Valerie – Page 86 – Valerie's Voice

There’s a New Fairy in Town

Last spring, about this time, my friend and I each bought a fairy and a fairy bench for our gardens. I hid my fairy under a lily in my front yard and as the lily grew larger it covered the fairy…until she was out of sight. But apparently not out of sight to a squirrel. I can only assume a squirrel was the culprit that took my fairy, leaving the bench behind.

So I have been on the lookout for a new fairy and recently found just the one.

I wasn’t planning on buying a Minnie Mouse but as soon as I saw this miniature icon with a butterfly on her nose I knew it was what I wanted. My oldest granddaughter likes Minnie Mouse and perhaps, if they come home for a visit later this year, she can go looking for Minnie Mouse in the yard.

This figurine is heavier so I don’t think a squirrel will be able to carry this one away.

Happy Mother’s Day

I’m thinking how happy I am to be a mother and a grandmother. And I’m thinking about my own mother, and mother-in-law, who are no longer with us. And my aunt who never had any of her own children but took on a loving role with her nieces and nephews. And of my grandmother’s…one I never met and the other died when I was very young. I am thinking of special women in my life who were not blood relatives but a mom to me in other ways. I am grateful.

Blessings and honor to all moms and extraordinary women role models today.

Sunrise Sunset

Sunrise over Lake Superior with seagulls

“What would you pay to see you the sun rise or the sun set if it were not free entertainment?”

I don’t remember where I heard this quote years ago but I have never forgotten it. (I have not found a source to credit.)

I have quoted this quote or thought it many times over the years…whenever I see a sunset or sunrise, or see photos of them, or when someone talks or writes about them, but also when I am out enjoying nature…for free!

I love to be in nature…I love to be outside…and I find a lot of free entertainment in outdoor spaces.

I remember a time when the boys were young and we were vacation waiting for a train and the wait was going to be long. I noticed a pond nearby so we went and sat near it and watched some ducks floating around, playing together. The ducks were fun to watch and I remember telling the boys one can always find great entertainment watching birds or animals, and observing nature.

Audrey Helbling’s Minnesota Prairie Roots blog on sunrises and sunsets prompted me to think of the quote recently. Read her beautiful poem entitled “Writing poetry as the sun rises” here.

Minnesota’s Finest Spring Days

Some people quip we Minnesotans live for these amazingly, perfect spring days. After our winters we relish in temperatures of 65-75* and amazing, sunny blue skies. We get out of our houses and enjoy the great, big, beautiful outdoors. These days are definitely dreamy!

Over the weekend we went from spring in the forest (Nerstrand Big Woods State Park) to spring in the city (a walk around Lake of the Isles near downtown Minneapolis). There are so many beautiful evidences of spring and so many photos I wanted to take, but couldn’t because of logistics, but they are in my mind’s eye.

All seasons, but especially spring, has many shades of green. I’m grateful for so many shades of green…I can’t imagine the world with one…only one… shade of green.

The string of beautiful days have been just right for doing almost anything. I spent several hours Saturday cleaning out my own garden.

On Sunday we walked around one of several beautiful city lakes in Minneapolis. Many people were outdoors with us…walking, running, biking, boating, sitting, reading…it was wonderful to see. My husband and I also enjoyed looking at the beautiful homes that surround the lake.

We ended our time in the city visiting our son and his wife and our two and a half-week-old grand-daughter. Another spring beauty!!!

Adirondack Chairs

The St. Olaf College campus is peppered with gold-colored Adirondack chairs this time of year, and we all – students, faculty and staff – use them. This spring we have two new chairs, a little different from the others, but even more wonderful because they come with a story.

About a year ago a colleague in our building passed away. He cleaned out his office one Friday afternoon and co-workers teased him asking “why?” and “are you not coming back?” Well, he didn’t come back. He had a heart attack Saturday morning and died a few days later. This week two Adirondack chairs were dedicated in his honor.

The rest of the story comes from the wood used to make the chairs. Apparently he saved a pile of wood from a deck he dismantled years ago. He thought the wood was too good to be thrown out. He kept saying some day I’m going to make something from it. He and his family moved the wood pile several times from house to house, much to his wife’s chagrin. After he passed away a friend contacted St. Olaf and wondered if anything could be done with the wood. It was decided chairs could be built in his honor. His wife thought it was a great idea and when she saw how beautifully they turned out she quipped that she now wants the wood back.

The chairs have been placed outside our building, but who knows how long they will stay there…our students move these chairs all over campus and that is a good thing. These Adirondack chairs are a wonderful addition to St. Olaf’s landscape in spring, summer and fall.

This reminds me of the verse in Ecclesiastes… He has made everything beautiful in its time.

St. Olaf’s Collegiate Chorale

I have posted a link to the St. Olaf Chapel service today. It was phenomenal. One of the favorite parts of my job is to be able to attend chapel everyday…in fact it is encouraged. Today the Collegiate Chorale sang. It is a non-auditioned women’s chorus with female students from all four class years, and faculty/staff/emeriti women, conducted by Dr. Anton Armstrong.

The song “Peace, Hope & Love” was written earlier this year by a student from the class of 2019. The lyrics were a balm after these few days of turmoil on campus. What perfect timing. The song is towards the middle of the service.

Listen if you can…click here.

Seven Generations

Reading Audrey Helbling’s Minnesota Prairie Roots blog on Oak Ridge Cemetery in Faribault prompted me to write about a very special cemetery to our family.

In Lancaster County Pennsylvania, where my husband grew up, there are many old cemeteries simply because the East Coast was settled much earlier than the Midwest. Outside the doors of Middle Creek Church of the Brethren, the country church my husband attended as a child, is an cemetery surrounded by picturesque, small farms in the rolling countryside of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

In Middle Creek Cemetery lies seven generations of the Bollinger clan. My husband enjoys genealogy research and has traced his family back to Rudolph Bollinger who came over from Switzerland about 1720. Rudolph is not buried in this cemetery but his tombstone was found in a farm field nearby. This was a very exciting discovery by my husband and his brother. Rudolph (died 1770) is the fifth great-grandfather of my husband.

The first Bollinger in the church cemetery in my husband’s lineage is Abraham Bollinger, a son of Rudolph. His tombstone in German tells us he lived from 1756 to 1814. My husband’s younger brother Richard, who died in 1986, makes for the seventh generation.

Since Abraham, each succeeding generation of males (and their spouses) in my husband’s direct Bollinger lineage have been buried in this cemetery. On our last trip to Pennsylvania we visited each graveside. I think it is unusual to have seven generations buried in one cemetery in the Untied States. It’s a wonderful family history.

Dwarf Trout Lily

Each year I get excited to see the Dwarf Trout Lily blooming in Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, one of the only places in the world where it lives. It is a federally endangered forest wildflower found only with in 275 square mile area in Rice and Goodhue Counties, MN. Because it is found in only this small area the dwarf trout lily is considered a Minnesota “endemic” – i.e. a species that grows in Minnesota and nowhere else on earth.*

That is why I go looking for this flower each spring and why I get a thrill seeing it each year. I have found a spot where one blooms so I can find it easily even when the volunteer naturalists are not around.

The Dwarf Trout Lily are miniature…the flower is about the size of a little finger fingernail (therefore very hard to spot.) The common white trout lily is much bigger and is widespread throughout the park.

The forest floor had other spring flowers blooming…the trees were budding out and the colors can only be described as “spring greens” sprinkled with white, pale pinks and yellow. It’s so beautiful.

And then on campus I couldn’t help but notice these bold red tulips near a budding Red Bud.

Ah…spring flowers.

*Biological Report #18 of the MN Natural Heritage Program Section of Wildlife, MN dept. Of Natural Resources.

Two Gifts

Wednesday I received two gifts…the first gift is our newborn granddaughter…Aria Grace. She arrived Wednesday morning weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces and is 20 inches long. She’s beautiful! It was wonderful to be able to hold this sweet baby girl.

The second gift was this book from Aria’s parents…to us from Aria…How To Babysit a Grandma. A very fun book indeed. I look forward to reading it to her someday and then having her babysit me!

Fun Solutions

T-shirts are a popular item to create and give away for awards or gift items…It’s a practical gift and if you can get the right fit they are fun to wear.

My boys collected a lot of t-shirts over the years. I did not save all the sport ones – they wore them out I suppose – but I did save the t-shirts they collected as an award for their art projects. Both sons had artwork chosen to participate in the local Children’s Art Fair when they were in elementary school. It was an honor. Grandma came and our family went to see their artwork on display.

As I am slowly going through things I found the t-shirts from the art fairs. I showed them to my son and asked if he had any ideas of what I could do with them…one solution is to take a photo for remembrance and then give it away or discard the item/s. I do that with other things. But as he was looking through these special t-shirts he decided a couple of them would fit (they used to wear t-shirts a lot larger back then) so he kept two to wear! It’s so fun!

I am often amazed at the way things work out sometimes.