – well- white spaces in winter! We tend to go there often.

Clear ice forms this Carleton College logo ice sculpture.

The other day we were treated with ice sculptures. We don’t know who made them, we assume some Carleton students. We found three.

Mamma and baby penguin ice sculpture.
Olaf!

It was a delightful addition to our winter walk that day on Carleton’s campus.

Ash Wednesday

Our small statue of “Cristo Redentor” – Christ the Redeemer.

Our church offered a drive-thru, what they termed, “Imposition of Ashes”. Because our church is still closed due to the pandemic this was offered to the congregation (and community) as the start of the Lenten season. You simply drove up to the church entrance. Our pastor met us at our car, applied the ashes, and sent us on our way with this scripture and prayer.

Psalm 51:10-12

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

O God, Give me stillness to recognize your presence. Give me quiet to hear your voice. Holy Spirit, I ask you to fill my heart with your peace, your love and your ways. Restore me and my spirit with Your strength to turn and follow you. Amen.

As our pastor marked our foreheads with the ashes he said, in part, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. Now turn and follow Jesus.”

Amen.

Another Frigid Afternoon

With temperatures predicted to dip way below zero (15 to 25 degrees below) over the weekend we decided it might be a good time to find a project to work on inside our warm house.  

The one that came to mind was…photos! The ever-looming photos, a project we kept saying we’ll work on when we retire – even after we were retired.

But, at last, the timing felt right. 

Our photo work area.

Since 1982 (when our first son was born) I dutifully put photos in albums in chronological order. I have several mismatched albums of all different sizes, one for each year, through the kids high school years. Then digital cameras became the norm and now photos are stored on the computer. 

Piles of photos on the floor.

But still we had a few photos printed, plus my mom had duplicates of our sons that she gave back to us, and Gary’s sister gave us back all the photos we gave her of the kids when they were growing up, and there were stray photos for various reasons in different areas of the house and some old, framed photos to take out of the frame, some very old black and white photos that date way back etc., etc., etc.  We had a lot of organizing to do. 

So we set up our six-foot folding table in a downstairs room, unfolded two folding chairs, found archival pens, extra envelopes, a scissors, notepad and pen, and started in. We brought everything to the central work station. working diligently for several hours the first day. We stopped for lunch and a quick walk in the subzero temperatures, and then back at it. (Won’t the kids be glad someday!)

Our mismatched photo albums in chronological order.

The next day we started in again and did get the organizing done, cleaned off the shelf area in the closet where the albums are kept, and put the albums back in place. 

Our next step is to go through each album and weed out the unwanted/not-so-good pictures…and who knows, maybe even combine a few albums together?

More photos.

The next steps may be more enjoyable. However, there are still many hours left on this project…but the weather forecast is for continued cold temperatures for a few more days, so that will be a helpful motivator.

And then there are the slides………

England, Part II

About that special birthday trip…

I mentioned the special trip my son gave me as a birthday gift one year, before either of my sons were married. It was a significant birthday and my oldest son said he’d like to take me to London. I had been there once before, when we visited him after his semester studying at Oxford University. I enjoyed London a lot and was excited to be going back. This was a wonderful, thoughtful gift. What I didn’t know is I was in for another amazing gift, and a great big surprise while in London.

An enchanting evening…the London Eye under the full moon, a photo from a page in my album.

Michael and I had spent a lovely, long day in Oxford the day before so we were having a leisurely  breakfast the next morning. It was a traditional English breakfast, buffet style, at our hotel. After our first trip to the breakfast bar my son said he wanted another bowl of muesli and I got another cup of coffee. A while later he said he wanted a third bowl of muesli so I had another cup of coffee. 

Little did I know he was stalling….and during that third bowl of muesli in comes my younger son. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Tim was living in Mozambique, Africa at the time and in he walks, up to our breakfast table in the London hotel, to surprise me… and I was 100% totally surprised!!! What a moment. I started to cry and then laugh and then excitedly I settled down to visit (my husband had known all about this rendezvous and managed to keep their secret).  

Wonderful breakfast surprise.

My two sons and I spent a few more days together in London and some very special memories were made for this mom, that I will never forget and always treasure.  My heart was full.

England, Part I

As the temperatures dipped below zero, I decided to spend the day reading a book in front of our fireplace.  Finding Mrs. Lewis, tells of the love story between Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis. As I settled in little did I know I would be transported back to Oxford, England that afternoon.

An interesting love story.

C. S. Lewis is well-known for many things including writing his beloved children’s series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia and a popular, classic Christian apologetics book, Mere Christianity

C.S. Lewis held academic positions in English literature at Magdalen College at Oxford University (Oxford is made up of 35 separate colleges) and he lived on the outskirts of Oxford for many years, with his brother. C.S. Lewis was great friends with novelist J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. These two great writers, C.S.Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien along with other writers, were in a writing group together that met every Tuesday at The Eagle and Child, a pub on St. Giles Street in Oxford. They called themselves the Inklings.

An ordinary pub on St. GIles Street in Oxford, that has become famous because of its patrons.

I was captivated by the love story between Joy and Clive (the C in C.S.). At one point in the book the setting changed from New York City to England. While reading several chapters of Joy’s time in Oxford it was exciting for me to recognize the places described in the book. Suddenly, I was back in Oxford as I visualized The Eagle and Child and the table where the Inklings met every Tuesday.

A more colorful view of this pub where C.S. Lewis met with his writing group.

I could see the magnificent University buildings and spires of Oxford. I remembered shopping at Blackwell’s Book Store, touring part of Christ’s Church, and the lovely, pastoral landscape surrounding the town. I had been to these places mentioned in the book and it made the story come alive and more interesting. 

Christ Church in Oxford, a photo of a page in my photo album.

It prompted me to take a break from reading the book and dig out my vacation journal to read about my own two trips to Oxford. The first time our family went to meet up with our son who had finished one semester of college at Oxford University (Keeble College). What a joy to walk around this city of spires and very old, very ornate, beautiful, magnificent buildings. We went to see Keeble College, and where our son lived while attending, and where he studied – the Bodleian Library (only students allowed inside).

A postcard with a partial view of The University of Oxford with the Bodlien Library in the center

I was in Oxford for the second time when my son took me on a trip to London for a special birthday. What a guy! (I will expand on that in Part II.) Of course, we took the train to Oxford for a day to reminisce his rich experiences there. We came to a resolution at the beginning of our time to write one haiku each day of our trip. I created a photo book, along with the haikus, of that wonderful experience, so I pulled that album out too, and spent time remembering our fun adventures.

Keeble College.

(We were in London a third time to attend our youngest son’s graduation from the University of London with a master’s degree in public health. And though we didn’t go to Oxford on that trip, we had a great time in London with our youngest son and his family.)

So as I sat near the warm fireplace on a very frigid afternoon reading an interesting book, I escaped reality and went on a mini-holiday to an enchanting place in the confines of my own home.

Imaginary Door

A few weeks ago we were hiking in a wooded area in Faribault and came across an intriguing sight. It made us stop in our tracks to investigate…

From the trail we noticed this secret door…

It looked like two roots from a large, tall tree that had grown down a cliff and into the soil at the bottom leaving an opening exposing the rock cliff. It formed a beautifully-shaped, arched doorway, and it was the size of one too.

A closer look…

We saw this from the trail at the bottom of a rock wall but we didn’t see an easy way to get to the top of the wall, and we were not equipped to go rock climbing that day. We left the trail and walked closer to the tree to inspect how the split trunk/roots were attached to the rock and found they were growing into the rock. It looked like the rock was sandstone so it seemed possible.

Perspective as to how large the fissure is.

We wondered how it grew to be this way. It was a fun and curious discovery. Gary went and stood in the opening to show perspective to its size. 

It lends to one’s imagination of opening an adult-size fairy door and entering through the tree to mystical and charming wonderlands inside…

An imaginary door…

Someday I’d love to go back and strategically attach a door knob to the rock door…

Winter’s Beauty

Valley Grove is a special place…two historic churches on top of a hill, surrounded by a cemetery and some lovely pine trees and oak trees…

The two historic churches at Valley Grove.

There was an old, old oak tree that stood in one corner of the cemetery, providing shelter and shade for many gravesites, but it blew down in a 2018 tornado. That was a sad day.

This stately, old oak tree stood tall in the corner of Valley Grove Cemetery. This photo was taken months before it was felled by a tornado.

Valley Grove remains a place of beauty…in any season. And one I like to visit often.

Winter’s beauty.
A sweeping prairie view.

I was recently snowshoeing there on a bright, sunshiny day, after a morning of hoar frost that shed its shards onto the freshly fallen snow causing them to sparkle in the sunshine, making us feel like we were walking through diamonds. It was stunning. 

A bit of hoar frost left on this twig.

We walked for a couple of hours in the glistening and untouched snow, creating paths through the prairie land and into the woods.

Into the woods.

We noticed several varieties of animal tracks crating their own paths and sometimes leaving us to wonder what the animals were doing…dancing I’m sure, in the wide open spaces while no one was watching.

So peaceful, so picturesque.

Ruby Red

Today was my mom’s birthday. She passed away in 2009 but I thought I’d share a poem I wrote about her at that time.

Ruby.
I don’t know the year this picture was taken.
Ruby Red     
 
Red was her color
Ruby was her name
Never much recognition
Never much fame.
 
But she was a faithful mother,
A grandmother, a friend
Loved and cared by many 
Generous to the end.
 
She surrounded herself with beauty
Both natural and man made
She had a green thumb for growing,
And an eye for things that stayed.
 
From the house on McKinley
To the apartment at Meadowbrook
She kept her place beautiful 
It was always fun to look.
 
Her fun sense of adventure 
Took her on many fine trips
And hours of playing bridge
Kept her mind sharp and crisp.
 
Being with family and friends
Made her most content
She had much joy in remembering
Those times were well spent.
 
So here’s to Ruby
Whose color was red
God blessed her life to 86
An active life she led.
 
 
 
 
 

I Would Never…

Last week I posted a blog entitled The Color I Remember, an essay I wrote for an assignment with my writing companion. Today I am posting a poem she recently wrote for a different assignment entitled, I Would Never

With her permission I have posted it below. Enjoy.

I Would Never …
By Sharon Ginter Eichhorn

Never is a powerful word.
Very finite, very fixed.
And so often that word,
well-intended and sincere, 
does not live up to the intensity,
the determined meaning of the word.
Rather, we in fact would, and often do,
the very things we said we would not.
People are, in general, well-intentioned,
good-hearted, rightly motivated.
But, in all of us is a weakness, 
a faltering humanness
that belies our good intentions.
Never is a powerful word. 
We must never use it lightly,
Because it is then that we might tumble,
we might prove the weakness of our humanity.
Instead, live your life always hoping…
hoping to be the person you want to be. 
Never asks too much, I think.
Never denies failings. 
Never damns humanness. 
Instead try, always, to hope, 
because hope never fails.
 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

April 2018

Today is set apart to honor the civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He had much wisdom to share, but his overall message was unconditional love.

MLK statue at the memorial in Washington DC.
There were several inspiring quotes by MLK in marble at the memorial.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.”

Another gem to live by.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. Tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”