Nature – Page 4 – Valerie's Voice

Marjorie McNeely Conservatory

Last week I thought to myself, I sure would like to see some blooming flowers…where can I go in Minnesota this time of year? Como Park Conservatory came to mind.

Sweet buttery yellow with a touch of lavender.

We have gone to the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in previous winters, to catch a glimpse of colorful flowers, and be surrounded by greenery and warm, moist air. The sunken garden is always a bright and beautiful.

White orchids…with sprinkles of purple dust…

It is a lovely oasis in Minnesota’s winters.

Blue skies and sun shone through the glass walls and ceiling which adds a lot to the ambiance of the sunken garden.

Stunning burgundy lilies, outlined with a fine white line, were growing throughout much of the sunken garden.

Foxgloves were blooming in the sunken garden, along with cyclamen and other annuals.

I checked the website and discovered an annual orchid show was happening, during St. Paul’s winter carnival. I talked to a woman over the phone and she said it’s a great exhibit, but warned me it does get crowded. I bought tickets anyways…

A amazing array of color. Tables of orchids were set throughout the sunken garden.

We did get in to see the beautiful orchids even though we had to wait in long lines. It was not what I had planned when I first thought of the idea, but it was an enjoyable change in plans.

I can’t begin to name all the different types of orchids there are. It was enough to drink in all their beauty.

One can see a face on these orchids…natural…two eyes, a nose, a mouth…

We saw many incredibly beautiful and interesting and unique orchids…in all different shapes and sizes and colors.

It was hard to discern which photos to post. As it is hard to pick a favorite orchid.

“Consider how the flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Luke 12:27

Before the Cold Sets In…

Last week the snow started falling…sometimes it felt like we were living in a snow globe. It was, and still is, beautiful outside.

Out our front door…at dawn’s early light.

Looking out our patio door, early morning.

It has continued to snow off and on, and the “frosting” has stayed on the trees, and everything else for that matter. Wherever you look, it is stunning. A true winter wonderland!

We went on a cross-country ski outing at Riverbend Nature Center in Faribault before the freezing temperatures moved in. It was breathtaking…and hard to ski because I wanted to capture it on camera.

Other skiers enjoying the fresh fallen snow.

Recently, while in North Carolina, I read the chapter book “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, to my grandchildren.

In the book, the white witch keeps winter in Narnia all year long. The white snow-covered wonderland is gorgeous, but I wouldn’t want to live in it forever.

Now the freezing temperatures are moving in.

“And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap…”

It’s time to settle into the cozy house by the warm fire. I’m so grateful we can do that, knowing full well that’s not the case for everyone.

Leaves hanging on trees, some individually covered in snow!

This scene in Riverbend reminded me of the cotton fields we saw in South Carolina last month.

An Annual Get Away

It was a quick turnaround for me. We arrived home from an almost four-week trip to North Carolina, and two days later I was driving to Madison, Wisconsin to meet up with a friend for our annual get away.

We have been meeting once or twice a year since 1989. Earlier this year we had planned to meet on two different occasions, but each time we had to cancel, so we squeezed in a trip during the busy holiday season. We did not want to break our record and miss a year.

Colorful dogwood shoots with a pagoda in the background at Olbrich Gardens.

My friend and I met many years ago during a church greeting time. Soon after, she gave birth to her first born and I offered to bring her lunch. Not knowing the protocol for bringing new mom’s lunch or dinner at that time, I simply brought her a tuna fish sandwich in a brown paper bag.

BUT… God multiplied that simple lunch into a nourishing friendship that has spanned almost 40 years and is still going strong.

Madison is a good half way point for us, and is our default destination when we don’t have a lot of time. Our criteria for choosing destinations is the area has to have gardens, water (lake, river, ocean) and antique/thrift stores.

A huge cottonwood tree standing tall and proud without its leaves.

A carefully placed birch stump that looks like an owl.

Although it was a cold and windy December day, we enjoyed walking around Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison. We have been there many times. Although no plants were blooming, the textures and contrasts of the different fall/winter plants were vibrant.

Lake Monona is across the street. The lake was full of white caps.

We discovered two great restaurants for dinner each night. We’d recommend both. Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry has been in business for 47 years making delicious hamburgers, and it did not disappoint.

This restaurant offered delicious hamburgers. We understand why it was voted as having favorite burgers. They were juicy and tasty.

The Old Stamm House, in an old stone house, had the best Brussel sprouts I’ve ever tasted.

I don’t normally take pictures of food, but these Brussel sprouts were scrumptious!

The lobster ravioli was great, and to top it off we had a Crème Brulée (we split everything, therefore we could enjoy an appetizer and dessert).

Old Stamm House building from 1847…it is not the original site of the restaurant.

Our shopping times were fruitful in finding a few inexpensive little treasures here and there, which provides us with much entertainment just from the hunt!

Back home now, I will settle in and start getting ready for the Christmas season.

Thanksgiving in the Woods

I have a children’s book titled “Thanksgiving in the Woods.”

It is a true story about one family’s Thanksgiving tradition. Each year they make a special effort to go into the woods to eat their thanksgiving meal, with extended family and friends. The story tells they bring traditional Thanksgiving food, set up tables and chairs, load a truck full of hay for hay rides, bring guitars to make music around a bon fire, and other outdoor activities. I always thought it sounded like a lot of fun.

So, when our grandchildren were invited to attend a “Thanksgiving in the Woods” I, of course, latched on to the idea and signed us up.

We didn’t know what to expect. I knew it would not be like the book, but I wanted to experience what this event had to offer. We knew the weather in North Carolina has been unseasonably cold, so we planned to dress warmly. We knew that by 6:00 pm it is dark outside, but that added to the excitement. We knew we were to bring a dessert, and we knew the park (which was on an island) since we had hiked there before with the kids.

We didn’t know if there would be any program, a campfire, or what kind of meal to expect.

We used our iPhone flashlight to light our way. I wanted to retake this photo, but the kids said it turned out perfect.

We drove across the causeway to the island, parked in the lot, and walked a little ways up the unlit, paved path to the picnic shelter.

A large bon fire greeted us. The buffet table was set up in picnic shelter and we set down our contribution to the meal. The kids immediately started to run around as we stood by the campfire and had polite conversation with some folks.

The servers at the buffet ling. Fun plates, napkins and cups.

The meal was the real deal…a full array of Thanksgiving foods…stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach casserole, gravy, turkey, ham, cranberries and miscellaneous desserts including pumpkin pie, and a decorated theme cake.

Everyone went through the food line, including those serving the meal. Not until after everyone had finished eating did they open the dessert line. That was a nice touch.

Fun captions on this Thanksgiving-themed decorated cake.

A lot of work went into planning this event, and although the event was not at all like the book, we enjoyed being outside in the woods… we did not get cold…we ate tasty food (including smoked turkey!)…and we were thankful.

It was an enjoyable evening… at this “Thanksgiving in the Woods.”

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

We decided to take a road trip from Charlotte to the Atlantic coast over the weekend, just to see the ocean. (I’m always drawn to water!) We left Saturday morning and drove four hours to Myrtle Beach State Park in South Carolina. The state park offered a nice sandy beach on the Atlantic Ocean, with a wooden pier, hiking trails, an activity center and more.

Beautiful clouds and sunshine over the Atlantic Ocean.

We arrived in time to eat our picnic lunch on the sandy beach. The weather was great…77* and sunny. The grandkids enjoyed playing in the water and the sand. Gary and I enjoyed the sunshine, and watching the grandkids have fun.

We walked out on the pier, and later in the afternoon we planned a hike.

A wonderful quote to start off our hike.

As we started our hike, I was excited to read a nature quote on a sign at the beginning of the trail, and I thought to myself…this will be a fun hike. As we walked a little further, I started slapping mosquitoes, as did everyone else. As we continued on, we were attacked by mosquitos…so we turned around and walked back out of the woods. So much for a hike in this state park.

On our drive east to Myrtle Beach on Saturday morning, we noticed fields that looked full of snow clumps…and discovered it was cotton. On our way home the next day, we stopped at one of several cotton fields we passed.

We got out of the car and walked through the rows of cotton and got a good look at this interesting crop!

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium.*

It was a quick trip, but a memorable one.

*Wikipedia

An Autumn Ride

These photos were taken a couple weeks ago, while riding on the Sakatah Singing Hills State trail. It was a cool, fall evening, and surprisingly we had the trail to ourselves.

The trail was canopied with trees that had not dropped all of their colorful leaves, and yet… the asphalt was covered with crispy, autumn leaves, and it was beautiful.

Gary and I rode along this portion of the enchanting path, with the sound of “crunch” underneath us. It was a fun ride!

Fall Color Haiku

Fall color tour...
Fluorescent orange, yellow, reds,
A beautiful gift!

I did not enhance these photos, before or after taking theses pictures.

The leaves were that brilliant.

The North Shore 2022

Our trip to the north shore proved to be a lot more colorful than we were expecting.

We had already started seeing pockets of beautiful fall colors on our drive up, so I started to get a little excited…and then the colors began to pop out everywhere…with wonderful contrasts to the evergreen trees.

The weather also turned out better than I had hoped for, with warmer temperatures and some nice sunshine and blue skies (and one cloudy day). We had packed clothes for colder weather.

Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (1)

Looking inland from the Tofte overlook, on a spur trial off the Carlton Peak trail. (2)

We followed our annual routine of balancing cabin time and lake time with hiking and local drives.

We watched the sun rise over the big lake and had a camp fire on the rocks. We stopped in Hinckley and Duluth on the way up, and stopped in Grand Marais one day. It’s all so familiar, yet all so refreshing, relaxing, and restorative… and so much fun!

A leaf-covered hiking trail through the forest.

The colors were breathtaking…everywhere we went. It was spectacular to see and hard to photograph with my iPhone.

But it was enough to witness the colors and breath in the fresh air, smell the different whiffs of pine scents, lake water, decomposing leaves, feel the crisp air and to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8a).

I stand in awe of the Creator of these incredible autumn colors.

And the colors were not only up north…we saw them driving home, and right here in Northfield, and outside our front and back doors!

Our neighbor’s burning bush, where our mailbox is tucked in.

Red Feather

Tiny red feather
Stood out among the birdseed...
A love gift for me?

I’m going with the idea it was left behind as a love token for me. 😉

A Morning Walk

On my morning walk this morning, along the ponds in my neighborhood, I looked for nature photo ops, and found many signs of fall.

Sumac – soon the foliage will turn bright red-orange.

More sun flowers…or maybe yellow cone flowers.

A curious cat. Animals always are worth a photo…

Psalm 23: 1-4

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
       he leads me beside quiet waters,
       he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
       for his name’s sake.
 Even though I walk
      through the darkest valley,
      I will fear no evil,
     for you are with me;
     your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me