I got to throw a party over the weekend…a baby shower for my soon-to-be-born grand-daughter, due May 1. I love to plan a party (this one with a dear friend) and I love to decorate, especially using the antique dishes I have collected over the years.
My son came along with his wife to take part in the festivities! And my husband helped in the kitchen and served the women. A friend of his stopped by and asked if he could come “out to play” but he said he had to work and recruited his friend to help him in the kitchen!
Right before the shower began I was attending to some finishing touches. I wanted to float some freshly washed rubber duckies, with pink bows and bibs, in the punch, but all three duckies went “bottoms-up’! People started to arrive and joined us in the kitchen all suggesting different ideas to try to make these ducks stay upright. Nothing worked. Finally we set them along the rim of the punch bowl which looked fine… but the ordeal was quite comical.
Introductions were made, a children’s book was read – and a devotional too – snacks were eaten, presents opened and questions answered as part of a “game”. The gifts were generous and laughter plentiful.
To celebrate our anniversary on Saturday we went out for dinner. We like to try new places so we went to a restaurant we had never been to before. We were seated at a “half moon” booth and had a relaxing and delicious dinner. Before we left home we had decided to exchange our cards at the restaurant…we always buy a card for one another. This year we were in for a surprise. We bought the same card! We laughed and wondered, and were amazed. We didn’t even buy them at the same store. I’m pretty sure that will never happen again.
Our waiter took special interest in us too, and brought us a complimentary Crème Brule. It was a fun 39th anniversary celebration.
It’s our 39th wedding anniversary today. We will go out for dinner to celebrate. Last year a friend at work wrote a fun poem about her anniversary in response to a comment when she told a colleague it was her anniversary…he said, that’s a lot of dinners! Here is her poem:
13,514
by Sharon Ginter Eichhorn
13,514.
If you factor in leap years,
that is the count.
That is the number–
a lifetime, really.
One simple measure
of the passage of time.
A “Dinner Table” mathematical formula—
totaling an equation
of my life’s story.
Those first dinners, oh my.
Crusty casseroles with burnt edges
and tasteless flavor.
Spices were still a new concept,
untested and seldom employed.
Sitting down to some of those creations
was a risky venture—
once a one-bite effort
followed by two plops into the waste basket
and dinner out.
But the years passed,
and the meals improved
and the times spent across the
span of plates and family
continued.
When the babies came,
during those first years,
sometimes the meal consisted of
popcorn, a soda, and a lot of sighing.
Time was at a minimum.
Then came the years of hot dogs,
macaroni and cheese, tuna salad,
carrot strips and ice cream.
And, my motherly effort of hiding Brussels sprouts
inside meatballs to improve their diet of veggies.
On to the dinners with busy teens
grabbing Hot Pockets as they raced out the door,
and 1 a.m. pizzas because they missed dinner
and were starving—totally ignoring, of course,
the healthier leftovers in the frig.
And then, the deeply painful adjustment
to a table returned to two,
and a effort at acceptance of this quieter version
of the dinner table experience,
a lonelier variation of the years just past.
Now, with two at the table the norm,
a larger crowd intimidates a bit.
Thank goodness my cooking skills have improved,
because the nerves have aged,
and balancing it all more difficult.
But, joy is present when the count
at our table grows.
The kids have returned to share a meal
and I break out the big guns,
all their favorites gracing the table.
Deeply satisfied if I can feed them well,
dinners have become a gift I can give,
a welcome home and a gesture of love.
And the pleasure feeds my soul
Until the next time we gather.
So now, it is just Jack and I
most often at our table.
A return to the beginning,
as the circle comes to a close …
as we remember the start of all this.
Today, as we celebrate, quietly,
the 37 years of dinners we have shared
across the family table,
And remember all the stages of a life well-lived,
the circle meets … and goes on.
We have many fun memories of camping trips when our boys were young. We took many road trips, camping in National parks across the country and many weekend getaways, camping in Minnesota State Parks.
A few weeks ago when we went to see the baby nursery my son and his wife have decorated for their expectant daughter a special memory came to mind. Hanging on the wall was a framed music stanza of “You Are My Sunshine”. This is meaningful because my husband would often, and randomly, sing this song, off-key, while sitting around the picnic table or campfire…and it made us all laugh. This was not a one-time event, nor a “camping only” event, but it is a vivid camping memory since we heard him sing it most often outdoors.
It was special to see this framed print hanging on the nursery wall for our newest grand-daughter coming in May. We are excited to meet her and to hear grandpa sing these sweet words to her, as he has with our other grandchildren.
Since the downtown Minneapolis Macy’s Department Store closed it’s doors for good earlier this month there will be no more annual spring flower shows in the 8th floor auditorium. I will miss them. In appreciation of the tradition, I am posting some photos from 2016, last year’s flower show.
On my way to work yesterday morning I drove past our town’s fire station and saw commotion, then heard the sirens go off. Often whenever I hear sirens tears start to well up in my eyes and I say a prayer for all involved in whatever is happening. I am grateful for the volunteer firefighters in our town who are willing to step into danger and rush to help.
My dad was a carpenter by trade. His father, came over from Norway at the age of 17, and took up carpentry then passed the skills onto his son. My dad built several houses, including the one I grew up in.
For my parents 25th wedding anniversary my dad made my mother a beautiful corner cupboard. He passed away a couple years later. In 1982 my mom moved out of her house to a new townhouse and she moved the corner cupboard too. I told her that I would love to have corner cupboard someday.
Over twenty years later when she moved from her townhouse into a senior living apartment she told me I could take the corner cupboard since she really didn’t have room for it, and she said she would love to see it in my house. We had the perfect corner for it and have enjoyed the cupboard for many years. I’m happy to have it.
Built in the 50’s
My dad also made a cradle for me to play with when I was a little girl. It was white with pink hearts. It was stored away for several years and at one point I painted it dark brown (and I don’t have any idea why!) Now that I have a two-and-a- half-year old grand-daughter and another grand-daughter on the way I decided it was time to restore the cradle to it’s original state. I bought primer to cover the dark brown, my husband filled in the nicks with wood filler, sanded it down, put on a coat of primer, then painted it white with pink hearts. I love it!
A colleague asked me about our vacations to Glacier National Park because she is planning a trip there this summer. I happily looked through our photos and read through our vacation journals. Glacier National Park left a lasting impression on me and although we have been there only twice it is my favorite national park. It is so majestic and amazingly beautiful. I remember driving away from it after our first visit and felt like I was leaving a part of myself behind.
Our first visit to the park was in 1989. We drove to the park from Minnesota with our two boys and tent camped in the park for a week. Our young sons, ages 7 and 5 at the time, were troopers…they hiked over 20 miles with us on the beautiful trails.
In 2013 my husband and I went back to Glacier and the highlight from that trip was our experience going up to Sperry Chalet, on horseback, then walking back down the mountain two days later. Here’s what I wrote in our vacation journal.
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Giddy up and up and up….Clip-clop goes the steady sound of our horses hoofs climbing 3300’ in 6.7 miles to Sperry Chalet. It promises to be another gorgeous day in Glacier National Park. This is our fourth day in the park. This morning we’ve packed our saddlebags and said our prayers for our two nights stay on the mountain.
The horses are sure footed and they know the trail well – going back and forth up the mountain to the chalet many times a week. We form a line of ten horses with rider’s. My horse, Wyatt, sometimes gets a little too close to Bobbie, the much bigger horse in front of him, so occasionally Bobbie gives Wyatt a kick with his back foot. Although Wyatt deserves it, it can be a little terrifying for the rider on it’s back! That would be me. Gary is on Chester, who behaves nicely.
The scenery is great, the pace is steady and we finally make it up to the hitching rail at the chalet after three and a half hours without a rest stop. We have help getting off our horses and stagger a little to get our hiking legs back, but we’re not sore and we are delighted to be at our destination.
It’s awesome! The smells are divine…mostly pine. The sun is shining on us and the air is fresh. We find our way to the outhouses first, the nicest outhouses we’ve been in, but still outhouses. Next we find the dining room and there are welcoming college-age students ready to take our lunch order which includes fresh, just out-of- the-oven, peach pie.
The beautiful chalet.
The chalet was built in 1913 by the railroad (JJ Hill affiliation) to attract visitors to Glacier National Park. The railroad used Italian stonemasons to build the foundation and outside walls, made from the rubble stone at hand. It opened for business in 1914. There are four small buildings: the dining hall, the chalet (building w/ 24 rooms) the old laundry building and the new (10+ years old) outhouses. There is no electricity up here and just two sinks by the outhouses for guests to use for washing up and brushing teeth. No showers. No hot water. Just bedding (1914 era), food, fresh air and mountain goats!
We find our room and take off our backpacks and head outdoors to explore God’s beautiful creation. The chalet overlooks MacDonald Lodge, to the west and down 6.7 miles. I try imaging women in long dresses riding here on horseback, hiking around the grounds, and up to Sperry Glacier, named after Dr. Lyman Sperry, a professor of geology and zoology at Carleton College -in Northfield, our hometown! He was the first to reach the glacier in 1896. Tomorrow we will hike, with a naturalist, to see what’s left of the Sperry Glacier. The hike is 4+ miles up 1500’, to the glacier, crossing over five ice fields and five rock fields (and of course, 4+ miles back down). It’s a little farther to the glacier than it used to be since the glacier is melting.
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After a relaxing afternoon sitting on the rocks taking in all the beauty we head back to the dining hall for dinner. Much to our surprise we have a full meal deal: turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, cranberries, homemade bread, pumpkin dessert. It tastes so good. The staff assigned our seats so we would meet fellow companions on this adventurous journey. We sit around visiting, then get our packs ready for our hike tomorrow, and enjoy a nightcap of delicious cinnamon hot chocolate.
As we crawl into bed we are careful to layout our pants, jackets and shoes so when we get up in the middle of the night we can easily find our clothes. We wake up around 3 a.m. and quietly turn on our headlamps, get dressed and head down the stairs and out the door to a star-studded evening sky! We see a falling star and we stand in awe. We are greeted by a mountain goat that watches us walk to the outhouse. We are grateful for this interruption of our sleep to experience this stunning sight on a mountain!
My birthday is in March. I met a friend for dinner last night. We usually walk, but the wind was so strong we decided to have dinner instead and she surprised me with birthday blessings. It was special and we had fun. When I threw a birthday party for myself a few years ago I handed out this quote by Henry J. M. Nouwen:
Celebrating Being Alive
“Birthdays are so important. On our birthdays we celebrate being alive. On our birthdays people can say to us, “Thank you for being!” Birthday presents are signs of our families’ and friends’ joy that we are part of their lives. Little children often look forward to their birthdays for months. Their birthdays are their big days, when they are the center of attention and all their friends come to celebrate.
We should never forget our birthdays or the birthdays of those who are close to us. Birthdays keep us childlike. They remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life.”
I got to throw a party over the weekend…a baby shower for my soon-to-be-born grand-daughter, due May 1. I love to plan a party (this one with a dear friend) and I love to decorate, especially using the antique dishes I have collected over the years.
Right before the shower began I was attending to some finishing touches. I wanted to float some freshly washed rubber duckies, with pink bows and bibs, in the punch, but all three duckies went “bottoms-up’! People started to arrive and joined us in the kitchen all suggesting different ideas to try to make these ducks stay upright. Nothing worked. Finally we set them along the rim of the punch bowl which looked fine… but the ordeal was quite comical.
Introductions were made, a children’s book was read – and a devotional too – snacks were eaten, presents opened and questions answered as part of a “game”. The gifts were generous and laughter plentiful.
To celebrate our anniversary on Saturday we went out for dinner. We like to try new places so we went to a restaurant we had never been to before. We were seated at a “half moon” booth and had a relaxing and delicious dinner. Before we left home we had decided to exchange our cards at the restaurant…we always buy a card for one another. This year we were in for a surprise. We bought the same card! We laughed and wondered, and were amazed. We didn’t even buy them at the same store. I’m pretty sure that will never happen again.
Since the downtown Minneapolis Macy’s Department Store closed it’s doors for good earlier this month there will be no more annual spring flower shows in the 8th floor auditorium. I will miss them. In appreciation of the tradition, I am posting some photos from 2016, last year’s flower show.
On my way to work yesterday morning I drove past our town’s fire station and saw commotion, then heard the sirens go off. Often whenever I hear sirens tears start to well up in my eyes and I say a prayer for all involved in whatever is happening. I am grateful for the volunteer firefighters in our town who are willing to step into danger and rush to help.
