Northfield – Page 9 – Valerie's Voice

Fairy Gardens

Two cute hedge hogs reading….I think they are my favorites in this fairy garden.

There is a wonderful, rather large, fairy garden along St. Olaf Avenue. On the property there is a large older home, under renovation with scaffolding outside, which detracts a little bit from its elegance…for now. There is a large garage that may have once been a carriage house, and a big yard. The yard has been turned into a garden and it is full of seasonal blooming flowers… I’d like to learn the history of the whole place.

A birdie reading while sitting on the elephant’s trunk.

It is a fun place to walk by and take in all there is to see on this one plot of land along St. Olaf Avenue. I walked by this spring and, although the colorful landscape of spring flowers was wonderful, I really enjoyed seeing is the sweet fairy garden, right along the sidewalk. It is full of miniature animals and most are reading a book.

The squirrel is busy carrying books while the cat is resting.

The first time I walked by the house, the owner was out in the yard. I asked him if I could take photos of the fairy garden. He said yes and told me his wife is a librarian, so that’s the why the fairy garden has a reading theme.

There is a lot in the miniature garden…flowers, mushrooms, rocks to make a pond, tiny ladders to a loft area, many different animals reading books, miniature plants. There is even a miniature “Free Little Library”. It is quite enchanting.

A bunny sitting on the edge of a book, reading.

This miniature frog is practicing yoga. Note the stones with the words love, peace and tranquillity written on them. And I like the blue gazing ball.

A couple years ago I wrote a blog posting about my ONE little fairy that I hid in my flowers one year. And then it went missing. Over a year later my husband was trimming a tree and found the fairy up in the crook of the tree. Apparently a squirrel carried it so far and then gave up on it, and abandoned it. When my husband found the fairy he brought it into the house and set it on the counter. I was so surprised to see it. We laughed and decided the only possible explanation was a squirrel’s folly. But now, my one little fairy is now back, hidden in my garden.

Behind the fairy garden are a few other larger garden figures. This is a cat with glasses, reading.

Another large figure behind the fairy garden…a frog sipping tea and reading.

Children of God Storybook Bible

A couple years ago I bought Children of God Storybook Bible at the annual Hospital Auxiliary book sale in Northfield. The two-piece set included a book that was beautifully illustrated, plus the complete book on two Audio CD’s. I also liked the fact that Jesus was not “white”, a feature I look for in picture book Bibles.

This set sat on our bookshelf for a year or two. When preparing for our son’s move to Colorado, I went through our bookshelves to pass along some books and rediscovered this set. I looked it over and decided to listen to the CD’s on our drive out West. I would be driving alone in our car, the last vehicle in our three-vehicle caravan. It was a great way to start each day.

The author of this children’s Bible is the Nobel Peace Prize Winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. Desmond Tutu also narrated his book on the CD’s. It was wonderful to hear his voice reading his beloved stories. I felt the love of God through his words, and could only image his simple stories appealing to children all the while bringing the good news about God’s love. And, each story ends with a simple question. I was really impressed.

I left the wonderfully illustrated book in Colorado with our grandchildren, but I brought the CD’s home with me.

A partial quote about the author off the information sheet in the set reads: “Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his lifelong struggle to bring equality, justice, and peace to his native country of South Africa. In 1986, he was elected Archbishop of Cape Town the highest position in the Anglican Church in South Africa…… He is known for his great love for children, as well as his powerful and profound understanding of the message of Jesus Christ…….”

The book was published in 2010.

Northfield’s 20th Annual Winter Walk

We attended the 20^th annual Winter Walk in Northfield last night. The downtown is festive: all lit up with white lights and Christmas decorations, different groups of carolers singing, and stores offering sweet treats.

One of the decorated trees downtown Northfield. Photo taken right before sunset.

We received a special invitation to stop in at a business in town, which is where we always start our walk, after tasting some wonderful morsels.

Beautiful and creative special invitation for a Winter Walk event.

Next we visited Content bookstore, then checked out two new stores downtown before heading to the old Model Train exhibits, set up in our library at the end of Division Street.

We strolled back towards Bridge Square, along the closed-off street, full of cheerful folks meandering, a horse-drawn carriage, fire pits, and different music groups. We stopped at a couple other favorite stores: The Rare Pair and an antique store. They were packed with people. Depending on the weather the stores can get very crowded. It was chilly and the stores were full.

Bridge Square during Winter Walk, Northfield.

When we first arrived downtown we caught the beginning of a parade. This is a first for Northfield’s Winter Walk. For me it was too chilly to stand out to watch it go by, but we did see a couple of the entries while walking to our first stop. I enjoyed seeing the tractor decorated in Christmas lights, then we dashed inside.

The lighted tractor to begin the parade at Northfield’s Winter Walk.

Last weekend we planned to go to Faribault’s Winterfest Parade of Lights, including fireworks, but it got postponed due to weather. How ironic, the Winterfest, postponed by winter weather. HA.

That parade has been rescheduled for December 14^th so hopefully it will be “warm” enough to bring our newly arrived grand-children from Africa to see it. “O, what fun…”

The St. Olaf Christmas Festival

The 2018 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Good News of Great Joy, was performed over the weekend, and we were in attendance for one of the productions. It has become a tradition for us, and ushers in our Christmas season.

The program for 2018 St. Olaf Christmas Festival.

I smile when I think of my first year working as the Christmas Festival ticket coordinator several years ago. Many people told me that same thing, “the St. Olaf Christmas Festival is a tradition to begin their Christmas season”. If something would go wrong in securing their tickets they would get feisty. It’s as though Christmas would not happen if they did not get their tickets to the Festival to start the season!

Years later, I understand the reason behind their thinking. It is a fabulous event and the timing is wonderful…after Thanksgiving and before Advent. I love going to it each year, and it does start our Christmas season out right (but I also remember the reason for the season and it’s not the Christmas Festival.)

Beautiful Christmas ornaments adorn the trees in the student center.

Music was the theme for the decorated Christmas trees in Buntrock Commons (the student center) with fun ribbon, musical instrument ornaments and more. There were four, gorgeous trees flanking the fireplace creating a festive atmosphere for people gathering in the commons area. They are set up and trimmed for the students, faculty, staff, and visitors to enjoy.

I love this musical note ribbon intertwined in the trees.

The set design for the St. Olaf Christmas Festival in the auditorium was beautiful. Wide swaths of fabric criss-crossed the back of the stage and a lighting crew would somehow change the colors on the fabrics during the concert.

The orchestra warming up before the performance. The backdrop for the performance changed colors as different lighting worked its wonders.

This year’s music selection was wonderful and the five choirs and orchestra sang and played their hearts out for two hours, leaving the audience in awe of another amazing performance from the students. A few scripture verses are always read, making it feel more like a service than a concert.

Decorations on the Christmas Trees in Buntrock Commons.

I love and cherish the traditional ending song, Beautiful Savior, and it always brings tears to my eyes.

Even though I am no longer an employee of St. Olaf College, I think I will always feel a part of the Christmas Festival. It is near and dear to my heart and I am grateful to be able to attend this event and begin our Christmas season with fine music, carols and songs of praise. It is a special gift.

Big, Beautiful Birds

They are a sight to see. They come by the hundreds this time of year. They fly overhead about same time each day. If I had to plan an event around their appearance it would be somewhere between 4 and 6 pm. They are loud…so loud that I can hear them honking as they fly overhead even when I’m in my house with the windows closed. When I’m outside, I can also hear the flapping of their wings. It’s a wonderful sound.

They are Canadian Geese. They are beautiful to see in the air and on the water. However, if they are on land, in the yard, or on sidewalks they will leave a horrible mess behind. But at Pond Three, the blacktop path is clear and the hundreds of Canadian Geese land and stay on the water.

Photo taken one fall day of Pond Three, 2018.

Our neighborhood has three ponds (I have affectionately named Pond One, Pond Two and Pond Three) with a walking path around them. A few geese hang out in the ponds all year…in the spring it’s fun to watch the goslings as they swim across the water all lined up in a row, in-between mom and dad.

Ten little goslings all in a row. Photo taken in May, 2018.

The adults can be very protective of their offspring and hiss loudly if you get too close when they are out of the water and on the edge of the pond. It can be a bit intimidating having very large birds walk toward you hissing.

While on a walk last spring I came upon a women using a cane. I smiled and said hi as I passed her by. Soon after, I came upon two adult geese with their young on the edge of the path. As two adult birds started hissing and walking towards me I stopped to wait for my new path companion so we could walk by the geese together using her cane to wave in front of us for a little protection.

Photo taken earlier this fall on Pond Two.

Last evening the rising, full moon was huge as we walked around Pond Three. It was stunning. The pond was already full of geese but more geese kept coming, flying over our heads and landing in the pond…their silhouette in the dusk-colored sky was breathtaking. We stopped in awe for several minutes just to watch the magnificent sight. (I didn’t have my iPhone along for a photo,)

My husband asked the question…do the geese stop at Pond Three because it has open water, or does Pond Three have open water because it attracts hundreds of geese? I don’t know the answer but I do know they are beautiful and strong and noisy…we wondered if they make noise all night long?

Soon the Canadian Geese will be on their way again, flying to southern parts of the United States. They do seem to enjoy this stopover in Northfield and I’m glad.

Passover and FiftyNorth

Last spring, we took a three week road trip to the east coast. One stop was in Washington DC to visit neighbors that used to live next door to us in Northfield. We happen to be in DC during Passover, and they happen to be Jewish, so they invited us to stay in their home and to partake in the Passover meal with them, along with five other people from their synagogue. We were delighted, and excited, to sit down and experience this Seder meal with our Jewish friends.

The cherry blossoms were in bloom in Washington DC.

We were offered Kippahs (caps) to wear, and spent the next five hours at the dinner table with our friends and five wonderful folks we had never met. We ate large amounts of food – most with symbolism attached. We read through prayers and texts, and sang songs that go along with the story of Passover in the Torah (and Old Testament). We enjoyed sweet fellowship while participating in a completely different religious experience than our own. It was wonderful.

Two friends participating in the Passover meal.

So, when the newsletter for FiftyNorth (previously Northfield Retirement Center) came out with its November offerings, one class in particular caught my attention: Jewish Holidays: Backgrounds and Traditions. Stacy Beckwith, a Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and the Director of the Judaic Studies Program at Carleton College presented it. The class filled, with 25 people attending. The course was a general overview, and well done.

One of the slides from presentation… a picture of a Haggadah from the 14th century. Haggadah is the text book for the Seder meal.

This is the Haggadah we used at our friend’s house.

Another slide from her presentation showing a Seder plate for six symbolic foods.

Our hostess compiled a Seder plate – 6 symbolic foods which include shank bone of lamb, egg, vegetables, two types of bitter herbs and a sweet paste called haroset.

I have attended classes at FiftyNorth but was surprised when I drove into the parking lot for my class on a weekday afternoon, that the main parking lot was full. When I entered the FiftyNorth lobby it, too, was full of people, and there was a rather long line to check-in for all the different activities going on in the center.

FiftyNorth is a very vibrant place for Northfield seniors (seniors defined as age 50 and older, and North as in north – or in, higher than, age 50). It has a lot to offer including informational and fitness classes, a pool, workout equipment, rooms for bridge players or ping pong tournaments etc. In the lobby coffee is always available and tables are set up for puzzles, reading the newspaper, or just visiting. It is stimulating and invigorating place and a real gem for our small town, Northfield.

I was pleased to be in the bustling center this week, learning about Jewish traditions. I was among many others…there for so many different reasons. And that is a good thing.

Severe Storms, Beautiful Concert

A few days ago a storm passed through Southeastern Minnesota, near our town…or should I say through our town. There were straight-line winds that may have been a tornado, but not confirmed as of yet. There were other tornado touchdowns in towns near-by.

Thousands of branches blocking sidewalks, roads and driveways.

It wreaked havoc as though it was a tornado. Thankfully our house, and trees survived. We had a lot of debris in our yard, several branches from our neighbor’s trees, and two large branches from our own back yard that had to be sawed off.

A neighbor’s tree fell over the driveway…not on the house thankfully.

When the winds came up that night I could tell it was different than any other storm I’ve experienced. We went to our lower level when the sirens went off.

In a very few minutes a lot of trees were uprooted, snapped in half and fallen over creating one big mess. Several farm buildings were either flattened or significantly damaged within one or two miles from our house. Thankfully no lives were lost.

On our way to friends…a farm in ruins. Notice the the Harvestore silo blown over.

During the next two days we cleaned up our yard and offered help to others who had severe damage to their properties.

Saturday evening we were tired but I decided I still wanted to go to the St. Olaf Orchestra Homecoming concert and I was glad I did. It was energizing.

Classes at St. Olaf started a couple weeks ago so that meant the students had only two weeks to prepare and practice for this concert. We all sat in awe after the conductor reminded us of that, because the pieces were difficult and the orchestra sounded really good.

Of course, the beloved conductor, who has been at St. Olaf for many years, has a lot to do with the success. He’s kind, fun, and animated. You can tell he’s enjoying his job very much and you know you’ll hear a good concert if he’s conducting.

When the concert was over I walked out into a clear, night sky with an almost full moon (9/25). What a striking and beautiful culmination to a tough couple of days in the after math of severe storms. I was blessed.

Goodsell Observatory

Several things have to fall into place in order to be able to look through the special telescopes from the 1800’s at Carleton College.

First, it has to be an open house night…

Second, there has to be clear skies…

Third, it has to be warm enough so the dome panels will not freeze shut (we went one time last winter but the panels were frozen shut.)

Fourth, you have to be available.

All this came together for us and we went to Carleton College’s Goodsell Observatory and looked up into sky to see some stunning views of Saturn and Jupiter.

The beautiful entrance to the observatory.

We arrived in time to see them set the larger telescope in place. It‘s the 16.2″ Brashear Refractor, a 22 foot long telescope mounted in the main dome of the observatory. It was the 12th largest telescope in the world when it was built in 1890. It remained the largest telescope in Minnesota until 1969.*

It was focused on Saturn. We took turns climbing a ladder to reach the scope to look at Saturn with the 250 magnification telescope.

The 16.2″ Brashear Refractor is 22 feet long. A panel in the dome was opened.

After that amazing experience we said if we could view another planet it would be fun to see Jupiter.

We continued looking at displays in the building and talked with a young, Carleton alum there to answer questions and enthusiastically share information from his vast knowledge of astronomy.

We noticed an arrow pointing upstairs to another room with a different telescope from the 1800’s. This telescope just happened to be pointing to…yep…Jupiter. This was a “8 ¼” Clark Refractor” and it was the top of line telescope when it was first installed in 1877. It occupies the smaller dome in the observatory.*

So up the stairs we went to look through the telescope focused on Jupiter. I noticed three “stars” near the planet but the professor immediately corrected me and told us it was three of Jupiter’s four moons. I didn’t remember Jupiter had four moons. They are named Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Fantastic.

Outside there were two modern telescopes set up. One was focused on Saturn and the other on a Globular Cluster – densely packed collections of stars.

What a wonderful gift Carleton College offers to the community…to see the heavens in all their glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4a

*information off Carelton College’s website.

The Defeat of Jesse James Days

The Defeat of Jesse James Days (DJJD) is Northfield’s community celebration, and is always the weekend after Labor Day. This year the weather was ideal; bright sunny skies, low humidity with temperatures in the 70’s. Perfect.

Over the weekend there are several re-enactments of the bank raid that happened in 1876. This failed attempt at robbing the First National Bank in Northfield is credited for the demise of the James-Younger Gang. Three of their gang members were killed (and two Northfield citizens) that day in the shoot-out, while the other gang members separated which put an end to their criminal careers.

A “de-feet” of Jesse James donut, made each year at Northfield’s downtown bakery. I chose this over the mini-donuts I usually buy.

DJJD offers carnival rides, a lot of food trucks, craft fairs, organized runs, walks and bicycle rides, a community parade, and a rodeo comes to town. This year I decided to go to the rodeo. It had been several years since I attended the rodeo and it was fun.

Very interesting watching the riders on the bucking bulls.

The emcee, with a southern drawl, was engaging (and opened the rodeo with a prayer). He bantered with the clown who was so much more than a clown. This “clown” danced to several (25?) different, consecutive music clips. I was exhausted just watching him move. He had the footwork down and he could dance! He was amazing to watch.

In addition there was bull riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, calf tying, barrel racing, and mutton busting – where children sit on the back of a sheep and hang on as long as they can, which is usually a second or maybe two. One sheep, with a child on it’s back, came out of the gate, plopped down on the ground and wouldn’t get up. It was funny and we laughed. Poor kiddo.

Sheep used for Mutton Busting. Notice the field used for the boot race…kids running in their socks.

Another event involved kids, ages eight and under, who were wearing cowboy boots. They were invited out to the middle of the arena and asked to take off one boot, put it in a pile then walk to the other end of the field. When all the kids were all down at one end a signal went off, they raced to the pile of boots, found their own boot, put it on, and ran back. It was comical.

IMG_4863

Click on the above link for a 4-second video clip of a cowboy riding the bull.

It was a lovely evening to sit outside and be entertained at the rodeo. There was action, variety and lots of laughter. It’s always good to laugh.

Prague Castle

Prague is home to one of the largest castles in Europe and we went to see it along with hundreds of other tourists. We took the tram to the top of the hill…most castles are on a hill because they are fortresses. We arrived, along with many others, and took our turn “oohing and aahing” over the hugeness of it. It dates back to the 9^th century.

What impressed me the most were the cathedral, the vistas, and the tiny houses.

Another side of the St. Vitus Cathedral…to get a flavor of the Gothic architecture and the hugeness of the cathedral.

On the castle grounds is the Gothic style St. Vitus Cathedral. There was an earlier church on this site in 952 but this cathedral’s construction began in 1344 and was not completed until 1929. Even today, the Cathedral is steadily being restored. It has two tall spires, 270’ high, and is very impressive. It has spectacular stained-glass windows, and one amazing window painted to look like a stained-glass window and it’s hard to tell the difference. There is so much history and opulence inside these cathedral walls.

One of the stain-glassed windows of St. Vitus.

Inside St. Vitus…note people in foreground of photo to get perspective of how big this cathedral is.

There were great views of the picturesque city of Prague from the castle on the hill. Prague is a beautiful city with the Vltava River running through it and diverse, beautiful architecture everywhere, complete with burnt-orange clay tiled roofs.

And then there is Golden Lane.

Golden Lane is a row of tiny houses built into the castle wall. It was a medieval merchant street and it captured my interest. The houses, I’m guessing, were approximately 8′ X 10′.

In 1484 a fortification of the north wall of the castle formed some kind of vaults that were used to house “lesser goldsmiths” until the revamping of the wall in 1591-94 when repairs were made to the vaults. In 1597 artillery men at the gate of Prague Castle asked permission to build little houses within the newly repaired walls which would take up only the depth of the original niches (vaults). The King agreed, however, the dwellings were not given to the men, they had to build them at their own expense. The houses were occupied until WWII, when the government bought them and now are a part of the history of the castle.

Even though the lane was overcrowded with tourists, it was quaint and fun to see these tiny houses that were built so long ago (and I thought the concept of tiny houses was a new one.)

One house on Golden Lane – you can walk in a few feet and look through plexiglass to get an idea of how the tiny houses were arranged inside.

What I find amusing is that we were surrounded by the opulence and magnificence of the castle and I was intrigued by one row of tiny houses built into the castle wall.

Seeing the grand castle and the tiny houses made my own modest home back in Minnesota feel “just right.”