It’s been a very busy week since we arrived back home from the north shore. It’s been filled with an unusual amount of amazing conversations and interactions and I believe God orchestrated them as my transition back to life at home. Some of the dialogs were planned, but some were unexpected. Most were face-to-face but a couple were by email. I have been blessed by each and every one and am so very grateful for the richness each person adds to my life. I’m truly in awe and very thankful.
09/21/17 The sun did it’s beautiful thing again this morning with no clouds to obstruct our view. We leave for home today and I’m sad to say good-bye, although I’m so grateful for the time we had up here in this amazing place. I’m praising God for this incredible beauty.
Another day has begun.
Our adventures this year included hikes up Oberg Mountain (two times), Britton Peak, Shovel Point, Temperance River (several times, different areas), bike rides on the Gitchi-Gami trail, drives along Hwy 61 and inland roads, eating delicious meals right at the cabin overlooking the lake. We took time to read, reflect and just plain “sit around and watch the lake”. We pieced together a jigsaw puzzle, enjoyed campfires on the rocks… explored new places.
It was wonderful to be with our son, his wife and our five-month-old granddaughter.
Three seagulls on the rocks outside the cabin.
There were many seagulls in the air and on the rocks, an eagle that flew by several times, hummingbirds at the cabin feeder and a few ducks floating along.
Praises for incredible beauty.It was fun to see this barge heading out to sea, sailing past a beach we were exploring for the first time.We always enjoy having a jigsaw puzzle out on a table to slowly piece together during our time in the cabin. There are many puzzles available at the cabin. I chose this Tall Ships puzzle to remind me of my kayak trip watching the Tall Ships parade last summer.From Oberg Mountain.From Britton Peak.
We saw a lot of fall color on the inland trees this year, and we had several varied weather patterns: wind and rain and rough seas, and some gorgeous, clear, autumn blue skies…all makes for a wonderful week on the north shore of Lake Superior.
Our lunch spot…can’t find a restaurant with these views!
We’re going home relaxed, renewed, rejuvenated and rejoicing.
On our third day we paddled out of the BWCA and back to the Falls Lake boat landing where our cars were parked.
We woke up to cloudy skies, and a few mosquitoes. Before this morning we had no issues with mosquitoes or the nasty black flies, and we didn’t need to use our netting or bug spray. After a delicious breakfast of oatmeal with red quinoa, we packed our gear and “left no trace” and paddled away. The wind was picking up.
We paddled through the first lake with a slight wind. We paddled through the second lake with more wind but no rain. We paddled through the third lake in the wind and rain…so it made my adventure complete…I experienced the BWCA in the beautiful sunshine and in a dismal rain. Both were beautiful but I was thankful the rain came on our last day – on our way out.
My time in the BWCA was a great adventure and it was so good to experience the great wilderness of Northern Minnesota in this way. I am grateful.
After breakfast on the second day of our BWCA trip two of us from our group went out paddling for several hours. It was another beautiful, sunny day. We paddled up a peninsula and around the bend, stopped for lunch and paddled back down on a different lake. I became a great navigator with the map. We planned to portage back into the lake where we were staying through a portage that we had been told was very short (lesson learned – look for yourself how long the portage is…it tells on the maps.)
The portage ended up being very narrow, rocky, hilly, muddy, full of roots, dangerous and four times longer than we thought it would be. It was the worse portage my paddling partner had ever crossed with his experience in the BWCA.
Still thinking the portage was only 15 rods we kept hauling the canoe forward, but it was very difficult. Neither of us could not carry it on our shoulders and we could only carry it so far without stopping to rest. After struggling and thinking we were close to the end of the portage we met a young man coming towards us, checking out the portage from the other direction. We asked if we were almost to the end and he said about half way! O my…so we picked up the canoe again and started walking. Then the young man turned around and asked if we wanted help, so he carried the front of the canoe and we carried the back. We were very grateful for our “Portage Angel.” When we finally made it to the other side his young son was waiting with their canoe. I told him his dad was very kind and helped us very much. He seemed pleased and proud of his dad.
We settled into the canoe and took off again, paddling back to our Island, ready to be back at camp, relax and make dinner.
It was another one of those traveling adventures where one seems to get in a situation not knowing how you will get out of the situation and being relieved when you finally get back to “your place” – with prayers of thanksgiving – and all is right with the world again.
We did not have any night visitors the second evening. We slept well.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is a destination for many outdoor enthusiasts. I love nature and being outdoors so I consider myself an enthusiast but I had never experienced a trip in the BWCA. It is something I have often thought of doing so I made a commitment to go on the annual Faribault Flyers BWCA trip this year.
A foggy morning! Valerie & Gary’s first BWCA adventure.
Ten of us met up in Ely. We had dinner together and made everything ready for our departure the next morning. After a good night’s sleep we woke up early, went out for breakfast, and then took off to the Falls Lake boat landing to load our canoes and start our adventure. It was very foggy.
We loaded our gear into five canoes and the fog started to lift, thankfully. We took off paddling to the first portage. Our group split up; six guys took off for five days and the other group of four, the one I was in, took off for three days. By this time the sun was shining in a blue, cloudless sky and it was a glorious day to be in the wilderness!
View from “Valerie’s Island.”
We paddled across a second lake and portaged again to the third lake where we found our campsite. Since this was my first time in the Boundary Waters, and the others had been there before, they let me choose the campsite. I wanted to be on an island. We found a campsite on the west end of a small island with a slight, rocky incline. It was perfect. There is a fire pit with an iron grate, and a latrine at each official campsite in the BWCA. (The latrines are several yards back from the fire pit and are numbered for emergency location identification.)
Our canoes down from our campsite.
We noticed this island on the map but it didn’t have a name. There was a larger island nearby named Gary’s Island so we named our island “Valerie’s Island.”
After setting up camp we had lots of time to sit and relax, read, gather firewood, make dinner, enjoy a beautiful sunset, and go to bed early.
We crawled into our tents and fell asleep but in the middle of the night we were awakened by voices…it was very disorienting at first, and then kind of scary, and then we learned it was a medical emergency. The campers across the lake, to the south of us, had paddled by the island earlier in the day so they knew there was someone occupying the campsite on the island. One of the two men was having an asthma attack and forgot his inhaler back in his truck. His friend loaded him into the canoe, paddled out into the dark night and dark waters to our island and used the sounds of snoring to find our site. I don’t remember the words exactly but in essence he said “We need help. Do you have an inhaler?” His talking woke us up and he repeated what he said and added “I’m just a social worker and I don’t know what to do.” After regaining our wits, a woman in our group, who is a nurse, got up and went out to talk with them. She suggested a breathing technique since we didn’t have an inhaler. The “patient” was talking and she said that was a good sign. The two men paddled back into the dark waters, to their campsite. They said they would return in the morning with a report. All this time the “token male” in our group slept through it all!
It wonderful to see the starry, starry sky but, of course, it was very hard to get back to sleep after all the excitement.
The next morning the two guys did come back. We recognized both of them, and their dog. We had seen them at the boat launch the day we left Falls Lake boat launch. They let us know the patient was doing OK. Being away from the smoke of the fire, propping himself up against a tree for the night, and special breathing made it easier for him to breath. We were thankful!
I went to a laundromat yesterday. We are getting ready for a camping trip and I had a large load I wanted to wash so I decided to do one load in a big machine.
Off I went to drop off the load. On the way I was thinking how thankful I am for my own washer and dry at home. I remembered the very first washer and dryer we purchased back in the late 70’s and the feeling of such luxury; to be able to do laundry in my own home. I am grateful to this day for that convenience, and even more so after visiting the laundromat.
After placing the laundry in the machine and figuring out how much it would cost, I discovered I didn’t have enough change. I needed 50 cents more. I checked the change in the glove compartment of our car but it had been depleted recently. I tried the change machine in the laundromat and, of course, it didn’t work. I noticed washing machines take credit cards now so I tried my VISA but that didn’t work either…at this point I was frustrated…knowing it was my own fault for not bringing enough change. I was on my way to an appointment and didn’t have time to go get change elsewhere before the appointment.
There was a woman sitting on the other side of the room so I asked if she had change for a dollar. She said no, but she said she would give me two quarters. So I gathered all my dimes and nickels and pennies, which totaled 43 cents, and gave them to her in exchange. I thanked her profusely.
I started the washing machine and headed to my appointment, planning to return afterward to pick up my clean laundry and bring it home to dry in my own dryer.
After I drove away a thought suddenly came to me: why didn’t I give the woman my dollar for her two quarters? That would have been the better way. I was so focused on getting the correct change for the machine that I didn’t think beyond that problem. Of course she was gone when I returned to collect my laundry.
May God bless that kind woman in the laundromat; and may I remember the lesson learned.
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.
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.
In the bedroom closet upstairs, tucked away on the top shelf, is a box.
It’s an old Gateway computer box with the Holstein cow pattern, and it’s only about 14” X 18” and 6” deep.
It doesn’t take up much space, this one little box, but, if you open it up, out pops one great, big surprise! Thirty-three years of calendars, thirty-three years of life, thirty-three years of recorded history from one small family. It contains years of appointments, church activities, school and sports activities, vacation schedules, birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, dinners, all kinds of celebrations etc….
It reminds me of a Jack-In-The-Box. Each year it springs open, I add another calendar, force the lid closed as it bursts with memories, and I put it away for safe keeping.
This one little box holds one big treasure.
And it’s amazing how little space this box takes, upstairs, tucked away on the top shelf of the bedroom closet.
I wrote this poem in 2012 and it reigns true today although I did have to put the Gateway box into a larger box to accommodate more calendars. I added another calendar this week.
Our four “little puppies”. Ross is the one in yellow. I have always loved this photo.
The Bible story about the little boy bringing his lunch to Jesus and it being multiplied came to mind as I was thinking back on a very special friendship.
Thirty-three years ago I called an acquaintance from the church we attended at that time to see if I could bring her lunch since she just given birth to her firstborn son. My firstborn son was 10 months old at the time.
My inexperienced self brought over a tuna fish sandwich in a brown paper bag. But God took that lunch and multiplied it into a deep and lasting friendship. Thank you Lord!
Life went on and we each had another son…so we had four “little puppies” as my friend affectionately called our four boys. They played together for many years and then one sad day their family moved away. However, our friendship continued to grow from yearly trips together.
My friend’s oldest son, Ross, was diagnosed with a rare condition when he was 8 years old. He eventually was confined to a wheelchair. He was on a special trip to Scotland last month where he had respiratory failure and passed away. We attended the memorial service in Indiana this past weekend. Ross was a wonderful young man of God and a light for Jesus. He lived a full and faith-filled life.
After breakfast on the second day of our BWCA trip two of us from our group went out paddling for several hours. It was another beautiful, sunny day. We paddled up a peninsula and around the bend, stopped for lunch and paddled back down on a different lake. I became a great navigator with the map. We planned to portage back into the lake where we were staying through a portage that we had been told was very short (lesson learned – look for yourself how long the portage is…it tells on the maps.)
I went to a laundromat yesterday. We are getting ready for a camping trip and I had a large load I wanted to wash so I decided to do one load in a big machine.
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.
