As I was on a walk this week I noticed something out of the ordinary…
beautiful, blooming purple crocuses. It was a surprise to see, what I thought were, confused crocuses because they were blooming in the fall.
After taking a picture of theses perky blooms, I looked on Google and learned there are some crocuses that do bloom in the fall…only they have no leaves.
This was a pleasant sight to see while walking on a beautiful, unusually warm, fall day.
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One of my favorite things to do on our annual trek to the north shore is to watch the sunrise over Lake Superior. I set my alarm – just in case – so I don’t miss it.
I love sitting silently, waiting for the sun to come up. It is such a tranquil and quiet time…a beautiful time of enjoying God’s magnificent creation, a wonderful gift. There is a unique sunrise for each unique day…and it can change within minutes.
We don’t see sunsets from the location of our cabin, although sometimes we can see some color in the western skies at sunset, creating silhouettes of the trees and rocky shoreline near-by.
In a previous post I showed photos of the moonrise we sometimes see over the lake. We are grateful for those spectacular views too.
Words cannot describe the feelings evoked witnessing the wonders of the sky.
I’m grateful for the sun that rises faithfully every morning, and to see it rise over Lake Superior is a special treat!
We attended a wedding reception at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this week.
What a lovely place for the special event. It was held outside in one of the picnic shelters with beautiful scenery all around. We were also invited to come early and enjoy the September gardens in bloom at the arboretum.
There was much color, everywhere. There were vibrant, annual gardens, as well as rich, colorful dahlias.
I was surprised to see many showy, rose bushes still in full bloom. I stopped to smell them!
It’s always fun to see a few, unusual plants in bloom.
It was a wonderful afternoon, celebrating two lives joined together in marriage, and celebrating Minnesota’s finest blossoms and the upcoming fall season.
I am reading a good book…savoring it is more like it: Braiding Sweetgrass. A few months ago, I ordered the book from the Northfield Library, and by mistake, I got the book on CD. I was immediately captivated by it and hadn’t finished listening to by the time it was due, so I ordered it again, both the CD’s and the book. I have enjoyed reading the book and listening to the audio version.
The book, Braiding Sweetgrass, is written by Robin Wall Kimmerer; a mother, scientist, decorated professor and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation.
The book is described as “A hymn of love to the world” by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is a book on “Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants.”
Robin Wall Kimmerer’s vivid descriptions, explanations and metaphors delight the reader. It is a book for nature lovers and anyone interested in learning about the indigenous ways, and teachings from the land and plants. It’s fascinating.
The recurring theme is sweetgrass, Mother Earth’s hair, one of the four sacred grasses for the indigenous people (sweetgrass, sage, tobacco, cedar). Braiding sweetgrass is a tradition, and they believe having braids in the home, or given as gifts, brings positivity and goodwill and kindness…and wards off negativity. Traditionalists also “smudge” the braids, that is burn them, in ceremonies.
While reading through the book I was inspired to braid sweetgrass. I was talking with a friend, an herbalist (her website is https://www.cannonvalleyherbals.com – check out her website for a recent article on sweetgrass under the “Blog” section) and she told me she had sweetgrass growing in her gardens. She said I was welcome to come and pick some sweetgrass for braiding. So I did.
She showed me what sweetgrass looked like (always a good first step!), then how to pull it out by the roots. It has a light vanilla fragrance…and if you taste the root you can taste sweetness. She left me alone to pull a basketful of sweet grass. Afterwards, she took a minute to show me how she has braided sweetgrass. I took my good fortune home and started in.
I had great fun braiding the grasses, using large clumps, and strands of seven in each clump. The scent is pleasant and subtle, and the results of the braids were rewarding.
I recommend this book. It is a fascinating read.
When we travel, we like to find area trails to hike and get out in nature. The friend we visited in Arizona likes to hike too, and had a trail in mind for when we came to visit.
Due to limited luggage space we didn’t pack our hiking poles or hiking shoes. We took along our good walking shoes, our sun hats, and sunscreen. We knew our friends would provide water bottles for us.
We set our alarm to get up and get on the trail early one day, before it got too hot to enjoy the hike. (It was hotter than normal when we flew out to Arizona in early April, highs were in the 90’s, but it cooled down significantly at night). We drove to the trailhead (past long-horn cattle roaming) to the Superstition Wilderness in the Superstition Mountain area.
It was a lovely morning for a hike…clear, blue skies and a nice, cool temperature. We stopped to take photos of the unique and open desert scenery…so different and fun to see. My friend likes to take pictures so it was no problem stopping whenever we wanted to capture a moment…she understands.
On the drive to the trailhead our friend was telling us about her hiking club she joined when she moved to Arizona a year and a half ago. In addition to plenty of water (a staple for hiking anywhere) she learned to carry a fine-tooth comb with her on desert hikes…just in case you have a run in with a cactus.
Well, of course, that happened to me. We were well into our hike, taking pictures of the cacti in bloom, and I got excited about this beautiful, blooming cactus and started taking photos. I could get a better angle if I moved around a bit and, sure enough, I brushed up to a very prickly cactus and a clump stuck to my ankle, through my sock, as I jumped away. It’s called the Teddy-Bear Cholla and I had admired it previous to our hike. The Teddy-bear Cholla looks so cuddly…but it’s not! Thankfully my friend had followed the advice from her fellow hikers and put a comb in her backpack.
It worked slick! Many prickly needles came out easily with the comb. There were a few strays that I took out with Duct Tape when we got back to her place. It was quite comical that we would need a comb after her telling us about it on our way to the trail.
The hike in the desert was unique and strikingly beautiful. We enjoyed it…and learned something too.
On our recent visit to AZ, not only did we see the desert in bloom, but we saw several kinds of birds and animals.
There were cardinals in the trees, and lots of hummingbirds too. There were mourning doves and lots of quail drinking from a large, ceramic basin of water our friends strategically placed outside their family room window. I enjoyed seeing the quail and their pretty little head plumes. I tried several times to get a photo of the quail but it just didn’t happen. We spotted a roadrunner racing on the ground several times.
But the prize bird sighting was a Great-horned owl, and her two owlets. Their nest was in-between the arms of a tall, saguaro cactus. Ouch. Those cactus needles are prickly! We stopped to see the nest on our way to our friend’s house directly from the airport. We saw mama, and her two young ones the first time. Two days later we stopped by to check on the owlets and they had grown. My friend got an up-close photo of one of them with her special camera.
There were jack rabbits all over town; in the yards, on the golf courses, in the open spaces, at the watering bowl. I didn’t have my camera ready at the right moments so I didn’t get any photos of the cute bunnies with long ears.
We saw long-horn cattle roaming in the open, alongside the road to the trailhead for our desert hike.
But the prize animal sighting was bighorn sheep. On the drive through the mountains to Canyon Lake (where we had scheduled a boat ride in a beautiful reservoir) we spotted bighorn sheep.
We stopped to take photos and watch the beautiful creatures maneuver the rocky terrain. We counted 8. My friend had a camera with a stronger zoom so I let her take the photos.
And lastly…the night before we left, in the rocky side yard we spotted a Gila Monster (pronounced heel-la monster), a poisonous lizard and apparently a rare sighting.
The lizard moves slow so we could get a good look at it and take photos. According to Wikipedia, it is the only venomous lizard native to the United States.
Each flower, each bird, each animal is a gift. I marvel at nature’s beauty and God’s amazing creativity. And I am grateful.
My husband says it a jet vapor trail, I say it’s a cloud, but whatever it is, it made for beautiful sky art this morning over Lake Superior.
A few weeks ago we were hiking in a wooded area in Faribault and came across an intriguing sight. It made us stop in our tracks to investigate…
It looked like two roots from a large, tall tree that had grown down a cliff and into the soil at the bottom leaving an opening exposing the rock cliff. It formed a beautifully-shaped, arched doorway, and it was the size of one too.
We saw this from the trail at the bottom of a rock wall but we didn’t see an easy way to get to the top of the wall, and we were not equipped to go rock climbing that day. We left the trail and walked closer to the tree to inspect how the split trunk/roots were attached to the rock and found they were growing into the rock. It looked like the rock was sandstone so it seemed possible.
We wondered how it grew to be this way. It was a fun and curious discovery. Gary went and stood in the opening to show perspective to its size.
It lends to one’s imagination of opening an adult-size fairy door and entering through the tree to mystical and charming wonderlands inside…
Someday I’d love to go back and strategically attach a door knob to the rock door…
Madison, Wisconsin is a great halfway point between my house in Northfield and my friend’s house in Indiana, and it meets our destination criteria of a body of water, gardens and thrift and/or antique stores so we have enjoyed several trips there.
We traditionally take our annual trip in the spring (ever since 1989), with an occasional trip halfway through the year if we can fit it into our schedules. We have met in many different locations around the country but Madison is convenient destination for us.
This year we planned a trip in May, but because of the pandemic we delayed it, until finally we decided to go… six months later. It was a tough decision, as are a lot of decisions around COVID these days. We decided on Madison because it’s easy to get to. We were careful where we went and we wore our masks.
When we meet in Madison, we always include a trip to Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The gardens are a must see. Spring, summer or fall, Olbrich Gardens is always a special place to wander the trails and enjoy nature’s beauty.
We had fun walking around the gardens with our masks…but not our facemasks. The first day together we found sparkly, purple eye masks, new and unopened, at a thrift store, so we each bought one to add a whimsical touch to our time together.
We decided Olbrich Gardens was the place to don our masks and find a photo op. So, when we arrived at the gardens off came our facemasks and on went our sparkly eye masks.
Olbrich Gardens had a lot to offer at the end of October. There were still lovely flower arrangements and colorful trees to enjoy in their fall glory.
Bright sunshine shone down on us and its warmth embraced us. We took great delight strolling around in it.
At one point during our afternoon a message popped up on my phone alerting me to a photo memory. I looked and it showed photos from a Fall trip my friend and I had taken last year (2019) to Madison. The photos were from Olbrich Gardens and the date was exactly one year ago TO THE DAY. That was crazy! It felt like a confirmation. We reminisced, and recalled in 2019 it snowed the night before we visited the gardens so the ground and paths were covered with the white stuff. Not so this year.
Olbrich Gardens is a place to revisit again and again. Our trip turned out well. Although we shortened it, it was good to be together, in-person, to catch up with our lives. Someday we will not have to worry about COVID, but until then, a lot of decisions are heavy and difficult.
Lingering thoughts from the glorious, snowless, time up on the north shore…
Sparkles, like dazzling diamonds, are twinkling in a wide swath on the waters of Lake Superior, reflecting the sun. It is one precious view that money can’t buy.
The white foam waves clap against the rocky shoreline, producing a lovely sound and creating dancing droplets in the air. The blue water mirrors the blue sky and the temperatures are above normal for October.
Gold leaves, like coins, carpet the hiking trail that leads up the Minnesota mountain through leafless trees to the top. Once on top the views are stunning. The yellow birches and dark evergreens create the gorgeous contrast for this time of year.
All along the shore, there are only a few maple trees with colors of red and orange but it is the yellow leaves mixed with the evergreens that create the new and different pattern for us along the shore of Lake Superior.
This wondrous place always takes my breath away and is always hard to describe…my soul feels at home in this holy place and I’m so grateful to be in the moments that pass too quickly up here on the north shore… a reflection of God’s glory.
I often try to describe how spectacular it is through words and photos but they do not do it justice. But then, who can describe the Lord?
Exodus 15:11 Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?
