Valerie – Page 49 – Valerie's Voice

Thirty Years

My friend and I celebrated our 30^thannual “girls get-away” this week. We were more like girls when we took our first trip together in 1989, to Seattle. We didn’t know then that this tradition would continue thirty years, without missing a year.

A rabbit sculpture on a river walk along the Mississippi.

She lives in Indiana, I live in Minnesota and at least once a year we get together to catch up on life. We always have a great time; we share stories of our sons (and now grandchildren) and bring each other up to date on our lives, while shopping thrift stores and antique shops, strolling along a river (or being near some type of water), and visiting botanical gardens and/or garden centers. Those activities make up our criteria for where we meet.

A wonderful flower pot in a store front.

We met 37 years ago at church during greeting time (she lived in Minnesota at that time.) I had an infant and she was pregnant with her first child. After her son was born I offered to bring her lunch. I brought tuna fish sandwiches in a brown paper bag! But, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On almost every trip someone asks if we are sisters…and we have begun to say yes.

May 2019. The Mississippi is to the left.

We were near the Mississippi River this year and the spring greens and blooming trees were spectacular.

A train rolling on tracks along the Mississippi River.

Out the window of a restaurant where we ate dinner one evening.

My attempt to capture the beauty and perspective of this sweeping view of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

We enjoyed sitting on a bench along the river at twilight…this robin stayed with us, first on the ground and then in the tree.

Tree Art

On our first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park two weeks ago we noticed a fallen tree with very beautiful and artistic designs in it’s exposed roots. I took a couple of photos and from then on I began noticing what I have come to call “tree art.”

Below are a few photos of tree art that I took in the park: different trees, tree stumps, and tree roots.

I was captured by the beauty of the exposed roots of a fallen tree, a piece of art.

A slice of fallen tree with beautiful lines.

I would like to see these roots without snow.

A frosting of snow added beauty to these tree branches.

Black and white, half and half…I don’t understand why.

Who’s Listening?

One afternoon while in Colorado, my husband and I took the grandchildren to the sandy shores of the pond near the apartment complex where they live. It was a sunny, warm day, with temperatures in the 70’s.

A morning view of the cabana’s from the shore.

After awhile we decided to rest in the shade of a cabana near the water. There were four covered areas, divided by sailcloth and each area had two lounge chairs and a small table. It was inviting, and a lovely spot for a respite from the sun.

A view of the cabana’s from the back…overlooking the water.

We each reclined on the lounge chairs, with one grandchild. We were happy and I said out loud, “It would be fun if someone could capture a picture of us.”

A few minutes later a kind woman popped into our area and said, “I heard you wanted your picture taken!”

She had overheard us…she was tucked in a different cubby of the cabana. She graciously took our photos, telling us to “shake it up” for one of them. It was fun and felt so welcoming.

She was a cheerful woman who was visiting her son, who lived in the complex. But, most interesting is that her husband was on a plane to Malawi, Africa on a mission trip…Malawi is a country bordering Mozambique – we’ve been there. She said she had been to Africa several times.

The next day we were at the playground when she walked by. She told me her husband made it safely to Malawi. I introduced her to my daughter-in-love. She gave her a big hug and told her how much she loved Africa and they visited for awhile.

I was happy for this connection but felt sad knowing this woman was leaving that day to go back to her home a couple hours away. Of course she will return to visit her son, and when she does I hope she and my daughter-in-love connect again.

Children of God Storybook Bible

A couple years ago I bought Children of God Storybook Bible at the annual Hospital Auxiliary book sale in Northfield. The two-piece set included a book that was beautifully illustrated, plus the complete book on two Audio CD’s. I also liked the fact that Jesus was not “white”, a feature I look for in picture book Bibles.

This set sat on our bookshelf for a year or two. When preparing for our son’s move to Colorado, I went through our bookshelves to pass along some books and rediscovered this set. I looked it over and decided to listen to the CD’s on our drive out West. I would be driving alone in our car, the last vehicle in our three-vehicle caravan. It was a great way to start each day.

The author of this children’s Bible is the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Desmond Tutu also narrated his book on the CD’s. It was wonderful to hear his voice reading his beloved stories. I felt the love of God through his words, and could only image his simple stories appealing to children all the while bringing the good news about God’s love. And, each story ends with a simple question. I was really impressed.

I left the wonderfully illustrated book in Colorado with our grandchildren, but I brought the CD’s home with me.

A partial quote about the author off the information sheet in the set reads: “Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his lifelong struggle to bring equality, justice, and peace to his native country of South Africa. In 1986, he was elected Archbishop of Cape Town the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa…… He is known for his great love for children, as well as his powerful and profound understanding of the message of Jesus Christ…….”

The book was published in 2010.

Home Again

We arrived back to an empty house, after helping our son and his family move out of our home, to Colorado. We miss them.

A few haikus about our trip…

Adventure awaits
To Colorado they move
We will miss them so.

Our own caravan
Three vehicles together
All heading westward.

The view of the beautiful apartment complex where our son and family have settled.

Unload, unpack, rest
Moving is a lot of work
They are settled in.

Hiking in the park
The snow starts gently falling
Spring in the Rockies.

The spring/winter beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Three moose on the move
Catching a glimpse through the trees
Many elk and birds.

A few of the many elk we saw in the park, and in town.

Visiting good friends
Retired and moved away
Fun to reconnect.

The Twin Sisters, a view from Ft. Colins, CO. Photo by Jayne L

The house is quiet
The children have moved away
It feels so empty.

Our last day with the grandchildren before their move to CO.

Happy Easter

Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Lake Superior Waves

The photo of a man’s head popping up, in what looked like Lake Superior, caught my attention. It was on the front page of the Variety section of the StarTribune, Sunday April 14, 2019. I recognized the north shore… I love the north shore, and Lake Superior and am always interested in reading stories about it.

StarTribune Variety Section, Sunday, April 14, 2019

The article told about Christian Dalbec, a photographer, who puts on a wet suit, swims out into Lake Superior and catches the waves…on camera! What a clever idea and a unique niche. He not only takes pictures of the waves but of sunrises and sunsets and shipwrecks and all kinds of scenes while in the waters of Lake Superior.

He’s a recovering alcoholic who became interested in photography, which aided his recovery. He came up with the idea of getting into the lake to take unique photographs. The article said this kind of photography is uncommon since the lake is cold and dangerous.

The four photos printed in the StarTribune.

There were four of his photographs of waves in the newspaper article and a link to his website which I’ve included here.

I was impressed by this unique way of taking photographs of Lake Superior.

Mia: Art in Bloom

During the wet snowstorm last week I braved the elements and went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia) for their Art in Bloom exhibit.

This was my first time to see this annual event of floral artistry. I think it works like this: a floral artist submits an idea using flowers and greenery that depicts different pieces of artwork…either sculpture, ceramics or paintings.

When awarded, the artist starts creating their floral masterpiece which is then set next to the artwork. A plaque conveys the artists name and how many times they have participated in this event.

I was excited to see this exhibit, and it was worth the snowy drive. It was the touch of spring I needed after this rather long winter.

It was the creativity of passionate artists using flowers.

It was the charm of being at the art institute.

It was the warmth being inside and occasionally walking past the vast windows of the Mia looking outside to see large snowflakes falling.

Snow fell outside while we enjoyed a touch of spring inside.

I’ve always be intrigued by the moon…I love how the moon is depicted in this floral arrangement.

It was a fabulous event. I enjoyed every minute.

April Snow

When temperatures were near 70* on Monday we, along with many Minnesota hopefuls, thought winter as over…the grass had hints of green and all the snow had finally melted on the north side of our house, which is the front side, and always the last side to surrender the snow.

The snow melted and the bicycles and tricycles came out.

With the warm temperatures we were happy to be outside. We cut down our prairie grass in the backyard and the grandchildren enjoyed riding their bicycles on the clear sidewalks.

Later that same day I heard the forecast for blizzard conditions and it was hard to believe…until heavy snow started falling and accumulating quickly on Wednesday afternoon. We tucked ourselves safely in the house while the snow kept falling into the night.

The day before this snowfall our deck was clear of all snow…

Early the next morning I wanted to go outside for a walk and check out the effects of the snowstorm. I asked Zoey, our four-year-old granddaughter, to go with me. Her boots were packed away since we thought there would be no more snow, so I found two plastic bags…

I bundled her up, then put plastic bags over her shoes. I was planning to walk in the street, not play in the snow, so I thought the good old-fashioned trick with the plastic bags could work. And it did.

Improvised…plastic bags over the shoes instead of boots.

We were walking down the street toward the park when we heard thunder. This must be what they call thundersnow. We could not hear it while we were in the house. Soon the winds picked up and freezing rain began pelting from the sky, stinging our faces. It happened quickly. We turned around and went back home, once again settling ourselves inside for the day. We baked cookies.

Additional photos:

We woke up to our windows covered with snow.

Same window from the outside…snow stuck to the windows and siding.

A bouquet of beautiful white tulips sitting on our kitchen table inside, competing with the white snow and evergreens outside our kitchen windows.

Easter Eggs

It’s been awhile since I’ve colored eggs for Easter, but with our grandchildren here of course we had to do it. I hard boiled 11 eggs and ate one so that left us with 10 eggs. 😉

I plopped the tablets from the egg decorating kit into cups of vinegar and made several bold, color dyes to chose from.

The kids (of all ages) had fun drawing on the egg with a clear wax pencil or crayon, deciding which color to dip the egg into, then watching and waiting, with anticipation, to see how their egg would turn out.

The most unique egg is one our grandson envisioned and had help with the drawing. He has talked about Christmas trees since Christmas…he was so enthralled with our tree…so he wanted a Christmas tree on his Easter egg. O well, we couldn’t have Easter without Christmas.

An egg with Happy Easter written in Portuguese, the other language we hear in our house these days, is another special egg for our basket.

Adding mini-stickers to the dry eggs the next day.

Ukraine is known for their beautiful Easter eggs. I have a bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs. I brought a few home with me from my visits there. These eggs are wood, not the typical, fragile “real” eggs. Ukrainian Easter Eggs are amazing… detailed, intricate, artistic. I took a class on how to paint Ukrainian eggs but I never caught on to the technique. It is an art, and like all art, it usually takes much practice, and some talent.

My Carnival Glass bowl full of Ukrainian Easter Eggs.

I enjoyed watching my grandchildren having fun decorating their Easter eggs in their own creative way, and their eggs are just as special.