Nature – Valerie's Voice

Madeira

The last island we visited on our two-week trip to “islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean” was Madeira, a separate archipelago consisting of four islands. Madeira island is southeast of the Azores and about 600 miles west of mainland Portugal.

The view over the infinity pool looking towards the Atlantic Ocean, on the roof top of our hotel in Funchal.

Funchal, the capital of Madeira, where we stayed in a lovely boutique hotel with a rooftop pool and fabulous view of the city and ocean, was winding down from a Flower Festival on the island…beautiful carpets made of flowers along the sidewalks, and stunning flower arrangements everywhere.

A carpet of flowers found on sidewalks and in hotel lobbies.

It was the last days of the festival.

One of many stunning flower arrangements.

We went on a grand driving tour to: Camara de Lobos, a fishing Village, Cabo Girão, a striking overlook of the sea (the cliff is 589 meters above sea level or 1,932 feet), and Serrado da Eira, a picturesque mountainous region of Madeira.

Looking straight down from cliff overlook, 589 meters (1,932 feet) above sea level. photo gb

Another view looking down from the high cliff to the shoreline. photo gb

We went to a rum factory and a farmer’s market, walked down a historic street with unique painted doors, and went on a cetaceans-watching tour. We didn’t see any whales but we did see dolphins and a beautiful coastline. (I have no photos from our boat tour because I do not bring my camera/phone near any bodies of water after having lost electronics in lakes a couple of times!)

We ate at several fantastic restaurants on Madeira Island. A huge European breakfast buffet was offered at all our hotels, on all the islands, each morning. Lunch and dinners were a mixture of eating as a group in small, local restaurants, or visiting a quaint sidewalk café when dinner was “on our own.”

We ate lunch at Quinta do Furão, part of this lovely hotel complex.

In Madeira we ate together at several special restaurants but three stand out…lunch at Quinta do Furão on the outdoor patio with lovely views of the ocean,

il Vildali, a Mediterranean Cuisine restaurant that was eloquently set for us at a huge table with luxury tablecloth and candelabras,

il Vivaldi Mediterranean Cuisine Restaurant.

and on our last night together we ate at Mozart Restaurant; with a fun wait staff and interesting bathrooms.

The Mozart restaurant was on the Rua de Santa Maria, one of the oldest streets in Madeira. It is a pedestrian-friendly cobblestone street, with some car traffic. It is lined with small restaurants, cafes and a small art gallery or two. It is also known for its painted doors.

Funny to say, but bathrooms can be very interesting. I have always liked to check out bathrooms in different places, but in the Mozart Restaurant we all checked out the bathrooms. The room was all mirrors, including floors and ceilings. It was unique!

The room of mirrors…the separate room with the toilet was the same; all mirrors.

It is here where we had to say good-bye to our new friends whom we shared so many wonderful adventures together over two weeks. We were so happy to have had our paths cross with these fine folks. It was sad to bid farewell.

These peace lilies were growing wild all over the islands.

The Natural Wonders of São Miguel

São Miguel Island is the poster child for the Azores. When you see brochures for the Azores, you see a picture of a caldera on San Miguel Island. A caldera is a large, bowl-shaped depression formed by the inner collapse of a volcano’s summit. It’s distinct from a crater, which is a much smaller, depression typically formed by outward explosion of material during an eruption.

This is photo of a photo in an ad promoting the Azores, taken on Såo Miguel.

This is our photo of the famous caldera the day we saw it…still beautiful even with the cloud cover. photo gb

For this discovery adventure with OAT, we were divided into small groups, and rode over rough terrain in jeeps to the western part of the island to see this caldera. Although it was overcast, we enjoyed seeing the stunning landscapes along the way.

Mata Jardim José do Canto – one of the botanical gardens on São Miguel.

Also, on this island we went to a botanical garden (Mata Jardim José do Canto) with a thermal pool. The hot springs look muddy, but its minerals in the water that make it look that way.

The thermal pool, in the botanical garden. photo gb

We were told to bring an old swimsuit since they would get stained from the water. It felt good to be in the hot pools.

Inside one of the greenhouses on the pineapple plantation. photo gb

We visited a tea plantation (Henrique -our tour guide- worked there when he was younger), and we visited a pineapple plantation.

Cascada (Portuguese) = Cascade (English).

We stopped at Ribeira dos Caldeirões Park, with beautiful waterfalls and more lush, green plants…São Miguel…aptly nicknamed the green island… Ihla Verde.

On this island we experienced a local dairy farm, milking about 25 cows. It is run by a Gena and João, a couple dedicated to a small, self-sufficent, organic farming operation.

Gena and João, in the barn on their dairy farm. photo gb

As we stood out in the field with the dairy cows, one cow in particular kept nudging everyone. Later, back in the barn (which was connected to electricity just last year) we gathered around the milking stalls and took turns milking a cow by hand.

Henrique at the head of the farm table. photo by Gena

Back in the soon-to-be remodeled stone outbuilding, a wonderful dinner was set for us and we ate their home-grown food. This type of farming reminded Gary of his grandparent’s farm…with their old-fashioned ways of doing things.

At the grocery store, with our assignments.

Earlier that morning Henrique divided us into groups and gave us some Euros and a short shopping list, in Portuguese, to buy a few items to bring to dinner at the farm later that day.

The local grocery store. (Decked out for the upcoming festival. Most store fronts are decorated for the special festival.)

He showed us which store to shop for local fare, and asked us to try and not speak English. That was a fun outing. We succeeded in finding the food…not sure about the not speaking English.

The lighting ceremony on the plaza in Ponta Delgado, on São Miguel Island. The ceremony marks the beginning of the festival “Festas do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres” (Lord Holy Christ of the Miracles).

On our last night on this island there was an opening ceremony for a huge annual religious festival. We were leaving the island the next day, but were able to walk to the main plaza after dinner to watch the lighting ceremony. It was a festive atmosphere and a pretty sight to see.

As I was walking in the cobblestone plaza, I tripped and fell into two women in the crowd. They kept me from falling…I said “Obrigada (thank you)”, and they replied, “that’s what we’re here for – to hold each other up!” Another fun interaction with strangers!

A very small village along the coast of São Miguel. photo gb

We enjoyed the natural wonders and beauty of São Miguel.

The Field

We moved into our new home in December. All winter I looked forward to seeing a tractor in the field behind us this spring, preparing the field for planting.

I first saw the tractor in back of our house at 7:40 pm on Monday evening.

We’ve been doing some traveling and I thought maybe I might miss it this year, but last night the tractor came through, tilling the soil. He started late in the day, and kept going into the night with his lights on, but he didn’t finish the job.

The darker soil is two swaths from the tractor.

It was fun to see the lights on the tractor, while he worked in the field at night, 8:55 pm.

He was back the next morning to finish the tilling.

It was interesting to see the wide swath of land that was tilled in one run. And I was amazed at how fast the tractor traveled. I had fun watching it while trying to take some pictures. The ground is dry and the tilling produced a lot of dust. It was hard to see the tractor through the dust at times.

We’ll wait to see what is planted…there has been corn in the field the past two years. Maybe they’ll alternate this year, and plant soy beans.

The tractor pulling a seed planter. 3:30 pm Tuesday.

To my delight, he came back in the afternoon to plant. I wonder what is in those yellow seed box containers?

Like the tiller, the planter is a huge piece of equipment.

And then… there were two! It keeps getting more and more interesting. I did not grow up on a farm and so I have really enjoyed seeing this basic, yet key principle, of farming up close.

It just keeps getting better…3:55 pm Tuesday…there were two tractors in the same field.

I did some tilling of my own and planted zinnia seeds along the field in our back yard…hopefully the zinnias will come up too.

Now we definitely need to wash the windows!

The North Shore

We went up to the north shore to celebrate my birthday last week.

There was a beautiful sunrise the morning of my birthday, and the sun continued to shine all day long.

We wanted to do a little hiking. We had tried hiking at Gooseberry Falls the day before, but we had to turn back due to a very icy trail. Although there was no snow on the ground anywhere, the shaded trails in the woods still had ice cover making it difficult to hike on them.

When we stopped for a specialty coffee at Vanilla Bean in Two Harbors, another customer joined our conversation with the waitress about places to hike in the area that might not be icy. The stranger asked us about the Gitchi-Gami bike trail. And it was one of those ah-ha moments; “I can’t believe we didn’t think about the wonderful paved bike trail with sections all along the north shore.”

An portion of the Gitchi-Gami Bike trail along Lake Superior.

So we found our safe place to hike along Lake Superior, and it was lovely.

Besides the sparkling lake, we saw different images on two different hikes. Do you see what I see?

A bat…a sheet of ice still clinging to a large rock in Lake Superior, facing south (no sun to melt it).

The head of a wolf (right), and a deer lying down looking out (left) in the hollow of a tree.

Several little bear cubs climbing up the tree.

It was a fun birthday; with hiking, cabin time, and watching the waves roll in. A great beginning to another trip around the sun.

Mankato, MN

On another unusually mild February day in Minnesota, we took off for a day trip to Mankato. Upon arrival we went to two sizable thrift stores, and “scored” at both, buying some fun and unusual items. After perusing the goods, it was lunch time so we found a great local pub for lunch.

One very long beautiful mural painted on a retention wall along the Minnesota River in Mankato.

Afterward we continued on to a small piece of land next to the Mankato Train Depot (the depot is no longer in service), along the Minnesota River. First, we walked past a beautiful mural, on our way to a Minnesota River lookout. The mural was beautiful, the river was very low.

Very realistic paintings on this mural panel.

Next, we walked to Reconciliation Park, a small area created for a memorial for the 38 Native American’s who were hung in Mankato in 1862, by white folks. It’s a sad part of our history. It was moving to see these two memorials. The theme of the park is “Forgive Everyone Everything.”

This monument listed the names of the 38 Native Americans hung in Mankato at the same time, in 1862.

A limestone Bison, part of the memorial to Native Americans in Reconciliation Park, Mankato.

Next, we drove to near-by Minneopa State Park.

First, we drove through the bison paddock. and were fortunate to see many bison out grazing.

There was a large, lone bison crossing the road, walking very slowly. We decided he must be the grandfather of the herd.

This guy leisurely walking in the road, stopping traffic.

It was really special to see all the bison up close with only the car as our barrier.

Our next stop was the waterfalls in the state park. We got out of the car and walked to the falls in sunny, 54 degrees temperature. Although there was no snow on the ground, the falls were still frozen over, with some water trickling down as the ice melted in the sun.

The frozen, lower falls in Minneopa State Park.

On our drive back to Northfield, we stopped in St. Peter for a coffee break and visited one more thrift store along St. Peter’s main street, which is the busy Hwy 169.

I like it when barista’s add a little flair to the coffee.

By this time of day, we were tired and the thrift shop was no longer appealing, but the coffee tasted yummy!

I think this guy was wondering if we had a nice day in Mankato…we did.

Color and Light, Morning to Night

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  
                                                                                                Psalm 118:24

7:03 am on 10/1/24… the moment of sunrise.

A couple hours later we trekked up Oberg Mountain and saw more beautiful colors of a different kind. Once again, I was grateful to be able to hike this trail, and was thankful to have the opportunity to do so.

10:15 am on 10/1/24…a view out to Lake Superior on the Oberg Trail.

10:30 am on 10/1/24… one of seven outlooks on the Oberg Trail.

And back at the cabin…the lovely, wispy clouds.

The sky was constantly changing, but the waves continue to roll in, year after year, reminding me of God’s faithfulness.

7:43 pm on 10/1/24… the cabin backlit by the early evening light.

8:30 pm on 10/1/24 …the end of our day, fire light on the rocks and a stunning display of stars overhead in the night sky.

Amen.

Unusual Sightings

There were several sheep along the shore of the lake on Carleton College campus.

While walking at Carleton College I saw about twenty-four sheep penned in along the lakeshore. I have seen goats there, knowing they “rent them” to eat all the unwanted brush. I assume sheep do the same thing, but I had not heard of that before.

A few days later we were up with our grandchildren and as we walked out the front door our grandson spotted this beautiful dragonfly clinging to the stucco of the house. It looked like its body was made of green glass marbles. It was glistening.

The largest of several frogs in the pond.

And while walking around Pond Number Two near our house, we noticed several frogs. Frogs are a good thing to have in our ponds. We counted at least a dozen, and then spotted this large bullfrog! He was maybe 6-8 inches long…a whopper!.

July 2024

The month of July was a very unusual, emotional month for us – dramatic negatives interspersed with unique positives…

A Negative:
A family member has been very sick.
A Positive:
My second cousin and his wife from Norway stayed with us for five days and we enjoyed our time together.
A Positive:
Our youngest son and his wife and two children, Zoey & Ezra, came for a three-week visit. 
A Negative:
I tested positive for COVID, and needed to curtail some activities. Thankfully I didn’t get very sick, it didn’t linger, and no one else caught it.

A stand-out activity with our two grandchildren from North Carolina, was a camping trip. We made plans to go camping with Zoey and Ezra when we knew they would be visiting us in Minnesota. Their parents had planned a getaway by themselves to celebrate special birthdays, so we made reservations for a camping cabin in a state park, about an hour away.

Camping never disappoints to create unforgettable memories. And we created memories. The biggest problem we encountered were the mosquitos, of course, and it also rained a couple of times. But we were able to do all we wanted to. We ate well (and outside)…blueberry pancakes, roasted hot dogs, s’mores, hobo meals… and we sat around the campfire, relaxed and read in the screen porch, had ice cream for lunch…we had fun.

We made hobo meals to cook over the open fire.

One of my favorite activities with Zoey and Ezra was writing and creating a book about our camping experience after we returned home. Zoey took notes as we all sat together and made suggestions as to what to write about our two-night camping trip and all the mishaps…much like The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Vacation. Both Ezra and Zoey got into this activity and we spent several hours on it. And I must say, it turned out well.

Ezra dictated as Zoey typed it up in a Word document. Then I edited the six chapters, and it “went to press”. We printed copies to present to the parents when they arrived home from their mini-get away.

The book, The Very Crazy Camping Trip, became an instant success!

A Gift of Water

A writing assignment was to answer this question… Has a stranger ever helped you at a difficult time? The answer is yes, and here’s the story.

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. photo vb

In 2015 we visited our son and his wife and our first grand-baby, Zoey, in Mozambique, Africa. We planned a side trip to Cape Town, South Africa as a chance to see another part of the continent. One of our most exciting, but challenging adventures there was to climb Table Mountain.

Photo by Robert Huczek on Unsplash (free internet photos)

Table Mountain is a beautiful sight overlooking Cape Town, and from a distance it looks like a table, thus the name.

A view of Cape Town off one side of Table Mountain. photo vb

Gary and I are used to hiking and have done a lot over the years. We’ve hiked some difficult terrains. Table Mountain ended up being one of the harder hikes I’ve done, but I didn’t know that when we started out. We donned our hiking boots and hats, and filled our water bottles and started up the steep path. There were several other hikers on this trail. It was hot, it was rocky, and it was pretty much straight up.

On our way up the rocky trail to the top of Table Mountain. photo gb

We were struggling. About two-thirds the way up there was an outcropping that provided a shady area, so we stopped to rest. A fit, young man came from behind us and noticed I was overheated. He asked if we had water. Yes, we did, thank you. Then he said to me, hold out your hat. I did as he said, and he poured HIS water into my hat and told me to tip it over my head. I did, and it felt so incredibly good to drench my hot self with the cool water.

After that, the young man continued on his merry way, and I was so grateful for his random act of kindness, and soon we continued our trek upward.

Note the cable car coming down from the station at the top of Table Mountain. photo vb

We rejoiced when we arrived at the top. We joined many folks enjoying the stunning vistas on this beautiful, sunny day (reaching the top by cable car or on foot). Then, as was our plan, we took the cable car down the mountain.

From the window of the rotating cable car, going down Table Mountain. photo vb

I was grateful for this young man’s random act of kindness that day on Table Mountain. What a delight to be treated so kindly… on a mountain trail… in a foreign country.

And then there were none…

Sad news…two days ago I was out in the yard and found the second baby robin (two of three – last week I found the first one) dead in the grass. I’m not sure what is taking them from their nest…someone suggested a Blue Jay.

On May 12 I noticed these three, beautiful blue eggs in a nest outside our window. Mama Robin has been caring for her young since then, and now all three have died.

Last night I took a photo of the last baby robin sitting contently in its nest.

And then I found it dead, this morning, under the tree where the nest is. I’m sad.

Now, I wonder if I’ll see Mama Robin anymore? I’ll miss her.