Spring – Page 2 – Valerie's Voice

A Wildflower Walk

Hidden Falls in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Years ago my friend and I went on several wildflower walks with a naturalist and learned the names of wildflowers. I still recognize many of the flowers, and remember some of names, but have forgotten many too. None-the-less, I love walking through the woods, looking at the spring wildflowers.

I qualify these walks as walks, not hikes, because it’s a slow, meandering pace. On this day, I took a lot of photos of the flowers in hopes of identifying the ones I didn’t remember, from my books at home. I think I identified most of these correctly. It was definitely a fun exercise.

One of the flowers I’m always thrilled to see is the dwarf trout lily. I know a spot where one, yes – one, blooms and I look for it every year. Sometimes I miss seeing it in bloom, but I didn’t miss out this year. Dwarf trout lilies only bloom in three counties of Minnesota, and no where else on earth. That’s fascinating to me.

The dwarf trout lily…kind of hidden in this photo…bottom third, left of center…tiny bloom.

Putting my finger near the dwarf trout lily bloom, for perspective.

However, the white trout lily is prolific…and carpets the ground many places throughout the park.

The white trout lilies one of two wildflowers that was a ground cover in this park

My all time favorite wildflower is Spring Beauty. I love the delicate pink flowers.

Some wildflower names seem sensible, others are odd and not very “flowery’…There is one called bloodroot, but I didn’t see it…I believe it’s done blooming.

According to lists from the park office there are many wildflowers in the park that, of course, bloom in different seasons. I have always focused on spring flowers.

“There is poetry among the wildflowers.” (Rachel Irene Stevenson) I enjoyed the poetry of the wildflowers this day.

The may apple bud..underneath the foliage…this is ready to bloom into a white flower. You have to look underneath the leaves to find the bloom.

A carpet of rue anemone covered several areas of the ground in the park.

Another quote: “Wildflowers aren’t meant to be cut & tamed. They’re meant to be loved & admired.” (Anthony T. Hincks) I do love and admire the wildflowers.

Nerstrand Big Woods State Park is a wonderful place to look for wildflowers. I believe it’s one of the best parks, near Northfield, to see so many spring wildflowers in bloom. It sure showed off it’s finery the day I went for a wildflower walk there.

Spring = Hope

What season is it anyway? Our yard, raked clean last fall, is once again full of leaves. The snow has finally melted but it has exposed more leaves and the winds of March have blown them into our yard…as is the case in the fall. For some reason our corner lot is a collection site for the neighborhood leaves.

Daffodils are cheery and bright! These are along the path I walk in our neighborhood. (2017)

Spring in Minnesota is always welcome because our winters are long. No traces of snow or ice, longer days with sunshine and warmer temperatures are delicious, but it is not a pretty time of year in Minnesota. I wouldn’t want to show off Minnesota in the spring.

Bright red tulips on St. Olaf College campus. (2017)

True, there are the spring flowers which I love. Multi-colored tulips, white, yellow or purple crocuses, perky yellow or white daffodils and purple hyacinths, all popping up out of the ground. They add fuel for us to get past the mud and sand and brown grass and leafless trees, to summer.

Wildflower in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park. (2017)

But the wind…the wind is not a friend. It’s hard to walk. It’s hard to bike. It’s brings in cold air. It changes the temperatures back to wind chills. It blows dirt and grime and garbage and leaves all over. It is not a pretty site.

An array of tulips in the front yard of a house on St. Olaf Avenue in Northfield. (2019)

So I need to focus on the positives of springtime. My birthday is in the spring. I always like saying my birthday is the first day of spring (because it is.) Easter, one of my favorite holidays, is always in the spring. Spring does not have the bugs of summer and in the spring, we can start to discard our jackets. It doesn’t “hurt” to go outside (as a friend likes to say) and you don’t have to put on all kinds of outdoor gear. The air is fresh and we can open the windows of our houses and let the stale air and winter sneezes out. Tress start budding. Spring is a hopeful time, and a time to dream of summer days and nights. I guess that is the best part of spring: Hope.

March to March

The end of March is looming. Spring is here. People are getting vaccinated and venturing out. We’ve been cooped up, and staying close to home this past year, as Covid-19 hovered and infiltrated our life styles and wreaked havoc. But hope is definitely in the air as we move forward.

I’m grateful that my husband and I, and our son’s and their families, did not get sick with Covid, but the year was a tough one with masking up and social distancing.

Now that we are at the end of March and the pandemic has been around for a year, I was wondering what to write as a recap of my “designated year of March to March” for my annual blog-to-print book. Then, over the weekend we went on a hike in a new-to-us state park and I thought that would be fitting… to talk about hiking/walking this past year.

Walking was a consistent activity that I engaged in this past year, almost daily. I could probably count on my fingers the few days I missed. It was my goal, my outlet, my exercise, to get outside and walk every day (some days had to be an indoor walk). Gary often joined me, but he also rode his bike a lot more (2600 miles total last year). But I kept on walking… We also walked with another couple, two to three times a week, and that regular contact made a big difference for all of us. It kept our sanity; we like to say.

Many times we hiked in parks and through the woods. Gary and I discovered John Latsch State Park as we were driving along the Mississippi River on a bright, sunny day in late-March. I noticed the typical brown state park sign. As we passed by it on our way to Winona, I did a quick Google search on the park. The only thing the park offered was one hike, but that hike was a unique one, climbing up a beautiful bluff along the river. It told of the fantastic view from the top, and… that the hike was all stairs!

From the top: looking south at Lock & Dam #5 as a train rumbles by.

That sounded interesting. We know enough to know that would not be an easy hike (up or down) but we decided to go for it. We hadn’t walked our daily walk so we turned off into the parking lot to John Latsch State Park. We donned our hiking shoes, hat, and poles so we were ready. As I climbed 600 steps (unofficial count by a co-hiker) I thought this would be an appropriate marker for the end of the one year of pandemic…to be discovering a new state park and hiking in it.

At the top: looking north…Gary near the edge.

At the top of the limestone bluff called Charity along the Mississippi River.

We climbed up and up…the wooden stairs were wide, and sometimes slanted at an angle, and one or two were wobbly. There was a railing for parts of the trail but I’m glad we had our hiking poles with us. We took our time and made it to the top of “Charity” the name of this particular bluff…named by steamboat captains. There are three large, limestone bluffs aside each other, along the river, and steamboat captains nicknamed them Charity, Hope and Faith and used them for navigational purposes. Great names indeed.

After taking photos at the top there was a short loop trail that we hiked before descending down the steps. It was good “step exercise” and we were happy to have succeeded to make it to the top and back down again.

A railing was in place for parts of the “trail”.

My hope is that we’ve made it to the top of the Covid-19 pandemic peak, and we’re on our way down…to the end of it.

Snippets from this Past Week

Here are a few photos depicting life these days…

This scene captured my heart…I feel it shows the essence of this pandemic…isolation. This young man sitting alone under the tree…contemplating these crazy times I’m sure.

Our online church services, including taking communion at home.

Learning to use new technologies…Zoom became a popular connection tool. These are my wonderful bookclub friends meeting on Zoom. We use Zoom to connect with our two sons and their families too.

Sadly, this fresh milk is going down the drain on my sister-in-law’s dairy farm in Pennsylvania. Evidently there is an over supply of milk due to the massive closings of schools and restaurants. Photo by sh

Picnic areas, playgrounds, and gathering spaces fenced off.

Cool Blue and his babe Lil’ Oaty sit on our deck railing watching children walk by on the sidewalk that leads to walking paths and ponds in our neighborhood. The Teddy Bear movement is making a bear or stuffed animal visible for children to hunt for while going for a walk.

Signs of spring and hope!…daffodils recently seen on my daily walk.

…and some bright color crocus’ too.
Photo by ba

Be still and know that I am God.     Psalm 46:10

A New Grandson is Here!

“A baby is God’s opinion that life should go on.” Carl Sandburg

Our son and his wife had their baby boy yesterday and everyone is healthy and doing fine. This is good news!

The spring equinox was at 10:59pm on March 19 but some places were still calling March 20 as the first day of spring but I still think our newest grandson gets to have the honor of being born the first day of spring in 2020.

His name Luca means “bringer of light” and it seems so appropriate during these difficult days. He is 8 lb 3 oz and 20.5 inches long.

We are so excited to welcome Luca Abram to our family. What joy!

Spring is Here!

I’m used to celebrating spring on March 20 so I was surprised to learn that today, March 19, 2020, is the first day of spring this year. The spring equinox begins tonight at 10:49 pm.

The COVID-19 pandemic is on all of our minds these days…the uncertainty of it and the bigger picture of the fallout…is scary. I will not be posting much about it…it’s too overwhelming…but I am grateful for my faith to see me through.

The clouds have been particularly beautiful and unusual in the past two weeks and I’ve captured a few photos.

Psalm 147: 7 & 8
Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
    make music to our God on the harp.
He covers the sky with clouds;
    he supplies the earth with rain
    and makes grass grow on the hills.

Here’s to spring! May it lift our spirits a bit during these difficult days.

Minnesota Twins

I’m not really a sports fan. I will watch an occasional football game and we always watch the Superbowl game but rarely will I watch baseball or basketball on TV, unless they are play-off games…those games can be exciting. But we had an opportunity to go to the Minnesota Twins baseball game over the weekend, and it was fun. It seems the Minnesota Twins team is headed towards the play-offs this year. They are playing really well.

Go Twins!!!

The tickets were free and the seats were good…in the shaded, lower section, first-base side of the field. The weather was fabulous! A beautiful Spring day and a super day to be outside. A great day to watch an outdoor baseball game in Minnesota. .

So off we went to, apparently, a sell-out crowd at Target Field. It took a long time to get through security check and into the stadium. We were outside the gates before the game began but missed the first inning because of the long lines to get in, and get through security. That was surprising.

The Twins played the Chicago White Sox and won! The score was 7-0 and there were two homeruns. It was fun to watch the game and even more fun to watch the people.

But one of the best parts for me was holding a two-month old baby! The little one was part of family we knew sitting in seats in front of us. I offered to hold the baby and was able to, for a good amount of time. I think I might have enjoyed that most of all.

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.

Thirty Years

My friend and I celebrated our 30^thannual “girls get-away” this week. We were more like girls when we took our first trip together in 1989, to Seattle. We didn’t know then that this tradition would continue thirty years, without missing a year.

A rabbit sculpture on a river walk along the Mississippi.

She lives in Indiana, I live in Minnesota and at least once a year we get together to catch up on life. We always have a great time; we share stories of our sons (and now grandchildren) and bring each other up to date on our lives, while shopping thrift stores and antique shops, strolling along a river (or being near some type of water), and visiting botanical gardens and/or garden centers. Those activities make up our criteria for where we meet.

A wonderful flower pot in a store front.

We met 37 years ago at church during greeting time (she lived in Minnesota at that time.) I had an infant and she was pregnant with her first child. After her son was born I offered to bring her lunch. I brought tuna fish sandwiches in a brown paper bag! But, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. On almost every trip someone asks if we are sisters…and we have begun to say yes.

May 2019. The Mississippi is to the left.

We were near the Mississippi River this year and the spring greens and blooming trees were spectacular.

A train rolling on tracks along the Mississippi River.

Out the window of a restaurant where we ate dinner one evening.

My attempt to capture the beauty and perspective of this sweeping view of southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

We enjoyed sitting on a bench along the river at twilight…this robin stayed with us, first on the ground and then in the tree.

Mia: Art in Bloom

During the wet snowstorm last week I braved the elements and went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (Mia) for their Art in Bloom exhibit.

This was my first time to see this annual event of floral artistry. I think it works like this: a floral artist submits an idea using flowers and greenery that depicts different pieces of artwork…either sculpture, ceramics or paintings.

When awarded, the artist starts creating their floral masterpiece which is then set next to the artwork. A plaque conveys the artists name and how many times they have participated in this event.