Scripture – Page 5 – Valerie's Voice

Garden Tour

There were six gardens to visit on Northfield’s garden tour so I donned a flower dress and took off to enjoy the beauty.

Two gardens were in public places but it was fun to get into the yards of four residents in Northfield. There were artists stationed at each place, which adds to the fun.

The garden is a simple rain water garden. Some of the artist’s works were displayed as he was painting another picture, and visiting with the guests.

The theme this year was water so there were a few water gardens. I learned you can apply for a grant from the city of Northfield to cover up to $250 if you plant a water garden in your yard.

I so enjoy flowers and am amazed at the beauty and uniqueness of each one. I like learning of new plants too.

It was hard to capture the enormity of this flower pot. When I asked for the name the gardener said the official name at the store was, “Big Pink Begonia”. I guess sometimes you just call it what it is! This size begonia was new to me.

Someone asked me if I got inspired while looking at the gardens and I said yes… but then I know it’s too hot this time of year to change my garden so I don’t do anything now.

Another new to me flower: a hanging begonia. The white blooming flowers draped over the pot.

But, I do tuck away ideas for next year…

The blue glass tulip shades from an old lamp was used as garden art mixed in with white hydrangea.

It was fun to see the sculptures people use as gardens art, as well as the visiting artist’s creative works.

The last home I visited on the tour was at the top of a high hill.

It’s hard to see the swing hanging from the tree near the gardens in this yard, but it’s easy to see the expansive view.

A watercolor artist was stationed in the screen porch of the house at this garden, so we could peak into the house to see a bit of it’s loveliness. I noticed dinner plates and crystal goblets on the dining table, gathered for what looked like an upcoming party.

I thought this was clever…two arborvitae woven together at the top to form an arch.

While meandering in the gardens the owner said they were having a garden party that evening since they already had spent a lot of time grooming and weeding and getting their gardens ready for the tour.

Beautiful gardens at this beautiful house on the hill where they were planning a lovely garden party.

They had lights wired in the garden and on the lovely patio with a water fountain. I’m sure it would look awesome at night. I wanted to stick around for the party!

Look, the winter is past,
    and the rains are over and gone.
¹²The flowers are springing up,
    the season of singing birds has come,
    and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. Song of Songs 2:11-12

Tulips

One day last week, in-between rain showers, I went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and the tulips were in bloom. The tulips were bright and colorful – oh so many colors! – and all delightful. I didn’t take enough photos.

In Matthew 6 it says “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

As I “tiptoed through the tulips” in the arboretum I thought about the beautiful bouquet of tulips I received just a few weeks prior…and how gorgeous the “non-descript” white tulips were also.

Such beauty, such wonder, such intricacies in one specific specie of flower…and there are so many different species! It’s truly amazing.

Happy Easter

Christ is Risen! He is risen, indeed!

Mark 10:14 “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Psalm 27 Valerie’s Version

Light, space, zest – that’s God! So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing.

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

When insecurities start to surface, when thoughts and comparisons attack me, I will turn them over to the Lord.

Though troubles rise up against me, my heart will not fear. He will change my name. My new name shall be Confidence.

One thing I ask of the Lord that is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the BEAUTY of the Lord and to seek him.

For in the days of difficulties he will keep me safe in his arms, he will call me Friend of God and lift me high upon a rock.

God holds my head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down.

My head will be exalted above the inner enemies and I will be called overcoming one. I will sing and make music to the Lord.

Hear my voice when I call, O Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.

Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.

You are a faithful God. The Lord will receive me and fill me with joyfulness.

Teach me your way, O Lord; lead me in a straight path. I acknowledge your wisdom.

Do not turn me over to my own understanding, for false lies rise up within me, breathing out untruths.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and he will change my name.

Wait for the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage and wait for the Lord.

Stay with God! Take heart, don’t quit and stay with God!

London is…home to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Another place I wanted to visit while in London was St. Paul’s Cathedral. We saw St. Paul’s from on high, from the Sky Garden. St. Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most famous sights in London. It has a long and rich history. The current cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was built in the 1700’s, but there has been a church on this sight since 604. St. Paul’s is England’s national church. After leaving the Sky Garden we walked towards this majestic building.

Outside the front entrance of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Little did we know it would be closed to tourists that day, however, “if we wanted to participate in an Ash Wednesday service we were invited to enter and join in”. Of course, we would love to participate in a service there, especially for Ash Wednesday!

It was a gift to worship in this magnificent cathedral. There were ongoing services held throughout the day with different leadership. Our sermon happened to be on The Light of the World, a painting by William Holman Hunt, which was hanging right in the cathedral so we were able to see it after the service.

“The Light of the World”, by William Holman Hunt.

There is a lot of symbolism in the painting, which was addressed in the sermon. And Rick Steves explains it this way: “In the dark of night, Jesus – with a lantern, halo, jeweled cape, and crown of thorns – approaches an out-of-the- way home in the woods, knocks on the door, and listens for an invitation to come in.”* It was inspired from Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”

It was meaningful…and remarkable…and memorable to experience one of Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpieces, and most famous churches, in this way…an authentic worship service.

*Rick Steves London, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving Day

Have a blessed Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends, and perhaps a stranger….

Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!
²    Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy.
³Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation. (Psalm 100)

Sunrise Over Lake Superior

Now that we are back home from our wonderful week on the north shore, I miss seeing the sunrise over the lake…but I can envision it. I have a morning routine when I am up at the cabin. The cabin’s large front windows face east, overlooking Lake Superior. I have checked the timetable to set my alarm accordingly so I don’t miss the sunrise over this big, beautiful lake.

My routine starts with “first light” about a half hour before the actual sunrise. I get up in time to make coffee, switch on the gas fireplace and open a window to heighten the sounds of the water lapping over the rocks. I rearrange a chair so I’m looking right where the sun will come up. I’ve watched it come up so many times over the years I know the spot where it will rise over the lake.

When coffee is done, I turn the lights back off. It’s dark but my eyes adjust and I can see the lake and the shore and the silhouettes of the few trees out front.

I settle in and watch the show. On this morning the sky is dark with a sliver of orange light on the horizon… it turns bright orange-red and slowly fades into sunrise colors by spreading out, and up, to the cloud bank.

Another morning, another sunrise! Clouds back lit by the rising sun…so pretty. (2018)

I watch with a heart full of gratitude as I wait for that moment when I first see the tip of the sun’s arc and then pop…just like that it’s up. And it’s amazing and it’s quick and it’s wonderful and I am thankful for eyes to see this spectacular daily occurrence that happens whether I am watching it or not.

The sun rising over a cloud on the horizon., 2018.

I sigh with contentment, to be up at the cabin on Lake Superior, ready for a new day.

“This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 NKJV)

I have hundreds of photos of of Lake Superior sunrises. Here are a couple from the last couple of years, including my all time favorite at the end.

2017: this looks amazingly similar to one taken in 2016.

My favorite Lake Superior sunrise photo taken in 2010.

“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.” (Psalm 96: 11 NIV)

Gray Skies and Huge Waves

Obviously it’s not always sunny on the north shore. We love it when the sun shines and the sky is autumn blue and the lake shimmers, but there are cloudy days too. We enjoy all kinds of weather on the north shore. We try not to let the weather stop us from doing what we like to do.

It’s really hard to “catch” the hugeness of the waves on my iPhone.

On this particular day the skies were gray, the lake full of whitecaps, and the waves were huge. The waves were so loud as they crashed over the rocky shore right outside our cabin windows. It’s exciting to witness the rough seas of Gitchi-Gami (Ojibwe for “the big lake”).

It’s fun to sit back and watch the tumultuous weather from inside the cozy, pine-sided cabin with the gas fireplace lit, looking out through large windows so close to the water’s edge, watching the drama of the waves unfold. The gulls are nowhere to be seen and the trees sway in the wind and the waves tumble to shore.

We’ve experienced a storm on Lake Superior only a couple of times and we’re happy to see it, but we’re glad to have the safety and comforts of the cabin.

Isaiah 25: 4 God, “You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat.”

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.

Fair Time

Even though I’m not much of a fair-goer (because of the crowds) we heard about the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna so we decided to check it out. When our sons were young we would go to the Dakota County fair – it was a nice size. And we did go to the Minnesota State Fair a couple of times for the experience of a big state fair.

Gold Star Amusements at the Steele County Free Fair.

The Steele County Free Fair was a nice size too. We watched youngsters enjoying the rides in the amusement park. We meandered through the indoor arenas where exhibitors set up booths. We ate some “fair food” from the many food concessions stands. We walked through 4-H and fine arts buildings, animal barns, produce exhibits and flower displays.

Red Kanagaroos. There are 50 species of Kangaroos.

As we walked around looking at the animals I kept thinking it’s a very good idea for folks, especially town folks (like me), to see the animals and be reminded of how creative God is…There are so many different types of animals, each one unique and amazing in its own way.

That applies to flowers too. I love flowers. Flowers can be so intricate and delicate and there are so many varieties.

And vegetables…so many different vegetables.

We didn’t get to see everything at the Steele County Free Fair but we saw enough to want to go back next year…and maybe we’ll go to a zoo in-between time to see the long necks on the giraffe, the pouches on a kangaroo, a llama’s big bulging eyes with long eye lashes, a pig’s snout, a bird’s feathers, fishes scales…o my.

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! Genesis 1:31 (NLT)