MSP – Valerie's Voice

Quotes & Artworks

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love; it will not lead you astray.”
                Rumi 1207-1273

“You’re only given one little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” 
                Robin Williams

“Have I gone mad?” asked the Mad Hatter
“I’m afraid so,” replied Alice
“You’re entirely bonkers, but I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
                 Lewis Carroll

Somehow these quotes speak to me of enjoying wonders of ordinary living. Living with abandon and paying attention to all that surrounds us.

One of a “nide” of pheasants that gather in the field in back of our house.
I learned a group of pheasants are called a **nide**.

I do love nature…oh so much. Recently I have enjoyed seeing up to 15 pheasants in the field behind our house. There is so much beauty in nature, and its proven to help our mental acuity when we stop to appreciate it.

Then there are made-made public artworks. I’ve taken more notice in the past few weeks as I’ve tried to be more in tune with my surroundings.

I had an appointment at the Park Nicollet Clinic in Burnsville recently. It is a fairly large facility so there is some walking involved to get from the parking garage, through the covered walkway into the building. There is a wall of posters hanging in the entry hallway. Many people walk on right by this display…I have before. But once I noticed the posters, I enjoyed looking at different Minnesota lakes on this cold winter day, when the lakes are frozen over now.

I’m posting four of the eight posters depicting different lakes in Minnesota.

As I stood admiring them an employee walked by and said to me, “I claim this one” pointing to the Lake of the Woods poster. I replied, “OK, I’ll take the Lake Superior poster.”

I took notice of several other works of arts on display throughout the clinic that day.

Other public artworks that caught my attention these past few weeks were huge (approx. 4 feet X 8 feet) photos printed on metal and posted along an antique store parking lot in Mantorville, of all places…

Rio Grande No. 5771
Photo by Brian Hindal, a local Mantorville resident.

Each photo is taken by a local person with a description next to the photo. There were ten huge photos and a variety of subjects… I’ve included three favorites…

Americana
Photo by Cory Ingram, a local photographer, writer, fisherman, and physician.

Sunflower
Photo by Annemieke van der Werff

These public artworks are a wonderful way to display local artists and create a warm and welcoming space…even in parking lots!

Also, there is a wonderful exhibit on display at the MSP airport, entitled The Felt Menagerie;

The bird is all made of felt…flowers, feathers, feet and beak.

A collection of unusual creatures by Dustin Black.

These pieces were so whimsical. They made me smile…and made me marvel at the work involved using all felt material.

Once you start looking…it’s amazing what you see all around on ordinary days.

More public artworks to be continued…

Transition

After having spent over three weeks in North Carolina, having a wonderful time with family, we arrived back to Minnesota on Tuesday. In the snowstorm.

We left behind sunny and warm fall weather there.

The temperature was almost 60* the day we left our son’s house in North Carolina.

Cold temperatures along with measurable amounts of snow on the driveway greeted us here, back home in Minnesota…hmmm…it’s a tough reality. We’ll make the transition, but it’s hard.

We did not get 7″ of snow in Northfield like they did at the airport, but there is a significant amount as indicted by the bird feeder and birdbath.

We flew back to Minnesota on Tuesday evening. Our scheduled arrival time was 1:30 pm. Before we left for North Carolina, we had arranged for friends to pick us up. Little did we know it would be in a snowstorm.

They left Northfield early to make sure they got to the airport in time. It took them two hours to drive the normal one-hour drive. It was snowing and windy and not great driving conditions. They arrived in time for the 1:30 arrival time and parked at the cell phone lot. When they left home our flight status had not changed, so they were still expecting us at 1:30 pm.

A nice touch, a piano player serenading people at the Charlotte airport.

In the meantime, we were in the Charlotte airport waiting in the rocking chairs available for passengers, and being serenaded by piano music.

Another nice touch, rocking chairs for waiting.

Our flight left Charlotte on time and we had a smooth ride, but as we got closer to Minneapolis the pilot announced we had been put in a holding pattern while they plowed the one runway that was still open at MSP. Then they closed that runway. So, our plane was diverted to Milwaukee for fuel. Everyone got off the plane in Milwaukee while we waited for updated information. Other flights to MSP flying out of Milwaukee were being canceled. We were concerned ours might be too, and we’d be spending a night at the Milwaukee airport. But finally, they had us reboard the aircraft and we were able to fly into MSP, after they opened the runways again. By now it’s 5:40 pm.

Then, we were stuck in the plane because there wasn’t an available gate agent to open the doors and let us out. That took another half hour. Finally, we were in the airport terminal and we retrieved our luggage. Our dear friends, bless their hearts, waited for us the whole time, in the cell phone lot! That was indeed an act of faithfulness, and we were so grateful!

Now, the driveway has been plowed, and the house temperature warmed up and we’re settling in for the next few months of winter. (Maybe a couple get aways to warmer climates will be forthcoming…)

Arrived!

Our son and his lovely wife and their two adorable children have arrived safely in Minnesota. They are here for the long term…Andrea left her childhood town in Mozambique, Africa. They are beginning a new chapter in their lives, here in the USA. We have prepared a space for them in our home for their transition period. We are so excited this day has finally come. We are grateful.