The three ponds in our neighborhood attract Canadian Geese, especially this time of year, and geese have been flying over our house many times today. I was out in the garden this morning for a couple of “fly overs”. The windows are open so even in the house I have heard them honking while flying over. It’s a wonderful sound! Loud too!
I sent a card off in the mail this week. I went to the post office to get it stamped and the clerk warned me it would cost extra because it was so thick. I responded it’s OK, I expected that. Then I told him it is a birthday card that I send to my childhood friend and we’ve been sending it back and forth to each other since 1979. That’s 37 years! It began during the push for recycling and the card suggested we save it and send it back to the recipient on her birthday the following year. So we did. We keep adding cardstock for room to write our birthday greetings, thus its thickness.
One year it fell out of her mail box on to the street and vehicles ran over it before she was able to retrieve it. Some of the writing is smeared but most of it is intact.
It’s very special, she’s very special, and we have lots of happy memories together, growing up living across the street from each other.
Happy Birthday Diane.
There is a different kind of energy that comes from walking in the city.
I like to hike or walk in parks and enjoy the quietness of the woods, and I like walking in our quiet neighborhoods in my small town but, over the weekend, I went for a walk in the city.
I really enjoyed walking around Lake Harriet on Saturday. It was another fabulous fall day in Minnesota with beautiful sunshine and blue skies with great wisps of white clouds. There were so many people enjoying the great outdoors. It was festive and energizing. There were young and old folks, biking or walking or running, pushing a stroller or wheelchair, or walking a dog/s.
The most unusual, but heartwarming sight, was two runners coming in our direction. They were running side by side but one was clearly leading the other. They wore fluorescent vests. One vest identified a runner assistant, or something on that order, and the other vest identified the runner as a blind runner, with assistant.
I don’t know if they were training for the marathon that was coming up the following day but it was a touching moment to know someone was taking time to help a blind person run. My heart was so happy to see this duo. I didn’t know this kind of service existed, but am glad to know it does.
Sunday was another beautiful day for thousands of runners in the Twin Cities marathon…
After a long day and late night I was driving home and, having skipped dinner, I decided to do something I don’t do very often and that is drive through a fast food restaurant and order a cheeseburger. I pulled up to the window to pay and the cashier said the folks in the car ahead of me paid for my order.
That was a fun surprise.
The French doors leading from the dining room table laden with food, were wide open to the outdoor patio where there were tubs of cold drinks. The weather was delightful… a perfectly wonderful autumn afternoon in Minnesota. The skies were blue with lots of sunshine, temperatures in the 70’s and no wind… spirits were high. A great day for an open house.
We were helping our son and daughter-in-love in the kitchen while they invited their neighbors and colleagues over to see their new home. I met a few of the neighbors myself and they were so happy to be invited to the party, to see this new home that replaced the old house they were familiar with, and to meet the young couple new to this old neighborhood. It was a festive atmosphere and, to me, a confirmation that getting together with neighbors and friends, and making opportunities to connect, is good.
It was simple, and simply delightful.
At one of the several weddings we attended last summer the bride was unusually animated as she continually looked out at the church full of guests, with a wide grin on her face. She was so excited and was enjoying the moment.
In the pastor’s homily he used a quote which apparently is paraphrased but accredited to Walt Whitman:
“ We were together. I forget the rest.”
It is a heartwarming sentiment and I think it applies to more than young couples in love. To me it says being present and being together is what counts.
While looking for my Steiff dog in the bassinet I was reminded of a story about our cat, Caramel Corn. She was a wonderful little kitty cat. She loved to be around people. A friend reminds me of the time she came over for coffee and we sat at our kitchen table and I pulled up a stool so Caramel Corn could jump up and sit there with us!
Another fun memory of Caramel Corn happened when we moved into our new house in Northfield (over twenty years ago). One day I was looking for Caramel Corn and I could not find her anywhere. It was so unlike her to go outside…even when the door was wide open she usually didn’t venture out, but this day I thought she must have sneaked out when a contractor was coming in or going out…that’s the only thing I could think of since I had looked everywhere for her!
I kept working on my project while trying to figure out what to do. I went upstairs to get something and saw a slight movement in the corner….I walked over and there in the bassinet was Caramel Corn, buried among all the stuffed animals! (just like ET for those who remember the scene in the 1980’s movie.) I laughed, took her picture and was relieved to find her safe and sound.
We loved Caramel Corn. She died in 2006 at the age of twelve.
A few years ago I gave myself permission to buy a stuffed animal when I found one particularly irresistible…I enjoy it for awhile and then give it away at Christmastime. I found this black bear at the outfitters in Tofte where we rented two kayaks for the day. This cute little bear came back to the cabin with us.
In recent years the fabric for stuffed animals has changed and very soft fabrics are used to make the animals so cozy and cuddly.
We bought “teddy bears” of the soft and cuddly kind for our grandchildren; one for Zoey and one for Ezra. This black bear may go to one of them.
I have my teddy bear from when I was a little girl and the fur is worn in several places. My husband’s sister retrieved his boyhood bear from the farmhouse attic several years ago. I saved our two son’s teddy bears and have all four bears displayed on a shelf in our home.
An old baby bassinet downstairs holds some other stuffed animals from when our sons were young. Although I have discarded several I have kept the favorites…including “Racoonie” the one that came with us on several road trips and bothered the other brother endlessly.
When my cousin and I were in Zurich, Switzerland in 1972 we went in to a famous Steiff toy store and I bought a stuffed dog, with the trademark “button in it’s ear.” I still have that little guy in the bassinet downstairs along with the other critters.
Just captured another beautiful sunrise this morning…it’s going to be another beautiful day on the north shore!
It’s so amazing…there is just a pinprick of light and then POP…the sun is almost above the horizon line before getting a snapshot…it’s a miracle everyday…so blessed to see it rise, so blessed to see it rise over (and over and over) Lake Superior…so amazed at the beauty and the miracle…Thank you Lord.
The Sawbill Trail road is a beautiful drive from Highway 61 to Sawbill Lake, an entry point to the BWCA. We have traveled it many times over the years, since coming up to this part of the north shore.
We drive it for fall colors, looking for wild life, to access certain trails, to see a sunset, and it also holds memories of us running on the road when our sons ran cross-country in high school. At one time all four of us ran (I ran in two 5K’s but that was enough for me). The guys needed to practice so we took them to this beautiful road.
Only the first three miles have been paved for years…the remaining was dirt road so we were pleasantly surprised to see it had been paved this summer, and that the new section was paved with wide shoulders so now it can accommodate cycling.
There are several finished sections of the Gitcha-Gami (Great Sea) bike trail which is why we bring our bicycles along to the cabin. It’s a beautiful trail close to “The Lake” with the plans being one continuous trail from Two Harbors to Grand Marais. For us, coming as far north as Tofte, the Sawbill Trail offers another great biking option.
We were excited as we drove to the top of a three mile hill and parked our car. We unloaded our bikes and put on our helmets and started to pedal. The road was so smooth yet it was a difficult ride because we were biking into the wind. After we turned around (eight miles out) we had the wind at our backs, pushing us along we clipped back at a steady pace.
Back at the car Gary asked me if I wanted to ride down the three mile hill to Hwy 61 (he knows the thrill of going down a big hill.) This hill is the old section of the Sawbill Trail that winds around and takes you down as though you were driving into Lake Superior. This section is without a wide shoulder but has little traffic. He’d drive our car down to meet me at the bottom. I decided to go for it.
I was going fast and it was quite the ride. This summer I considered riding a zip line over waterfalls in Quebec but didn’t. I think the ride down the Sawbill Trail was the thrill for me!
