Memories – Page 11 – Valerie's Voice

Hallstatt, Austria

As my excitement builds for our upcoming trip to a cabin on Lake Superior another stay on a beautiful lake in Hallstatt, Austria comes to mind.

Hallstatt is a small town but big on character! It is one of those beautiful, picturesque, mountain villages on an inland lake, and we stayed at a B&B overlooking the water.

Bräu Gasthof is the name of the B&B where we stayed in Hallstatt. It is a quaint, 15^th century building (that’s 700 years old!) that used to be a brewery back in the day.

The flowers boxes hang off the balcony rail of our B&B on the top floor where our room was located.

The arched door, low ceilings, spiral staircase (no elevator) and squeaky floors all added to the uniqueness of this B&B. Our rooms were next door to our friends and we had adjoining balconies overlooking the lake (complete with swans). The views were fantastic.

The inviting front door of our B&B in Hallstatt.

Our first day we took a boat ride and toured the beautiful mountain lake.

The next day we took a funicular up the mountain, continued up a glass elevator to the skywalk that led to an old building perched about 1,200 feet above the town. Many years ago this building was a defensive tower built in the 13th century to protect the salt mine which is behind it, in the mountain.

Overall view of the skywalk, glass elevator, restaurant and viewing platform.

The old defensive tower (now restaurant) and viewing platform.

Today the old defense tower serves as a restaurant and is adjacent to a cantilevered viewing platform, which juts out 40 feet to provide spectacular views of Hallstatt, the lake, and the surrounding mountains. This area is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) world heritage site.

The cantilevered viewing platform overlooking Lake Hallstatt.

Another view of the cantilevered viewing platform from the skywalk.

Hallstatt claims it has the oldest known salt mine in the world. Objects found in the mine have been dated to 5,000 BC and a wooden staircase was discovered in 2003 which has been dated to 1,400 BC. To this day it is still an active mine producing over one million tons of salt per year, mostly used for road and industrial applications.

Looking down on the town of Hallstatt from the viewing platform.

Our wonderful B&B, Bräu Gasthof, also operated a restaurant right on the water outside its doors and we enjoyed a long, leisurely dinner there one evening.

A fun row of boathouses on Lake Hallstatt.

Our table was along the water’s edge and next to an old boathouse used for storage. As we were visiting, an older woman walked out of the boathouse and started talking to us, asking us about our trip and where we were from, where we were going next.

Our leisurely dinner with a lovely visitor (not pictured).

Her name was Verena and she was the previous manager of the B&B…it was her grandfather who started the B&B. She managed it for years and now her daughter (also named Verena) manages it. She talked about the town of Hallstatt and the days when she was in charge of the B&B. It sounded like she enjoyed her work and did some musical entertaining too. We noticed old pictures in the menu of what looked like to be her younger self. She told us she lives on the 3^rd floor in the B&B. She walks up the spiral staircase several times a day. She said she chose 3rd floor for her apartment because there are a few more minutes of sunlight each day at the higher level.

As she talked I wondered what it would be like to live in this small, remote, tourist town for a whole lifetime. Verena seemed content. I also kept thinking, as we conversed with this local woman, talking to locals when traveling always adds richness to the experience. It was a delightful visit.

Another fun tidbit about the Bräu Gasthof was their check-in system.

The check-in chalk board with names of guests and keys hanging under room number on top.

A young woman was there to help us check-in the day we arrived, but if no one is available there is a sign telling guests to find their key, find their room and breakfast is at 8! The guest names, room numbers and keys were hanging on a chalkboard near the desk.

Some people visit the town for a couple hours or one day…we felt luxurious staying two days and two nights enjoying the spectacular scenery and ideal weather in this wonderful place called Hallstatt.

The view from our balcony of an early morning sunrise over the mountain.

It Doesn’t Get Easier

Our son, Tim, who lives in Mozambique, managed to arrange a visit to Minnesota after a business meeting he attended in Washington DC. It was a great surprise to learn about this visit. We hadn’t seen him since October of last year.

We had three wonderful days together and nice family time along with our older son, Michael, and his family. We did miss having Tim’s family with us though.

It’s difficult to see your children once a year – and then not all of his family – our daughter-in-love and two grandchildren. Technology helps some these days…we hope our grandchildren recognize us after seeing us on Skype when we see them in person some day…but it’s hard.

So when we took Tim to the airport once again I was sad to say good-bye. After many years you’d think it might get easier, but it does not.

I do cherish the times we have together and hopefully we will get to see the whole family very soon.

Here is a photo our adorable grandchildren who live in Mozambique.

Zoey, soon to be 4 years old and Ezra is 2 years old.

A Play Cupboard

I’ve mentioned before my father was a carpenter by trade. In addition to his work projects he built a lot of miscellaneous items including (but not limited to): a wooden camping trailer, a corner cupboard for my mom for their 25^th wedding anniversary, a cedar chest, a cradle for my dolls, a canopy frame for my twin bed…(I sure wish I had a picture of that canopy bed. He made it out of wood and it had flair to it.)

He also made a small cupboard for me in the 1950’s, which I played with when I was a little girl, and then acquired it again after many years and basically used it for garden tools and supplies.

The play cupboard from the 1950’s, before the remodel.

Recently I decided it would be fun to clean it up and let my grandchildren play with it. There were two linoleum surfaces with spills, stains and ground-in dirt so I wanted to have the linoleum removed and replaced with vinyl or something fresh and clean. I asked a friend, who is a wonderful woodworker and has a wonderful woodworking shop, if he would fix it.

He said yes. He took off the old linoleum and replaced both surfaces with plywood and applied three coats of polyurethane to them… it looks beautiful!

Next, my husband and I sanded the doors and sides and added a coat of polyurethane so the whole cupboard looks bright and shiny and ready for playtime…

I know my dad would be thrilled knowing his great-grandchildren will play with the cupboard he made for his daughter so many years ago.

Aprons and Typewriters

Writing prompts help with memories, thoughts and ideas. Recently one such prompt made me think of two classes I took in junior high, which were grades 7-9 at Northeast Junior High School in Minneapolis.

One class was Home Economics – they no longer call it that – now it is called FACS: Family and Consumer Science.

I learned to sew in my 8th grade home ec class. I can’t remember the teacher’s name but I can picture her, and the classroom. Our first sewing project was a waist apron made from gingham check material. The color yellow comes to mind, and we had to sew on a pocket and embroider the pocket too.

This is not my old Singer sewing machine but it had similar iron work…I have a glass top on this iron frame and use it as a shelf to hold my colored glass pieces.

After that sewing class I was able to use those skills to sew a lot of my own clothes, mostly through high school. I would sew downstairs in our semi-finished basement on an old Singer sewing machine, using a knee pedal to control it.

I enjoyed walking up to Minnesota Fabrics in Apache Plaza and sitting on a stool at the high slanted counter, paging through the large pattern books to find the right design. Once decided, the patterns were in drawers underneath the counter. It was fun to look at all the fashions in the pattern books; Vogue, McCall’s, Simplicity to name a few I remember. After I picked a pattern I’d peruse all the fabric and select just the right material for my project.

It was fun and economical to sew back then, but I stopped sewing clothes and now use my table-top sewing machine for mending and occasional miscellaneous items: valances, pajamas and shorts for my two boys when they were young, and recently, an apron from some fun fabric I acquired in Africa. I am grateful for that home ec class in junior high. Sewing is a skill that has served me well over the years.

The other class brought to mind was my typing class. I was in 7^th grade. I can picture the classroom set up but not the teacher. I remember pounding out fff, jjj, etc., but I don’t remember if it was an electric typewriter. I don’t think so. Typing has been another skill that has served me well over the years. I continue to use it everyday.

My friend sent me this photo of her mother’s typewriter.

A fun typewriter story: we attended a wedding where an antique, non-electric typewriter was used to “sign” the scrolled paper as the guest book. We were standing behind some young folks who were confused…they didn’t know how to move it to the next line so we showed them how to use the carriage return.

Back to the 50’s

I’ve had a few flashbacks recently, that took me back to the 50’s and 60’s.

First I was in an antique store in northern Minnesota and immediately inside the door was a furniture set like my aunt had in her basement when I was a little girl.

And it’s still in the family, in my aunt’s house. It is a Naugahyde three piece set…a sofa that folded out into a bed, a rocking chair and a stationary chair with a coffee table and two end tables. It has a western theme with a saddle embroidered on the sofa and horse heads on the chairs. The end tables have wagon wheels for the legs. It’s unique, and I’ve never seen it any other place other than my aunt’s basement where we had wonderful family gatherings over the years. My aunt’s set is in pristine condition and it seemed the set in the furniture store was also. Seeing the furniture brought me back to the 50’s.

McKinley Street: our mail dropped into the front closet, my room was the one between the front door and garage door, you can’t see the brick chimney on the left side of the house.

Next, as we were biking around the city lakes in Minneapolis with our son, daughter-in-love, and granddaughter, we rode through neighborhoods with interesting and unique homes. We passed by one house and the facade was like that of the house my dad built in 1953, the house I grew up in. It had a tuck under garage, the front door leading into the living room with a big picture window, and a brick chimney on the side for the “real” fireplace. The house, like the furniture set, was also a unique design that I haven’t seen often. It was fun to notice it. That glimpse brought me back to my happy, childhood days.

Also on that same ride I noticed a city bus that was flashing the street names for its route. Silver Lake and Johnson Street caught my attention and then I noticed the bus number 4B. I remember waiting for the 4B many, many times. The bus traveled on Johnson Street and Silver Lake Road to service northeast Minneapolis where I grew up. It was interesting that I noticed the bus and how it brought back good memories.

I recently attended a session on prompting memories so I wonder if I’m more in tune to noticing things from days gone by?

Memorable Hikes – Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Nerstrand, as we affectionately call the Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, is one of my favorite local state parks and I think it’s because I go there often. It’s only 20 minutes from our house where we currently live, and we used to drive down to the park from Burnsville where we lived years ago.

Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park, Spring 2018

There is no date for this memorable hike because I do not remember the year. We have gone on numerous hikes in Nerstrand-Big Woods over the years – too many to count or keep track of: wild flower hikes in the spring, long hikes in the summer, fall leaf hikes in the fall, cross-country skiing in the winter.

But the hike I’m writing about for my Memorable Hike series is when our two boys were young. We drove down to the park from Burnsville for the day. Gary had picked up a couple candy bars (which was, and still is, an infrequent treat) to put in his pocket for our hike. While hiking on one of the longer trails at Nerstrand Gary got the idea to go on ahead and place the candy bars near a tree. He wasn’t that far ahead of us to notice he was missing, and he did it quickly. Then when we were all together again, he mentioned to the boys that he thought there was a candy stand somewhere up ahead. The boys were young enough to get excited about that. We continued hiking and, lo and behold, there were candy bars on the ground under a tree. The boys were thrilled. It was silly but was quite fun, and to this day we talk about finding that candy at Nerstrand.

Who knew?

Memories of Dancing

This piece, Memories of Dancing, was an exercise assigned by a group I participate in. I had fun writing it. The criteria for the piece are written into the last line.

Memories of dancing…a black and white photograph helps me to remember. Running my finger over the photo, over the X that my mom marked above a little girl in her tutu. Unfortunately I do not remember the dance lessons but I do remember the tutu and dancing with my childhood friend, Diane. Etched in my mind is the recital depicted in the photograph. How I remember the song we danced to at that recital so many years ago is amazing. Glow Little Glowworm, Glow. Wondering if Diane remembers?

The photo where “X” marks my position in this dance line. The date on the photo says 1960.

So the picture sparks memories of the beginning of my dancing gig. Glow Little Glowworm, Glow. Wow, it’s so fun to think about, especially since my little granddaughter has a Glow Worm toy. You press a button and the glowworm lights up. Perhaps I should order one because I really like it, and when I saw it for the first time it brought back such fun memories.

Several thoughts of dancing come to mind. Dancing was a part of my childhood, dancing is fun, dancing is good exercise, and dancing is a social event. To think about all the good times makes me smile. Every time I hear a polka I think back to my dad especially, and then both my mom and dad’s friends dancing the night away up north, or at weddings. Several times I think of Mr. Ken asking me as a young woman where I learned to dance so well, as he was dancing with me. Even though that happened such a long time ago I remember. Reminds me to be to be careful of the words I use.

Early in life I took dance lessons as a little girl, a few anyhow, since I remember the song we danced to and I have my recital picture to prove it.

Then it was off to junior high and senior high school where I danced modern dance, whatever that was at the time. Enjoying the dances in junior and senior high school was a part of my schooling. Girls stood on one side of the gym and guys on the other. Rooms were dark and bands were playing – we actually had live bands back then. Now a days I think it’s all DJ’s playing records, or I mean cd’s.

Sub Club was another a hot spot for dancing during high school for me. Every Saturday night when we were up at Farm Island Lake, in northern Minnesota, all the folks in my parents friend group went to the Sub Club to dance. Eventually us high school kids would all end up there too, and join our parents in the festivities and dance with our elders. Sub Club music was mainly polkas and waltzes, my favorites.

Sub Club was not the only dance hall I danced at. The Bel Rae Ballroom was another hot spot in the peak of my dancing days. Several nights in high school, and beyond, were spent at the Bel Rae Ballroom, dancing the night away.

Years have gone by and I don’t dance much anymore but I have good memories of dancing, and a recent good memory of dancing is with my son at his wedding.

Gosh, to think back on dancing is fun and maybe I could write more about it another time when I don’t have to start each new sentence with the letter the previous sentence ended in.

Whitewater State Park

A change in plans for family members opened up an opportunity for Gary & I to go camping over the weekend at Whitewater State Park, in one of their camper cabins.

This is Rainbow Trout, the name of the camper cabin we stayed in.

The camper cabins are cute…there isn’t a better word…just like baby animals…baby cabins are cute! The one we stayed in was only a year old. The cabins are like children’s playhouses. Inside are two bunk beds, a small picnic table with two benches, large, screened windows, electric lights and a ceiling fan and extra outlets. Each cabin has a small screen porch attached. Everything is built with knotty pine. The cabins are simple but functional and are a lot of fun to stay in.

Inside the camper cabin, from the porch.

Growing up in a kid-friendly neighborhood we had a shack in our backyard. It was a great place to play with the neighborhood gang. This camper cabin, which of course, is larger and much nicer than our backyard shack, brought back some fun memories of playing in, and on top of, the shack.

It doesn’t take long to get settled in to a camper cabin. Soon we were enjoying the great Minnesota outdoors. Whitewater State Park is in southeastern Minnesota, in a valley. The Whitewater River runs through the park, and beautiful, rocky bluffs surround the river and park.

One morning our hike took us up the bluffs with vistas at the top overlooking the valley. As we ascended so did our body temperatures, and at the same time the outside temperatures were climbing… into the 90’s, very unusual for our spring season.

Gary hiking on the trail. An interesting cavity in the tree.

Needless to say, we were very hot at the end of our hike so we quickly changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the spring-fed swimming hole in the river. It felt wonderful. This is something I rarely do anymore, but our bodies needed to cool down. I believe there is something very healing having your body surrounded completely by cool water. We could almost feel our body temperatures lowering to normal as we lingered in the water. Of course, many others in the park were also enjoying the swimming hole, but surprisingly it wasn’t crowded. It seems people stayed in the water just long enough to cool their bodies down.

Looking down on the park from our hike up the bluff. The swimming hole is the opening in the river with a sandy beach.

After we got out of the water we took showers in the shower house and then went out for an ice cream treat.

We found some fun ways to beat this unseasonable heat.

Memorable Hikes – Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia 2013

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

Gary and I flew to Nova Scotia in 2013 and rented a car to tour the provinces of Nova Scotia (including the Bay of Fundy) and Prince Edward Island.

We were hiking around the Bay of Fundy during low tide. It was amazing to hike far out from shore on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, knowing in a couple hours water would rise to cover the entire area once again. And it would be deep waters. The record tide recorded is 53’…it was 43’ the day we were hiking around the sea floor in the Bay of Fundy. A park interpreter making a presentation on Alma Beach, at low tide.

According to Wikipedia: “The Bay of Fundy is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the state of Maine. It has the highest tidal range in the world.”

I don’t really understand how tides work – I do know they’re connected to the moon’s cycle. I remember when we took a trip to Maine in the 80’s I learned there were two tide cycles each day: two high and two low. I was so surprised. Growing up in the Midwest and not living near the ocean I didn’t know such things. I guess I wasn’t listening in school either. HA

I remember while hiking in the Bay of Fundy, I once again was in awe of God’s amazing creation. When the massive tides recede, the endless mudflats are home to many sea creatures and people love to search for them when the tide is out.

We just enjoyed walking out on the sea floor.

(photo taken from travel brochure)

Memorable Hikes – Lutsen, Minnesota 2017

Continuing my series on memorable hikes…

The Oberg Trail, near Lutsen, Minnesota ascends about a quarter mile and then levels out to a 1.8 mile loop around the top of this “Minnesota mountain”. The trail has eight scenic overlooks in all directions…several looking out onto the big lake, Lake Superior, and a few overlooks facing the inland forest and a beautiful small inland lake called Oberg Lake. We’ve hiked this trail many, many times over the years…it’s an easy trail and a nice length, close to our rented cabin and a wonderful way to see spectacular vistas of Lake Superior. Some years we get to see the trees in their beautiful autumn array of color. In 2017 we saw an ample start on the fall colors. When the sky is blue it makes the colors more vibrant. This year the fall colors were emerging but the sky was clouded over. It’s still a wonderful sight and a place I love to be!

Last fall our trek up Oberg Mountain we hiked the trail with our son and his wife and our five-month-old granddaughter. It was her first hike on the north shore. She wore a darling moose outfit in honor of the occasion. We didn’t see any moose but she drew attention from the hikers we passed along the trail. It’s funny how babies and dogs often provoke comments from strangers.

She seemed to enjoy the hike, and so did we.