Tag: Christmas

Love Divine

Love Divine, that was the theme of this year’s St. Olaf Christmas Festival.

The St. Olaf Christmas Festival program.

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.

Text from the program.

Decorating for Christmas

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.

Time to Say Goodbye

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.

Mom and Dad’s.
Zoey and Grandma’s.
Ezra and Grandpa’s.

They were here and enjoyed playing in the snow and building a snow fort.

Loved playing in the snow fort.

Peeking through the windows in the 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.

It’s Christmas

The manger scene my mother brought back for me from Israel, made from olive wood.

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.)

A Christmas Festival

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.

Grandma and Grandpa Claus…

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.

Beautiful lighting.
Festive table.

The table was covered with a red tablecloth and decorated with lights, mini-trees and ornaments for the crock-pots of chili.

Jingle balls.
Decorating the Christmas tree.

There was games and activities and a very special Nativity Story Walk all planned out for the children, which they hardily enjoyed. 

Painting a Happy Birthday banner for Jesus.
Find the stars – a Story Walk to the manger scene.

Towards dusk we started fires in two fire pits. We enjoyed eating our chili dinner from compostable bowls around the bon fires.

Tending the fire pits.
Roasting marshmallows.

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. 

Our outdoor Christmas tree.

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 Planters

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.

Loading up the truck with greens.

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. 

My friend’s milk can.
The wooden box planter on our friend’s lovely front porch. She adds white lights too.

We also have an old antique milk can, off my husband’s family farm, that I fill with different types of evergreen branches.

Our milk can full of greens.

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.

The planter on our porch.

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.

These are green boughs in my flower boxes on the deck.

It’s nice to be decorating for the holidays…whoever thought the pandemic would last this long…

Ninety and Beyond

We went to visit a special friend of the family…she is like a dear aunt…and she celebrated her 99thbirthday on December 26th. We went to offer her congratulations and wish her many happy birthday blessings for the year ahead.

Florence (99) and me. I purposely wore the Norwegian sweater that Florence and my aunt brought back for me from their 1984 trip to Norway.

Florence has a caretaker that comes to help her in the mornings but otherwise she lives on her own in a beautiful house she and my aunt (best friends for 70 years) bought together in 1968. I’ve written about their house before…it’s like stepping back in time…the house has the original gold, wool carpet…gold, heavy draperies…most of the olive green appliances(!)… and a worn linoleum floor in the kitchen. They bought the house by assuming the mortgage…it was only 2 years old when they moved in fifty years ago. 

Florence talks about her various jobs she had, with wages that ranged from 33 cents an hour to her favorite job as a bookkeeper for 20 years, starting at $1.00 an hour. We wanted to ask her how she could survive financially after all these years and no pension but we didn’t. We just listened to her wonderful stories. We always enjoy our visits with her, and we always wonder how much longer she will be with us. She told us that her grandmother lived to be over 100 years old. We hope Florence will too.

Uncle Bob.

Another family member in his 90’s is my Uncle Bob. Last month, during the Christmas season we spent time with my uncle, my dad’s brother. He is 92 years old and in good health and is still driving. We also enjoy visiting with him. I asked him his favorite Christmas memory and he told us this story:

As a child his parents (my grandparents) had very little money, and no money for Christmas presents. One Christmas, Bob’s brothers, Herb (my father) and Earl, who were several years older than Bob, found a beat-up old tricycle in the trash with a missing wheel. They repaired the trike, painted it and gave it to Bob. It was a very special gift – one that Bob has always remembered.

I love hearing stories of my father since he died so young (age 55 in 1974).

Gary and me, Uncle Bob and Aunt Joyce.

I relish and appreciate visiting with these two special people, Florence and Uncle Bob. Along with Bob’s wife, Auntie Joyce, they are the only people in the world who have known me all my life – since I was born. That is significant.

Artist-In-Residence

As I entered the Northfield Retirement Center I read a notice on the chapel door inviting people to watch an Artist-in-Residence paint a nativity scene.  

The notice depicting the different stages of the nativity painting.

Apparently there were two opportunities to see the artist, Mark Daehlin, at work. The session for final touches to his painting was on Saturday. I was visiting a resident, not going to the program, but as I left the center I snapped a photo of the artist in action. I liked his painting style.

The artist, Mark Daehlin, at work.

I thought this was a great opportunity for the residents at the retirement center.

This was how far along this painting was before the artist started his final session.

The final product was going to used during the upcoming Christmas Eve service in the chapel.

A poinsettia tree in the lobby of NCR.

Finding Jesus

The front cover of the book The Nativity. Illustrated by Julie Vivas.

Last week my 2 ½ year old granddaughter greeted me at her door with the these words,

“Grandma, will you help me find Jesus?”

Apparently when putting up the Advent Calendar, with characters from the nativity, the cloth embroidered Baby Jesus went missing and she had been looking all over the house for it.

My heart fluttered as I heard those sweet words, and my heartfelt response… “Of course Little One, I will help you find Jesus!”