Valerie's Voice – Page 76 – Musings on Life

Frog and Toad and the Circus

I went to the Minneapolis Children’s Theater production of A Year with Frog and Toad last week. It was a delightful rendition of the stories from the Frog and Toad “I can read” book series. We read the books when my guys were young and these sweet stories of Frog and Toad’s friendship and escapades have come alive on the stage. It was very enjoyable.

Another childhood entertainment, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus – The Greatest Show on Earth – had its very last performance on Sunday May 21, in New York. Although I didn’t attend the circus much (we took the boys once and I remember going as a little girl) it seems the circus was a very big deal…most people refer to the circus at times and we all seem to understand the lingo… so I “tuned in” to watch the last performance live-stream for a while. Observing the acrobats and contortionists, who are truly athletic, doing their amazing stunts, viewing the animal trainer in the arena with fourteen lions and tigers and getting them to obey his commands, tracking the clowns and their antics all did their job to cheer me up. It’s a little sad to know the greatest show on earth has come to an end of an era.

Retiring

Flowers and a diploma cover with an official retirement certificate inside were ours to take home after the reception for 40 retirees at St. Olaf College on Wednesday May 17, 2017. I’m retiring from St. Olaf College on June 1st. It has been a great place to work since 1998. I have had an unusual career there, working part-time over the years, in different departments but most consistently as the Christmas Festival ticket coordinator for twelve years. As was noted in my “spotlight” I felt it was a Christmas miracle each year as all the guests settled into 11,000+ seats to listen to their beloved choral tradition, every first weekend in December. It has been very good.. but now it is time for the next season.

Ecclesiastes 3

For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
²A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
³A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
⁵A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
⁶A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
⁸A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.

Clouds After the Rain

I went for a walk in-between rains last evening and the sky was full of fun cloud formations…I see a fan…
I see an angel…

I see a woodsman with a beanie and a beard….

I see an elephant…and the sun shining through the clouds.

The sky kept getting pinker, after the sun through the clouds picture, but I stopped taking photos and just enjoyed the show.

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.