Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2: 11-14
God Bless us one and all!
Christmas lights light up the dark nights during winter solstice…the longest nights of the year… here in Minnesota anyways. Lights help us get beyond the long nights and bring joy to our world.
We went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to walk through their festive exhibition of Winter Lights recently.
It was after the big snowstorm, so the freshly fallen snow made it all the more picturesque.
Once again, the temperatures were mild for December in Minnesota, and it was a pleasant walk through the different light displays.
The café was open for a snack, and the gift shop had a lot of great Christmas and other fun merchandise to look at. There were many folks out and about at this seasonal event.
I love color…and we saw color…
On our way to the arb… a beautiful sunset.
At the arb… the Winter Lights exhibit.
On our way home… individual homes with Christmas decorations lit up.
Color…it adds so much to our lives.
Write a Christmas poem.
Oh, Christmas Tree, by Valerie Bollinger
Remembering an extra special homecoming: Bringing up the Christmas boxes from the basement. Choosing carefully the holiday adornments. Taking time to decorate each room. Decorating with the grandchildren in mind. Wanting to create for them the wonder of Christmas. Selecting the biggest and the best Christmas tree, Cutting it down to size to fit in the pine-sided room, Admiring the spruce’s perfect imperfection. Smelling its wonderful scent, Stringing on the lights, Leaving off the ornaments...for now, Creating enchantment within our home. Lingering in the precious moments, Recalling cherished memories of Christmas’ past. Waiting with excitement at the airport, Anticipating their arrival from the international terminal. Spotting their figures linked together...my heart skipping a beat. Rejoicing and giving thanks. Pulling into the driveway at home... Entering the house ahead of the others to turn on the tree lights... Anticipating the joy of the little ones seeing the lighted Christmas tree. Coming to a standstill. Looking in awe. Their happy faces lighting up. It was priceless.
The Minnesota Explorer is a magazine that highlights different events throughout our state. Recently, it featured an article on Christmas shopping in historic small towns. I love exploring different small towns and this sparked my interest, so I did a little research. I didn’t really need to shop for anything…much of my Christmas shopping was done…but the idea of walking in and out of stores, gazing at window displays, seeing Christmas lights light up the streets, was appealing to me.
After checking out a couple different towns I realized all I wanted was right here in my hometown of Northfield….and…the organized Winter Walk made it even more festive.
The Winter Walk happened last week on a beautiful evening. The weather was mild, stores were open late, luminaires lined the closed-off main street, Christmas lights lit up Bridge square and there are some fun window displays.
The streets were filled with many folks out enjoying the activities. It was a wonderful sight.
Walking along the street, tasting sweet treats, drinking cider and hot chocolate, smelling the wood burning fires in fire pits – offering warmth along the way,
watching the horse-drawn wagons full of people go by,
looking in the store windows and occasionally going into a store.
It was delightful.
Maybe I’ll visit a different small town next year but for now, Northfield’s Winter Walk was what I was looking for.
Love Divine, that was the theme of this year’s St. Olaf Christmas Festival.
After cancelling the festival last year during the pandemic, the Christmas Festival was back this season, strong and beautiful. It felt like a worship service, with praise songs, Christmas music and scripture readings, all focusing on God’s love, and the birth of Jesus.
The participants and concert goers were carefully monitored. Everyone was masked…even the performers who were singing! Every ticket holder had to show proof of COVID vaccination before entering the building. The students and conductors all had multiple COVID tests planned throughout the days leading up to the festival, and during the performance dates.
It felt wonderful to be back, sitting in Skoglund Auditorium (transformed from a gym every year) and listening to magnificent music, performed with energy and dedication, by the St. Olaf students. What a blessing!
Even through masks, the singing was glorious. However, the St. Olaf Choir director, Anton Armstrong, tested positive for COVID a few days before the first performance, so he was unable to attend the Festival. That must have been hard for him.
The St. Olaf orchestra does an astounding job under the leadership of Steven Amundson. The orchestra sounds like professional musicians. I loved the compositions played in the festival. Steven Amundson has been the orchestra conductor at St. Olaf for 40 years, and this is his last Christmas Festival. He is retiring at the end of the academic year. He is loved by the students and will be missed by many.
Although Anton Armstrong always conducts the final piece at the festival, because he was not in attendance Steven Amundson was able to step in for Anton and direct the signature ending piece, Beautiful Savior. What a marvelous, and meaningful, way for Steven to end his last Christmas Festival at St. Olaf College.
Our family celebrations will not be held in our home this Christmas, so we decided to keep our house decorating to a minimum. A few touches here and there, with table clothes and poinsettia, greenery, wreath and a manger scene. However, there is a new-to-us decoration we inherited this year that I have set above the fireplace mantel that will stand in for our Christmas tree.
Last summer I inherited several boxes of my aunt’s belongings. Amongst the many photos, jewelry, dishes and Norwegian knick-knacks in the boxes, I discovered a striking jeweled Christmas tree art piece.
I remembered it. Years ago, one of my other aunt’s had made several different jewelry boxes and art pieces using glittery, costume jewelry…the kind that twinkle and sparkle, glisten and shine. All very glitzy!
When I found this Christmas tree (and a jewelry box) I asked my cousins if they wanted these pieces their mother had made; they said no. So, I decided to keep them for myself.
I admit, I do like a bit of sparkle! I love the twinkle of Christmas tree lights, rays of sunshine glistening on a lake, art glass that shines, the flicker of hot coals in a camp fire…this dazzling tree. I like the way the jewels shimmer when the light catches them (even though I can’t capture it in a photo). I like the fact that my aunt made it many years ago.
It’s an interesting – and beautiful – piece of folk-art, created by someone I loved.
I will enjoy this piece on my fireplace mantel during this Christmas season, alluring me into the Christmas spirit, and bringing back memories of my extended family of Christmas’ past.
The time came to say goodbye to our son and daughter-in-love and two beautiful grandchildren.
They were here and enjoyed decorating the Christmas tree.
They were here and enjoyed rolling out and cutting out and decorating gingerbread cookies.
They were here and enjoyed decorating graham cracker houses.
They were here and enjoyed playing in the snow and building a snow fort.
They were here bringing much joy.
Now the cookies have all been eaten.
The tree trimmings have all been put away.
We have been “charged” to take care of the snow fort as they head back to their home.
But the wonderful decorated houses will remain on our dining room table to remind us of the fabulous time we had together.
It was hard to say goodbye.
So grateful for our time together.
Luke 2 ... the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Today we celebrate God’s gift to us, his son Jesus Christ.
Have yourself a merry, white Christmas! (Yay! It snowed.)
Christmas Festival took on a whole new meaning this year… when I hear those two words together “Christmas Festival” my mind immediately thinks of the 100+ year old annual Christmas concert at St. Olaf College. But this year the Bollinger Family held its own Christmas Festival…created because of the pandemic as a safe way for celebrating Christmas together with multiple families and young energetic children.
My daughter-in-love came up with this great idea and it was fun planning it with her. She worked hard to make it happen. We helped where we could ahead of time.
The day of the festival we gathered together early one December afternoon, which ended up being a very mild day…almost 40 degrees and no wind…a beautiful blessing. The weather was tolerable for staying outdoors for five hours! We had propane heaters in one area to warm up if necessary… the adults used it a few times but not the kids – they were active enough to stay warm the entire time!
The yard was decorated with garland, lights and lanterns, and a Christmas tree which came to life at dusk…on one of the shortest days of the year.
The table was covered with a red tablecloth and decorated with lights, mini-trees and ornaments for the crock-pots of chili.
There was games and activities and a very special Nativity Story Walk all planned out for the children, which they hardily enjoyed.
Towards dusk we started fires in two fire pits. We enjoyed eating our chili dinner from compostable bowls around the bon fires.
We brought along our roasting sticks to roast marshmallows and make s’mores for dessert…all with Christmas music sounding through speakers in the back ground.
The grandchildren (and grand-dog Charlie) had a good time celebrating together while social distancing and masking up. I trust the grandchildren will remember this Christmas Festival for years to come. I know I will. The adults had a great time too!
Merry Christmas!
Christmas…a wonderful time of the year. I like decorating for Christmas and one thing I like to create is Christmas planters. A friend has property out of town and she invites me to go with her to cut evergreen branches off the trees so we can work with nice, fresh greenery.
Then we go back to the garage and we both start decorating. She has a wooden box planter and an old milk can on her front porch, which we fill with greens, and other miscellaneous branches, then add a finishing touch, a Christmas bow.
We also have an old antique milk can, off my husband’s family farm, that I fill with different types of evergreen branches.
Then I make a Christmas planter for our front porch. It’s amazing to me how much a splash of red color stands out. We always add something red. I was told Carl Larsson, the famous Swedish painter, added a touch of red to all his paintings, although a quick Internet search didn’t lead me to any evidence but in all the paintings I’ve seen of his the color red is in them.
I also put greens in my flowerboxes on our deck. I add lights to make for a cheery scene all winter long, right outside our patio door.
It’s nice to be decorating for the holidays…whoever thought the pandemic would last this long…