Northfield – Page 14 – Valerie's Voice

Sugar Cookies

A few days ago I received a text from my friend with a photo of her two (of three) granddaughters, ages 4 and 6. The girls were decorating sugar cookies, with the caption “Leaf Cookies!”

I was surprised how quickly my mind went down memory lane.

Before I called Northfield home (in 1994) I would sometimes venture to this town for a day trip. Northfield’s downtown area is, and always has been, a fun destination for a getaway from the city.

In the mid 1980’s, on a fine, autumn day, my friend (the grandmother of the two girls in the photo) and I went to Northfield. While walking down the main street we looked in the windows of Quality Bakery. We were impressed by the cookies we saw there. They were sugar cookies, in the shape of leaves, decorated with frosting using fall colors. We loved the idea and immediately went out and bought leaf-shaped cookie cutters: an oak leaf, a maple leaf, and an elm leaf .

Often in the fall, I would make sugar cookies and recruit my boys to help frost the cookies. The cookies always looked festive because any touches of the red, yellow, orange or green colored frosting on the leaf shape made them look great. I remember putting two or three colors on a cookie and taking a toothpick to swirl the colors together.

So when I saw her photo come through on my iPhone what surprised me most was the emotions that swelled up within me. It brought tears to my eyes. I thought back to when my own boys were 4 and 6 and the good times we had, I thought about my friend’s two little boys and my two boys playing together and now one of her sons is deceased. And, then back in the present, I was filled with such joy to see my friend’s two sweet, granddaughters frosting leaf cookies.

So in this season of Thanksgiving, I am thankful…for friendships, children and grandchildren, and traditions.

What a Mess!

Our house is a mess right now. We took down wallpaper that we had put up 23 years ago. It held up well but now it was time for a change. It came down easily…my husband pulled it all off while I was out running errands one day however, now we have the unpleasant task of soaking the walls and scraping off the wallpaper paste.

Yuk!

We are removing paste from the foyer, a large 2-story wall by the split stairways, and our upstairs hallway. We will paint these walls and at the same time re-paint our dining room and sun-room.

Fortunately we can picture the results of newly painted rooms, which lends to excitement and helps us continue with the arduous process.

Time has a way of slipping by. I never thought the wallpaper we had hung when we moved in would still be up 23 years later, and for that matter, the inexpensive carpet we put in the downstairs bedrooms…it’s still there. We said we’d replace that in five years. Hmm…it still looks fine.

I love our little green house on the corner (an exterior color I love and don’t ever want to change). It has been a good and comfortable place to call home. It holds many wonderful memories and a whole lot of love. We’re just changing up the colors a bit inside.

Neighborhood Butterfly Garden

I stopped in at my neighbor’s garage sale. They have a six-year old granddaughter so I thought maybe there would be some things of interest to me. But first I came upon their small garden along their driveway. Standing tall was another beautiful hibiscus blooming bright pink alongside sedum in full bloom, with a metal sculpture in the middle of it all.

On that metal sculpture was a little, lime-green tree frog, and fluttering all around the sedum were Painted Lady butterflies. My neighbor said it was like having their own butterfly garden – there were dozens of butterflies swarming around – and they have been for several days. At times a few would land on his finger.

Franklin Park Conservatory Butterfly Garden, Columbus OH

I’ve been to several indoor butterfly gardens. It’s a fun experience to walk through hanging plastic strips into a room where several species of butterflies are happily flitting around you, some landing close by or, on your body. What a great idea for a botanical garden or arboretum to create the space for butterflies and then invite the public to see and experience the wonderful creatures.

And mentioning butterflies…last year a friend found a chrysalis on his house and I took a photo of it. I was so amazed to see it up close and then to see the Monarch wings through the chrysalis. Click here to see a two minute YouTube video of a Monarch emerging from its chrysalis. The whole process of their transformation is amazing.

There are so many interesting facts about monarch butterflies…as there is for all creatures. Nature is absolutely fascinating and sometimes unfathomable.

And the Lord God made them all.

The Solar Eclipse

What do you bring to a solar eclipse party?

and…

When we decided to celebrate the solar eclipse with a party around a bonfire I never thought we’d actually see the eclipse. The long- range forecast was cloudy, but we were going to celebrate the event anyways. Although we woke up Monday morning to rain, by 9 a.m. there was sunshine with a few clouds and we had some good viewing on top of a hill where our friend’s live.

We gathered together, sitting in the shade a little ways from the bonfire… the temperature was very warm outside and being by the fire made it warmer still, until the moon started covering the sun and then it cooled down. Hot dogs were available to roast, delicious salads ready to eat along with star-shaped cheese slices with crackers, the party-bag goodies, and an all-American apple pie.

A couple of solar eclipse boxes were made and to my delight a welder’s helmet was available to view the eclipse and it worked well. We took turns watching the different phases of the eclipse using the helmet. The eclipse peaked at 1:06 pm where we live in the universe, and at peaked at 85%. I did not take any photos of it.

We listened to old songs to: Moon Shadow, Sunshine On My Shoulders, Here Comes The Sun, You Are My Sunshine, Age of Aquarius, I Love The Flower Girl, It’s A Small Town Saturday Night… and about 1:06 p.m. we heard a little howling coming from somewhere near-by…

At about 1:08 p.m. the sun/moon was clouded over for the rest of the afternoon and we saw no more of the eclipse. We had a great time while it lasted.

Blue Jean Sunday

Image result for free clipart blue jeans Image result for free clip art three crosses

Blue Jean Sunday is the nick-name of an outreach event that happened at Emmaus Church, last Sunday, a very different Sunday morning for us all. We came prepared to participate in one of several groups: a prayer walk around the neighborhood, a clean-up crew for a near-by stream, a landscape crew at an elementary school, assistants for the senior center church service, a group to visit to the assisted living home residents across the street, a group to hand out fliers inviting neighbors to the free community meal at our church coming up soon (and monthly during the school year) or a group to stay back to prepare a luncheon so the congregants could return to reconnect and visit about their experiences.

After a brief service of communion and prayer each group went their way. I went to the assisted living home. The residents seemed hesitant to come and meet our group of eleven in the recreation room so we went and knocked on doors inviting them for donuts and coffee. That worked. Both men and women started coming out of their rooms, walking to the rec room and began opening up. When we left we had probably interacted with 15-20 residents.

These images come to mind when reflecting on my time at the home: Jerome playing Dominoes with a resident and then praying together after a couple of games, a high-schooler from our church (unable to connect with a resident from the home) connected with an elderly woman from our congregation who was a part of our group, three residents sitting in a row enjoying the donuts we brought along to share, the resident dog eating all the crumbs that fell from the donuts, a couple from church offering residents to pet their small dog they brought along, all this going on around me as myself and others were carrying on conversations with residents that were hanging around. There was a lot of commotion in that small recreation room, but somewhere along the way it all translated into joy.

The feedback at lunch from other’s experiences seemed positive too. I believe ideas are percolating in our pastor’s mind and we will be having more Blue Jean Sundays.

Vintage Bands and Meals

One of the smaller groups playing in the Vintage Band Festival.

The Vintage Band Festival came to Northfield so we went downtown to Bridge Square and listened to several of the bands play and entertain us. It was a wonderful Minnesota summer day with blue skies, low humidity and a cool breeze. We found a spot in the shade, set up our chairs, and had a delightful afternoon listening to good music.

A good turn out for the Vintage Band Festival.

Some people brought their own shade to the festival.

That evening, for dinner, we had a “vintage-style” meal. We dusted off our 1980’s bright yellow fondue pot, bought a can of sterno, cut up meat, and boiled chicken broth (a healthier alternative to the peanut oil we used to use). We questioned our good judgment since it had been a long time since we made fondue but the meal turned out well and we had a delightful evening, outside on the deck, enjoying a wonderful Minnesota summer evening.

A Tour of My Garden

A few flower photos from my yard, and a quote:

“Make a morning ritual of strolling through your garden. No weeding allowed – do it for the pure and simple joy of observation.” Jane Austin Miller

I am always excited when my favorite Stargazer lilies bloom.

Firefighters

On my way to work yesterday morning I drove past our town’s fire station and saw commotion, then heard the sirens go off. Often whenever I hear sirens tears start to well up in my eyes and I say a prayer for all involved in whatever is happening. I am grateful for the volunteer firefighters in our town who are willing to step into danger and rush to help.

February Heat Wave

It was 56 degrees when we went for a walk in St. Olaf’s grasslands on Saturday. The path was a little wet in places but it was great to be out in the open prairie. We sat on a bench for a while to soak up some sunshine. After our hike we went downtown and there were people out everywhere…enjoying this Minnesota winter heat wave. Most of the snow has melted because of several consecutive warm days, and the forecast calls for these temperatures to continue for a few more. Will winter return?

On these nice days I turn down the heat in the house and open windows to let the “sneezes” out! The fresh air smells so good.

I remember last year we had a couple of warm days and we went on a bike ride in February. Is this the new norm?

A Carnegie Library

The Northfield Public Library is a Carnegie library, built in 1910 with a most recent addition in 2016. A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929 – 1,689 in the United Sates – and one in my town.

I use our library often. I’ve been in a book club for several years now and rarely do I buy a book…I borrow it from the library. And when we go on road trips I borrow books on CD to listen as we speed down the freeway, or ramble on the back roads. And sometimes it’s nice to borrow movies instead of rent them.

Libraries often have inviting spaces to sit and read a book, magazine or newspaper, or relax and enjoy the quiet and/or write. But I don’t really take advantage of those spaces. It is too convenient for me to go on-line, order a book, movie or CD, have the librarians gather what I’ve ordered and notify me when it’s ready for pick up. What a great service. I walk right in to the holding shelf, self-check out, admire the lovely space, then leave. Someday I may just have to stay and enjoy.

I stopped by the library yesterday to pick up another book on tape…an old term I still use … it’s actually a book on CD. I am leaving on another road trip and look forward to listening to someone read to me as I drive along, passing the hours until I reach my destination.