Valerie's Voice – Page 44 – Musings on Life

Hockey

Ever since St. Olaf installed a state-of-the-art ice arena on campus in January 2019 I have wanted to attend a hockey game. I liked hockey in high school but I can’t remember going to a game since then…so that was over 40 years ago!

Beautiful new ice rink at St. Olaf College.

I missed out on last year’s season but I remembered to check the schedule for this season and finally made it to a men’s hockey game in the new arena.

The game we attended St. Olaf played against Gustavus College, and lost….badly. The final score was 6 -0. Ouch.

O well, it was fun to see how fast the players skate and how well they maneuver the puck. It is a fast paced game…there is no on-going announcer and not very many “stops-on-the-clock” so the 3 twenty minute periods go rather quickly.

There are 15 minute breaks between periods however, but that is for smoothing the ice with the Zamboni…which is also fun to watch but I forgot to take a photo.

Even though St. Olaf lost it was fun to experience the hockey game. I don’t know anything about the ratings of the college teams…if Gustavus was favored to win this game we attended or, if St. Olaf had a bad night…but I think the next time I go to the ice rink I may try open skate time.

Ninety and Beyond

We went to visit a special friend of the family…she is like a dear aunt…and she celebrated her 99^thbirthday on December 26^th. We went to offer her congratulations and wish her many happy birthday blessings for the year ahead.

Florence (99) and me. I purposely wore the Norwegian sweater that Florence and my aunt brought back for me from their 1984 trip to Norway.

Florence has a caretaker that comes to help her in the mornings but otherwise she lives on her own in a beautiful house she and my aunt (best friends for 70 years) bought together in 1968. I’ve written about their house before…it’s like stepping back in time…the house has the original gold, wool carpet…gold, heavy draperies…most of the olive green appliances(!)… and a worn linoleum floor in the kitchen. They bought the house by assuming the mortgage…it was only 2 years old when they moved in fifty years ago.

Florence talks about her various jobs she had, with wages that ranged from 33 cents an hour to her favorite job as a bookkeeper for 20 years, starting at $1.00 an hour. We wanted to ask her how she could survive financially after all these years and no pension but we didn’t. We just listened to her wonderful stories. We always enjoy our visits with her, and we always wonder how much longer she will be with us. She told us that her grandmother lived to be over 100 years old. We hope Florence will too.

Another family member in his 90’s is my Uncle Bob. Last month, during the Christmas season we spent time with my uncle, my dad’s brother. He is 92 years old and in good health and is still driving. We also enjoy visiting with him. I asked him his favorite Christmas memory and he told us this story:

As a child his parents (my grandparents) had very little money, and no money for Christmas presents. One Christmas, Bob’s brothers, Herb (my father) and Earl, who were several years older than Bob, found a beat-up old tricycle in the trash with a missing wheel. They repaired the trike, painted it and gave it to Bob. It was a very special gift – one that Bob has always remembered.

I love hearing stories of my father since he died so young (age 55 in 1974).

I relish and appreciate visiting with these two special people, Florence and Uncle Bob. Along with Bob’s wife, Auntie Joyce, they are the only people in the world who have known me all my life – since I was born. That is significant.

Slides

It took a little digging to get beyond the definition of “slide” as a movement or slippery surface in the app Dictionary.com. What I was looking for was the definition of a photograph slide. I came upon this: “a small glass plate for mounting specimens to be examined under a microscope.”

That must be where the name for the pictures we took with a 35mm camera came from. The development process produced small square cardboard frames encapsulating a negative. When you shine a light through the negative an image projects onto a screen.

There were a few years in the 80’s when we took slides (we also have a few slides from my childhood when my parents also took slides.)

Then there were many years we simply took photographs and had them printed out. I dutifully put them in to photo albums (chronologically).

A few of my photo albums on the closet shelf.

For several years now we’ve taken digital photos, and our pictures are on our phones or “in the cloud”… How does one keep them all in order?

Looking at our photo albums is the most fun…it’s easy; holding the photos albums and turning the pages is enjoyable and…it doesn’t require any set up. But every so often we decide to look at our slides, as we did the other night.

We set up the old screen which is still in very good condition, we got out the vintage slide projector (the light bulb still worked – yay) and brought up our many carousal slide trays and other miscellaneous boxes of slides.

Our boxes of slide trays for the projector.

We did have fun looking at old pictures. Plus, we took our time so we could do some organizing and purging. This is not a one evening process. It is time consuming.

My attempt at organizing the slides we viewed.

Soon we will tuck everything away again, until the next time we decide to take a trip down memory lane by viewing our slides. Hopefully the slideshow will be even better with only the best slides to be viewed.

Happy New Year

Best wishes for a blessed new year in 2020!

Time Capsule Letters

For those who recognize the acronym Y2K (Year 2 Thousand) I’m sure you recall the overall anxiety as the year 1999 came to a close. Some folks thought the end of the world was coming…at midnight!

Others, myself included, wondered if our computers would handle the change from 1999 to 2000, or would all the computers crash and we’d end up off the grid and lose all our data. These were our fears, of life as we knew it, changing drastically overnight. But we did survive: the computers worked well and changed over to the new century, and the world did not come to an end on that New Year’s Eve.

In those days, we traditionally celebrated NYE with the same family friends; adults and young adults and kids all together. Each year we would celebrate by eating Christmas leftovers and playing games.

On New Year’s Eve, 1999, we came up with the idea of writing time capsule letters. All nine of us wrote a letter without sharing it with the others. We sealed them and put them in the freezer! Where else? It’s a safe place we thought. These letters were to be opened in the year 2010…or on New Year’s Eve of 2009. I don’t remember what our 2010 letters said and I can’t believe I didn’t save them…but after reading our letters out loud to each other we enjoyed it so much we wrote time capsule letters again, to be opened in the year 2020…or the NYE of 2019.

As we visited our friends recently our letters appeared…brought out from a special storage box under the bed. This was an upgrade from the freezer storage system (which had led our youngest son to write on the outside of his sealed envelope….”Special Freezer proof time capsule envelope. Do not thaw until 2020.” Love that humor!)

As we read our letters a few days ago it was very interesting how many predictions came true, and how many amusing thoughts we all had written down. It was fun to read through them to those gathered there.

And yes, we did write more time capsule letters that evening…not to be opened until 2030, or the NYE of 2029.

Merry Christmas

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:2

May God’s light shine upon you and fill your heart and home with joy. Merry Christmas.

Artist-In-Residence

As I entered the Northfield Retirement Center I read a notice on the chapel door inviting people to watch an Artist-in-Residence paint a nativity scene.

The notice depicting the different stages of the nativity painting.

Apparently there were two opportunities to see the artist, Mark Daehlin, at work. The session for final touches to his painting was on Saturday. I was visiting a resident, not going to the program, but as I left the center I snapped a photo of the artist in action. I liked his painting style.

I thought this was a great opportunity for the residents at the retirement center.

This was how far along this painting was before the artist started his final session.

The final product was going to used during the upcoming Christmas Eve service in the chapel.

James J. Hill House

It had been years since we’ve toured the James J. Hill House on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, so we thought it would be fun to take our out-of-town guests there and see it again.

On weekends the house is open for self-guided tours. There are volunteers throughout, happy to answer questions.

The house was built in 1891 by James J. Hill, a railroad tycoon of the Great Northern Railroad fame. The house has 36,000 square feet and five levels. That’s one big house.

Extensive 100′ reception hall on the main level.

I found the main floor the most impressive, with gorgeous and elaborately carved oak and mahogany woodwork and marble fireplaces.

The art gallery, music room, drawing room, formal dining room, a small eating area, and the library/den were all on the first floor.

A formal place setting displayed in the formal dining room.

The beautiful expansive staircase to the second floor was my favorite place in the whole house. It had stain-glass windows above the landing to let in natural light. Otherwise I found the house to be dark throughout, even though they had electric lights installed when it was built.

The second floor landing…picture taken on the gorgeous stairway.

The second and third floors housed bedrooms and female servant quarters and a schoolroom for the eight children who lived there. James and Mary Hill had ten children. One died young and another was married by the time they moved into this mansion.

Several of these light fixtures were located throughout the house. The top is an oil lamp, the bottom is electric.

The kitchen was in the basement along with the male servants living quarters. The attic was the top floor of course, and a playroom. We were not allowed to go down to the basement, or up into the attic.

Compared to the Hubbard House in Mankato, the historic house we toured earlier this month (see previous post), I was much more impressed with the Hubbard House, which is a mere 4,800+ square feet. However, I am glad we went to see the James J. Hill House – it is worthwhile to see, and a part of Minnesota’s history.

Northfield’s Winter Walk 2019

We had family visiting from Pennsylvania during Northfield’s annual Winter Walk last week. It was a fun way to showcase our beautiful downtown.

A favorite winter scene of mine: the lit tree on top of the Ames Mill building in Northfield.

Even though the air was cold, Gary’s brother and his wife were willing to participate in the festivities. The streets were full – with shoppers, carolers and folks just out enjoying the ambiance of this holiday tradition. Fresh snow had fallen earlier in the day.

Warming up at one of the many fire pits along closed-off Division street.

For the Winter Walk I always don a Santa hat – one I bought at Jacobsen’s Department Store at Northfield’s first Winter Walk, years ago. The beloved department store is no longer in business. I had an extra Santa hat and encouraged my sister-in-law to join me in the venture.

It is always fun to look in the shops and taste a delicious treat or two. Many store windows are decked out for Christmas and offer wonderful viewing: Quality Bakery and The Rare Pair to name two.

One of the window displays at Quality Bakery.

The Rare Pair in Northfield has interesting and creative window displays all year long.

In the yarn shop window a young woman was sitting in a chair, showing off her knitting skills as she knit a sweater using huge needles. Apparently her goal (or challenge) was to knit a sweater in four hours or less. The clock was ticking down beside her. She was well along on the project and probably reached her goal by the end of the evening.

This woman seemed to be enjoying herself, sitting in the window of the yarn shop in Northfield. The knitting needles were very large creating large stitches.

It was a delight to once again enjoy Northfield’s Winter Walk, and it was especially nice to share it with our out-of-town guests who experienced it for the first time, and liked it!

Finding Jesus

The front cover of the book The Nativity. Illustrated by Julie Vivas.

Last week my 2 ½ year old granddaughter greeted me at her door with the these words,

“Grandma, will you help me find Jesus?”

Apparently when putting up the Advent Calendar, with characters from the nativity, the cloth embroidered Baby Jesus went missing and she had been looking all over the house for it.

My heart fluttered as I heard those sweet words, and my heartfelt response… “Of course Little One, I will help you find Jesus!”