Minnesota – Page 11 – Valerie's Voice

Summer Solstice 2023

This year’s summer solstice officially began on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – it’s the shortest night of the year. The night before, Tuesday, June 20th, the sun set at 9:14 pm in Crosslake Minnesota, with lingering twilight until 10 pm.

Near Crosslake Minnesota – 10 pm on 6/20/23.

I decided I would drive up my friend’s cabin near Crosslake Minnesota after a fun visit with our son and his family Tuesday night. I left the south metro about 8 pm.

Driving by myself, up north, at night, I reasoned; 1- I was excited to get up there so I could sleep on the porch and wake up by the lake on Wednesday, 2- I have a reliable vehicle, 3- my friend was expecting me so if anything happened, she’d be concerned (she was sound asleep when I got there!!!), and 4- the sun set late so there was more light than usual that evening.

Looking out on Lake Mille Lacs – 9:30 pm on 6/20/23.

Since the shortest night of the year was the next evening, I expected it to stay light late but, little did I know I’d have twilight for almost 45 minutes after sunset. Only the last half hour did I drive in the dark. Of course, that was when I was making many turns on back roads to get to her cabin, but I made it, and I felt good!

Nature abounds up north. Of course, there is always deer, and I saw several including a mama and young doe. We heard many loons the first night – we thought there was a convention right off her dock. We laid in our beds listening to their distinctive calls. We saw 20+ goslings swimming in a row between Mr. & Mrs. Canadian Geese – that is one large family. We saw the resident eagle fly by several times, and we heard (!) 4 racoons under the porch where we slept. They woke us up each night. The first two nights we didn’t know what kind of animal was under there…it’s not a good place for animals to be. Finally, my friend saw the culprits outside the cabin at 4:30 in the morning of the third night…a mama raccoon and her three babies. That’s a problem that needs to be solved…

Me on a jet ski, on Daggett Lake in 2014.

We enjoyed sunny, warm and comfortable weather, by the lake. We did take out the jet skis one afternoon. We sometimes forget we are in our 70’s! But, we did well (after calling her 10-year-old-granddaughter to remind us how to start them!) We trolled along the shore to look at the cabins, then took a couple speed rides across Daggett Lake.

It’s amazing to see all the cabins, all the docks, all the boat lifts with boats in them, on this one not-so-large lake, and then multiple it by 15,000 lakes in Minnesota. Whew! That’s a lot of recreation.

My drive home was not as exciting as my drive up, but I am grateful for the time we had up north, and for a different way of experiencing the summer solstice.

Camden State Park

The radio on the end table looked authentic, but we soon learned it was a replica. It fit well into the décor of the historic Redwood Lodge, built in 1934 by the VCC, Veteran’s Conservation Corp, in what was to become Camden State Park.

(I had heard of the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, that Franklin D. Roosevelt established in 1933 as part of the New Deal Program to provide jobs and help lift the US out of the Great Depression. Similarly, the VCC hired veterans of WWI during the same time period for the same purpose.)

We stayed a couple of nights in the historic lodge. It was fun to learn the 1930’s look-alike radio on the end table had two buttons to push: one told the history of the park and lodge, the other button was a recording of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal Speech.

It was enjoyable sitting back and listening to this information without seeing anything on a screen. We could picture in our minds what it was like before television, when people sat around their radios and just listened.

The living area of the Redwood Lodge. Photo by ba.

During the Great Depression (August 1934 for this particular VCC group), war veterans came by train, were transferred to trucks and then driven to newly purchased state land in the Redwood River valley in southwestern Minnesota, to build a new state park.

An updated bridge in the park…designed to match park building’s stonework.

The men of “Company 2713”, as this group were named, worked through two winters to build picnic shelters, bath houses, restrooms, bridges, trails, and in this case, a custodian’s lodge (renovated in 2018 for rental), all within the new Camden State Park. We learned the “custodian” was the park manager.

Redwood River, runs through Camden State Park…as does an active railroad track.

The buildings are made of stone and logs. They are beautiful and well-built. Similar buildings are found throughout 27 of Minnesota’s state parks, built by the CCC or VCC.

View of the prairie from Camden State Park.

What a legacy these men left us to enjoy for so many years.

There are many fields of pink clover in the park and surrounding area.

Log Jam

On a warm, summer’s evening in Northfield, Bridge Square and the Riverwalk draw a lot of people. It is a nice place to stroll along the Cannon River, to look at the water falling over the dam, to see people fishing off the bridge, or just sitting and visiting or eating ice cream.

The other night we took our ice cream treat down to Bridge Square and looked out on the river. To our surprise there was a log jam.

A couple big tree trunks were stuck in the dam and hundreds of branches and sticks have accumulated at the blockage. We’ve never seen it backed up so much.

There are always many folks fishing along Bridge Square.

It was a sight to see. Hopefully it will be cleaned up soon.

Asplund Peony Garden Revisited

I wasn’t planning to blog about the Asplund peony garden when I drove out for a quick look on Saturday, but I just cannot not post some pictures I captured.

There are no words to describe this gorgeous display of color.

Once again, the intense colors and variety of color for one kind of flower is astounding. I am often reminded of what I told my boys once, “God created the colors long before Crayola!”

There were many bushes blooming, some were already done, some were buds ready to bloom, like mine at home…

The buds are about to bloom on this yellow peony bush in the Ashland peony gardens.

Long rows of peony bushes throughout the garden. Photo by cb.

All were a joy to see.

On another note, the Asplund Farm also grows grapes and had opened a winery for many years, but the winery has permanently closed.

It was a spontaneous, fun and colorful morning.

Strength in Numbers

Three of us were walking along the road at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, looking for the azalea gardens. It was farther than we thought, and it was getting warm and humid, and we were getting tired so we turned around. Just then, a big, vintage, white convertible, with its top down, slowly drove by. As we commented to each other about the car, the older gentleman behind the wheel stopped and asked us if we wanted a ride.

Hmmm… there are three of us older women…it has been a long time since any guys have asked us to go for a ride anywhere. HA! We all looked at each other, silently accessing the situation, and all thinking there is strength in numbers. This seemed pretty innocent and sounded like a lot of fun – so we jumped in!!!

My moment behind the wheel! Photo by ba.

He took us directly to the main building where we were headed anyways. He stopped the car and we got out and asked if we could take pictures. He said sure. It was a 1964 Cadilac Eldorado convertible, in mint condition. He bought it last fall from a guy who had stored it in an outbuilding. He fixed the four flat tires, but that was about all that was wrong with it, he said.

We thanked him for the ride, and then we laughed all the way to the cafeteria.

A parting shot…one more stunning iris. Photo by ba.

A Rainflower Project

We woke up to rain the day we were going to visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, but decided to go anyways. By the time we arrived, the rain had stopped and the sun popped out.

We meandered through the trails and enjoyed the fresh and many shades of spring greens. We walked through the bright Iris’ field…they were in bloom.

There were many varieties and colors of iris’. Oh-so-lovely. A stately flower.

The azaleas were in bloom, too.

We walked through a corridor of bushes– it was like walking through a crayon box, so many colors on both sides.

When we decided to go to the arb we expected to see beautiful spaces, and we did. We also expected to eat lunch in the cafeteria and have a look around in the wonderful gift shop. And we did. What we didn’t expect to see was a special art installation: The Rainflower Project.

Early on our walk, I saw a lot of green, yellow and white off in the distance. I was curious to find out what it was…it didn’t look natural. What a found were 675 ceramic flowers placed in a garden space, depicting the average number of suicides that happen each year in Minnesota.

A sign read, “The handmade ceramic flowers capture and preserve the sun’s rays in timeless beauty. They stand defying nature’s elements and displaying the strength and resilience of the human spirit. Their forms fill with tears from the sky, and their individual character reflects the unique beauty in the people who live in our hearts forever.”

And there they all were; 675 ceramic flowers, placed in this memorial garden, “to remind us of our loved ones and the vital importance of positive mental health.”

You were invited to honor a loved one you’ve lost to suicide or who struggle with mental health, by writing their name on a green tag and connecting it to a flower stem in the display.

I filled out two tags and added them to the more than 675 names already tagged. My brother-in-law Richard (1986), and my dear friend Jane (2005) died too young, by suicide.

This was a meaningful surprise to find at the arboretum. I’m grateful for the folks who thought up this creative display. It felt good to start our time in this way, in this place of beauty, and be reminded of two very special people who are no longer in our lives.

It was good to pause and reflect, and then to move on and continue to enjoy God’s creation.

A Conflict of Interest

Squirrels are cute little critters, with comical antics and amazing flexibility. They are fun to watch.

Two cute squirrels playing in our birch tree.

But they can also be destructive in gardens, and they can scare away the birds from the feeders. We have many squirrels in our yard, so we started trapping them a few years ago. We use a live-trap and once caught we deliver them to, what we’ve dubbed the “Squirrel Resort”, a land flowing with trees and water. We escorted many squirrels there. It has all the comforts of a happy place for the critters, out in the country.

Releasing a squirrel from the live-trap.

Our neighbors across the street however, feel differently. She feeds the squirrels. In fact, she has trained a young squirrel to jump up on her lap and eat from her hand! She demonstrated the act one morning. I was amused. She offered to send me a picture to use for my blog.

He is cute.

A young squirrel eating from our neighbor’s knee.

I didn’t tell her we’ll be setting up a trap in our back yard…

Hopefully this young one will stay in my neighbor’s yard where the food is…

A Bouquet of Lilacs, a Hard Way

I love the smell of lilacs…and the pretty delicate, purple flower blossoms are beautiful. They are a wonderful sign of spring. It’s always nice to bring a bouquet into the house.

This photo of our lilac bush was taken in 2020. It produced a lot of blooms that year.

The lilac bush we have in our backyard is an old-fashioned garden variety. The mother plant was planted in the yard of the house I grew up in, in NE Minneapolis when I was a little girl. In 1980, we moved to Burnsville and I dug up part of that bush from McKinley Street and transplanted it to our yard in Burnsville. Then, in 1994, when we moved to Northfield, I took along part of the lilac bush and planted it in the backyard of our new home.

Gary working on the lilac bush in our back yard.

The bush is old.

The past few years it has produced fewer and fewer flowers, and this year not many at all. We learned it is not blooming because it has a lot of old and dead wood, since it hasn’t been pruned. The only pruning it has received the last 29 years is when I cut off branches to bring in a sweet-smelling bouquets into the house.

Apparently, we should have been pruning the bush every year. Whoops.

So we decided to prune it way back this year. When we cut off the top branches, I cut off the smaller branches with blossoms.

A small bouquet of lilacs from the very top branches of our lilac bush.

That was a hard way to get a small bouquet!

We cut out a lot of dead wood and larger, old branches and trimmed back some of the new growth. We pruned a lot off.

It will take a couple of truck loads to get all the wood and branches from the lilac bush to the city compost site.

It was a good job that needed to be done. It looks pretty good…and hopefully the next year or two it will produce a lot more flowers once again.

Fairy Garden Stories

Many walkers and joggers use the sidewalk along the east side of our corner lot. We planted trees along the walk as a screen for our windows, but I do like to see the variety of folks who use the sidewalk. It leads to a paved trail that takes one around three ponds, and it is a delightful walk.

A couple of weeks ago when we were working out in the yard a gentleman, who was walking on the sidewalk, stopped to ask us about our house color (my all-time favorite green house). As we were visiting he said his grandson loves my fairy garden. He said his grandson will make sure everything is in place and clears out any dead leaves etc. when he walks by it. That made me smile, and inspired me to recreate the garden as soon as possible. I had just cleared the area of my fairy garden to clean things up and re-do it. It is along the sidewalk.

I took everything out of the first fairy garden…weeded and patted down the dirt, getting ready for a re-create.

I washed up the glass stones for the pathway and realigned them. I situated the porcelain table and chairs and fairies in place, including my troll from Norway. There were a few new items to add to the scene this year.

A string of lights from the thrift store.

When I opened a package that I bought at a thrift store last fall I was surprised. I thought it was street lamp poles, instead it was a string of lights, and that made me happy. I laughed. They do not light up but that’s ok, I like them. I placed the lights in the garden, and added a new-to-me wishing well (another purchase from a thrift store). I put a turquoise stone in the wishing well, to represent water.

The Norsk troll, and the wishing well, plus my original fairy and bench…a little larger than the other items.

Now I enjoy my fun little fairy garden that will soon be hidden under a rose bush when it fills out. Right now, it is open for all to see. I’m trusting my little friend will enjoy it. My granddaughter did last summer.

A few years ago, a friend’s granddaughter took walks with her mom and passed a fairy garden, with a door. One day the little girl opened the door and to her surprise found a note in it. She was delighted and read the note from the fairy. Occasionally the fairy would leave her notes all summer, and the little girl enjoyed looking for a note every time. I’m wondering how to incorporate that idea into my garden…hard, since I do not have a door…

A door-shaped rock I placed at the bottom of a tree in our backyard. I want to paint a window and door knob on it sometime. But of course, it does not open. 😉

Another fairy garden story: A couple recently moved into a new house in the country and put out a gnome-size door next to a tree in their back forest, visible from their kitchen window. When I saw it, I commented on how much I like fairy/gnome gardens. They said they were going to add a gnome.

A few weeks later the guy came up to me in church and said he thought of me while snowshoeing one afternoon. It had gotten dark early and he was snowshoeing on their new acerage and kind-of got turned around. Eventually he saw a light through the trees and thought it was his wife with a flashlight, out looking for him. It was not. It was a solar light on the gnome door that was leaning against the tree close to their house. It guided him home!

Ahh…fairy stories abound.

My Hibiscus

Matthew 6: 28-29

 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."