Valerie's Voice – Page 84 – Musings on Life

A Long Bike Ride

This story is an adventure my husband had out East a few weeks ago. He took a bike trip and rode 342 miles in one week with seven other guys from his Minnesota bike club, The Faribault Flyers. A friend/neighbor from the club moved away last year and bought a home in the Washington D.C. area. Once out there he organized a bike trip for those in the MN group who wanted to join in on a ride from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. He got seven takers.

They rented touring bikes from a shop in Pittsburgh and stayed in Bed & Breakfasts along the way. They rode between 35 – 62 miles per day on the Great Allegheny Passage Trail (packed limestone) and the C&O Canal Tow Path (dirt trail). The C&O portion was a mule path along side a historic canal from the 1800’s. Mules were used to pull 12’ wide barges down the man-made canal to haul coal from the north to the south. The canal had 74 locks and most of the locks and old lock-houses are still standing along the path.

They had a great week. Lots of history and great scenery. They had no rain while biking, however the last night it did rain during the night and made the dirt trail very muddy for their last day of riding. The guys and their bikes were caked with mud after 35 miles on the muddy trail. The trail ended in Georgetown and the guys said they wanted to eat at the first restaurant they came upon…which happened to be a more upscale restaurant, but the hosts graciously accepted the eight mud-caked bikers to their outdoor dining tables, which carried the theme from indoors with white linen napkins! I’m sure it was quite a sight.

The bike trip was a challenge for the guys, riding consecutively for seven days, but it was worth the time and effort to see they could do it successfully and it certainly created some great memories.

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

As we started walking around the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum several days ago I looked up the word “teliodoscope” on my iPhone to find the definition and learn how to pronounce it. The word is not in the dictionary and must be the creation of the artist who had a wonderful exhibit “Gardens of Kaleidoscopes” on display at the arb (now through September 2017).

Brightly colored painted, steel structures hold big bowls of bright-colored, perky pansies with a few other spring flowers mixed in. According to the brochure, the annuals in the bowls will change monthly and vary by season. The bowls rotate and there are kaleidoscopes mounted on each stand (different heights for different folks) so as you look through the scope and spin the bowl (and/or the scope at the same time) it creates a wonderful “teliodoscope” of colors and patterns and fantastic designs. It’s very creative and such fun to locate them throughout the arboretum.

The brochure tells us the artist, Robert Anderson, spent his early life on a farm in south-central WI. This exposure to nature and mechanics would create the foundation for his life’s work of “living sculptures’ as he calls them.

I, for one, am a fan of his work! I love color, I love kaleidoscopes, I love flowers…what a combination.

We also discovered a new permanent addition to the arboretum called Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center. The center is beautifully built and opened last fall. We learned some fascinating facts about bees and want to go back to learn more.

And, of course, we enjoyed the wonderful landscape of the arboretum with some spring flowers in bloom… and there will be a whole new look in the coming days as more flowers bloom and grow.

When I’m Sixty-four

Today I leave the St. Olaf Campus for the last time as an employee of the college. It’s a little surreal to call myself retired but I look forward to the next season of life.

I became curious as to how old my mother was when she retired so I looked back in our photo albums and found pictures from our family retirement party for her. I have such a different perspective now of that time in her life…she was alone (my dad died right before his retirement in 1974) and my mom lived another 22 years after her retirement.

She was 64 years old when she retired and so am I! Somehow it seems to be another confirmation of this step!

Commencement Weekend at St. Olaf College

I surprised myself when tears came to my eyes as I walked through St. Olaf campus very early this morning. I thought to myself this is the last commencement weekend I will work. It was such a beautiful morning, and it was so quiet and peaceful as the sun rose to display a gorgeous blue sky which made it apparent the ceremony would be held outdoors – that is always the preferred plan and the one we hope for.

The outdoor location was moved from the Manitou Field (the football field) up to the Campus Green for the first time this year. Mellby Hall was the wonderful backdrop for the party platform. 5,000 chairs were set up for the graduates, faculty, family, friends and guests and jumbo screens were put in place to offer up close views for the folks in the back.

Mellby Hall in background, setting up 5,000 chairs and jumbo screens for 2017 commencement ceremony at St. Olaf College

Later in the day, after I cleaned up the registration area (my responsibility over the weekend) and folks found their seats, I walked away just as the faculty and graduates were walking to take their seats for the commencement ceremony. Such pomp and circumstance. What a wonderful tradition. What an exciting time for the students and their families

The beautiful sky as I left the campus as the commencement ceremony was just beginning.

Just as I started the morning eight hours earlier, I walked away with tears in my eyes and mixed emotions…this was my last Commencement Weekend “on the hill” as I retire next week.

The beginnings of the mosaic where graduates and family members could pick a “paint chip” (the theme of the Graduation Gala Saturday night) and add it to the board to make a mosaic of what? – they didn’t know.

The mosaic of Old Main on St. Olaf Campus, completed Saturday night at the St. Olaf College Graduation Gala.

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.