Owatonna, MN

Recently we spent a day exploring the bike trails in Owatonna, a town 30 miles south of Northfield.

Our first stop was to get some homemade pie, to-go, for a snack on the trail later. My husband’s bike club often stops for a break at The Kernel to get a piece of pie which the guys claim is delicious. A quick Google search of The Kernel comes up with this review:  “American chow, including an all-day breakfast & homemade pie, offered in this unfussy local diner.’” I like the description “unfussy local diner”.

There were many benches along the trail. I like the tree silhouettes on this
bench back.

We rode on three short trails along the Straight River, over and under bridges and around a couple hairpin curves on a wide, paved trail, lined with benches, street lamps, and mature trees. 

Looking out at the Straight River.

I noticed more than a few bat houses. I’m not sure when they were put up but it seems it was some sort of project at one time.

One of several bat boxes in trees along the path.
…and another bat box…

It was a gorgeous day and a delightful ride.

We stopped to eat our delicious pie selections at a picnic table along the river and spent a long while watching a great blue heron stealthily walk the shoreline looking for fish, or pie perhaps!

The Great Blue Heron.

There were a lot of ducks on or near the river and multiple Canadian Geese on shore. The geese are nice to look at but messy to be around. 

Ducks lined along the river bank.

After our initial ride and pie break we drove to explore a different park in Owatonna; Mineral Springs Park. In this park there is a statue of Owatonna next to a plaque explaining the Legend of Owatonna: a frail, Native American princess who was restored to health by drinking water from the mineral springs in the area.

A statue of Owatonna, a native American princess healed by the mineral springs.

Contrary to the legend, the town of Owatonna was named after the Straight River, not the princess. In the Dakota language Wakpá Owóthaŋna means Straight River and it was first settled in 1853 near the river.

The Legend of Princess Owatonna.

There were actual mineral springs gurgling out of a large, water fountain and cistern in the park. We tasted the water…it was cold but had an “irony” taste to it.

The mineral springs water bubbling up through the fountain.

There were more bicycle and walking trails throughout the park.

As we walked the trail along the river we stopped to read a red granite plaque with a Native American letter etched into it, credited to Chief Seattle in 1854. We normally do not stop to read lengthy plaques but after reading the first two sentences we were drawn in and began taking turns reading it out loud.

This red granite stone with a long text we would normally pass by.

The the piece is called Teach Your Children. After doing some research on the internet I found out there is controversy as to how much of this letter was actually written by Chief Seattle and how much of it changed in translation and how much was really a part of one letter… but we enjoyed it none-the-less. We found it very profound and poetic. Here are a few excerpts from this letter:

Teach Your Children

“The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect.”

“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth. This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a stand in it. What he does to the web, he does to himself.”

“We love this earth as a newborn loves his mother’s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it.  Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you received it. Preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all.”

The credits…

Owatonna has a lot of areas to explore but this day we were focused on bike trails, parks, and pie! We were not disappointed.

Kings of Swing

Apparently the city of Faribault has been hosting concerts in the park for over 100 years. That’s impressive. Currently the outdoor concert series are held at Central Park. I don’t know if the concerts have always been at that location, but it is lovely, and there is a permanent band shell there.

An email from the Kings of Swings announcing their gig.

We were alerted the band scheduled to play last week was a popular Faribault band, Kings of Swing. We have heard the band several times before and really liked their music so we packed up some drinks, a snack, our lawn chairs and headed to Faribault’s Central Park. We found a shady place to sit back, relax, and listen to some great, jazzy music. 

The band shell in Central Park.

It was well-attended and people did cooperate by physical-distancing themselves from others.  There were folks of all ages enjoying themselves. We saw, and talked, to a few friends we haven’t seen since March, the beginnings of this pandemic. That was special too.

And we really enjoyed sitting there people-watching. Near us was a woman with a big bubble wand, creating giant bubbles and having a good time, while providing enjoyment for onlookers too.

A child at heart…

Every once in a while a couple would get up to dance to the music together, on the lawn.

Dancing to the music.

There was an over all sense of merriment in the air, so for an hour and a half we listened to some great music and the only way you knew we were in a pandemic was the presence of physical- distancing and some folks wearing masks. 

A beautiful evening in Central Park, in Faribault.

This was the last concert of the summer series, although they announced a couple encore concerts planned for September 3 and 11.

I’m grateful the city of Faribault continued with their summer concert series in spite of the pandemic. It was a nice way to spend an evening. It felt “normal.”

Tree Trimming

The honey locust tree in our front yard, placed purposely outside our kitchen window 25 year ago, quickly became one of our favorite trees.

This is a view of the front of our house in 1994.
You can see the honey locust tree, one of the three spruce trees and a maple tree in the back that we planted when we moved in, in 1994.
This photo is from the same viewpoint as above in 2020, after the locust was trimmed.

We planted several trees in our yard back then, and we are very happy we did.  They were small trees, and now they have grown to be very large trees! A realtor once said the best kind of tree is the one planted 20 years ago.

The honey locust before it’s big trim.

But many branches of our beloved locust tree have been slowing dying in the past few years so we needed to decide if we cut it down… or trim the dead branches off and hope it starts growing again. We had a hard time thinking of cutting it down so we chose the latter. 

The dead branches on the honey locust.

It was interesting to see three workers and two huge trucks show up at our house. One truck settled into the driveway. It had a cherry picker bucket that hoisted one guy towards the tops of the trees to start cutting the dead wood.

Trimming the honey locust.

Two guys went at the trees fast and furious and seemed to know what they were doing (we only hope!). Another worker piled up the branches for the other truck to extend an arm with a claw and pick up all the debris then haul it away. 

Our newly trimmed honey suckle, looking good in the evening sun.

And since the tree trimmer was coming we decided to have our crabapple tree get a good trim too.

The crabapple tree before it’s major trim.
The crabapple tree after its trim.

I had an errand to run so I left before the workers were done and I came home to a cleaned up yard and two smartly trimmed trees about 45 minutes later.

Our honey locust, trimmed. I think my flower bed is back to a sun garden…

We will hope it isn’t too much of a shock for our honey locust and that it will start thriving again.

Still A Favorite

Cannon Valley Trail is a favorite bike trail that we ride several times a season.

The CVT is a sanctuary for me. A canopy of trees welcomes me and I feel I’m entering a special space. The trail is mostly shaded, and a lot of it follows the Cannon River, which adds to the ambiance of the trail.

When out of tree cover, the Cannon Valley Trail passes fields of wild flowers. I like that it was an old railroad line and therefore fairly flat, and it’s paved. And… it is close to home. After traveling to other trails to ride in new territory, it is always good to come home to this sanctuary trail.

Recently we discovered another trail that we really enjoyed. It’s the Trout Run Trail in Decorah, Iowa. Although it’s not very convenient location-wise, it is very scenic and now another favorite.

The route is only eleven miles but seems longer because there are many hills on half of the trail. It makes a loop around Decorah and travels through a farmer’s field, rolling hills, and city parks. The vistas at the top of the hills are breathtaking…beautiful landscapes, small farms and fields, winding roads, and green forests. 

At the top of the first hill we climbed on the Trout Run Trail.
Through corn fields, on both sides of the trail.

This loop also passes Decorah’s Fish Hatchery where the well-known eagle cam is but we couldn’t spot the eagle’s nest. The rainbow trout in the tanks were fun to watch…several tanks filled with hundreds of trout in one tank, all swimming and splashing about. We didn’t see an eagle at the hatchery, although they are often seen hanging out there we’re told.

Deborah Fish Hatchery

However, on our ride through a city park, along the Root River, we spotted an eagle in a field eating, what looked to be, a rabbit, and a vulture was close by waiting for leftovers I guess. 

We watched this eagle eating his prey…In this photo the eagle took flight for a short distance.

At the end of our ride on a very hot and humid day, we drove into town and bought ourselves some ice cream from the Whippy Dip, a popular local ice cream place in Decorah.

Ice cream and bike rides go together. It’s a fun treat to look forward to at the end of a ride.

Corn Lilies

There are several beautiful yellow lilies growing in my front flower garden.

I don’t remember planting them, but I must have. I don’t know the name of them…but I’ve nick-named them “corn lilies” because they remind me of corn stalks. They start to shoot up around the time corn is planted in the fields and they grow very fast, they grow very tall, and their stem and foliage remind me of corn stalks. The blossom is yellow…it’s a mystery to me…I know there is an official name but I like the name I have given them.

They grow tall…

When the corn lilies finish blooming my Star Gazer lilies open up. I remember planting them…they are my favorite lily and I look forward to seeing their blossoms every year. It will be a few more weeks before they bloom.

Another favorite flower that has just started to bloom is my Cardinal Wyszynski clematis. I bought this in memory of my mother and it climbs up the arbor on our deck, opposite the honeysuckle. I love the color of this clematis (and the name).

On my daily walk I pass a lot of gardens and wildflowers and enjoy seeing this perky sunflower in bloom right now.

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. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

A Social-Distance Baby Shower

I was invited to a baby shower recently. A baby shower during a pandemic is difficult to plan. Originally it was going to be held using Zoom, the communication app that has become popular these days. However, as the date grew closer and the weather became nicer the event planners figured out a way to bring people together for the shower.

Props for one of the games we played.

The hostesses created a festive atmosphere that adhered to “physical distancing” guidelines…(I heard a commentator say it’s not really social distancing but physical distancing – we still need to continue socializing). They also had Zoom up and running since there were out of town guests participating.

So, I put on a dress for the first time in months and added a touch of make up and headed out the door for an exciting event that almost felt “normal”.

It was a lovely Minnesota morning. The gathering was outdoors. Chairs were set up in a circle, all 6 feet apart, in a beautifully landscaped front yard.

Our individual “champagne” bucket.

Next to each chair was a white paper bucket filled with ice and a small bottle of prosecco and a small bottle of orange juice and a plastic flute glass to make our own mimosas. I thought that was a clever idea.

The individual goodie box placed on each chair.

On each chair was a box with a muffin from Martha’s (a local bakery), a jar of yogurt, a clementine, a cookie, and the paper and pen needed for games. No prizes were awarded however, due to the participants on Zoom…how would they get their prize?

The mom-to-be was able to enjoy opening her gifts with others surrounding her with love and attention.

My cookie decorated as a “onesie”.

People are definitely finding creative ways to make things work in this strange world we are living in right now.

Nine Mile Creek Trail

Last week, on a most beautiful Minnesota summer day, we took our bikes up to Edina and biked on the Nine Mile Creek Trail. 

The temperatures were just right for riding, the humidity was low, and the sky was bright blue.

My husband rode on this trail with his bike club last year and found it fascinating. He wanted me to experience it, so off we went.

What set this trail apart from other bike trails is there are lengthy stretches of boardwalk…spanning over the marsh and through the woods with lots of shady areas. It runs along Nine Mile Creek but there are landmarks to remind you that you are in the city…a concrete bridge over Highway 100, a stretch along the back side of Edina High School, and other industrial buildings, shops and businesses…and then the trail bends and once again you’re back in the woods. 

There were numerous bridges made from wood and one boardwalk was almost a mile long (.85 miles). The bridges are wider than a normal bike trail which added to the beauty of the trail. 

Of course there are paved sections.

It’s always fun to discover new trails…and this one was very unique. We are grateful for the many bicycle trails in Minnesota.

Mr. Turtle, the only wildlife we saw on the trail.

Lilacs

The fragrant smell of lilacs is a delight this time of year. I wish it could last a little longer.

There is such a brief time to enjoy the beauty of the lilac’s purple blossoms, and have their sweet scent fill the air. 

I have two lilac bushes. One is a Miss Kim, a fragrant, smaller bush that is more tame and works well for the spot I tucked it into – just outside the side window off the kitchen. It is a late bloomer.

Miss Kim

The other bush is the “old-fashioned” lilac bush that grows huge and spreads and is wildly wonderful.  It is in our back yard and is blooming right now.

Our old-fashion lilac bush.

I have cut branches of lilacs off this bush to bring its loveliness indoors.

Wonderfully wild.

This wild and wonderful bush is offshoot of the lilac bush that grew in my parent’s yard at the house I grew up in. Years ago, when Gary and I moved back to Minnesota, after a short stint in Ohio, my mom was still living in that house. I thought it would be fun to dig a sucker from the lilac bush and plant it in the yard of the house we bought in Burnsville when we moved back. It took off and grew into a wild and wonderful bush. 

Fourteen years later when we moved from that house in Burnsville to our new home Northfield, I dug up a sucker from that lilac bush to plant in our new yard. It, too, grew into a wild and wonderful bush, and is still growing. We’ve been here 25 years.

So when I place my purple, aromatic lilacs in vases and put it them around the house it not only brings beauty and fragrance into the house, but also brings back some special memories.

Bringing lilacs indoors…in the entryway.
…on the counter.
…on the kitchen table.
…on the dining room table.

On a different note: below is a photo of our crabapple tree in bloom right now, in our front yard.

Our beautiful crabapple tree in bloom.

Spring Wildflowers

We took a day trip to Beaver Creek Valley State Park to go for a hike. It is a ways away but it felt good to head out of town. The day was sunny, but cool. There were a few folks out and about but not many.

Spring greens!
An abundance of watercress in the creek.

There were a lot of wildflowers in bloom in the park. I had my wildflower book handy but it is always difficult to identify flowers because it takes awhile to look them up and figure them out, plus it’s hard to keep stopping every few feet!  I usually end up just enjoying viewing them.  

This white flower, which I believe is an anemone, carpeted the forest floors. It was in many areas of the park.

At one time, several years ago, my friend and I took a lot of wildflower hikes, with and without naturalists, and could identify more flowers than I remember now. 

Spring wildflowers are a wonderful sight!

Plus so many other natural wonders…

Surprised to see mushrooms too.
Interesting lichen and moss on this dead tree limb.
A simple, clever log bench.

On a side note, we took many family-driving vacations when the kids were younger, and we camped and hiked in many national parks. Upon arrival at the visitor’s center in a park, I always bought a book of wildflowers found in that particular park, then I tried to identify some flowers on our hikes. It was fun and a nice souvenir of our trips. 

Snippets from this Past Week

Here are a few photos depicting life these days…

This scene captured my heart…I feel it shows the essence of this pandemic…isolation. This young man sitting alone under the tree…contemplating these crazy times I’m sure.
Our online church services, including taking communion at home.
Learning to use new technologies…Zoom became a popular connection tool. These are my wonderful bookclub friends meeting on Zoom. We use Zoom to connect with our two sons and their families too.
Sadly, this fresh milk is going down the drain on my sister-in-law’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania. Evidently there is an over supply of milk due to the massive closings of schools and restaurants. Photo by sh
Picnic areas, playgrounds, and gathering spaces fenced off.
Cool Blue and his babe Lil’ Oaty sit on our deck railing watching children walk by on the sidewalk that leads to walking paths and ponds in our neighborhood. The Teddy Bear movement is making a bear or stuffed animal visible for children to hunt for while going for a walk.
Signs of spring and hope!…daffodils recently seen on my daily walk.
…and some bright color crocus’ too.
Photo by ba
Be still and know that I am God.     Psalm 46:10