Last Friday morning the moving van arrived in the driveway of our old house. The four movers packed up all our heavy furniture and moved it a mile south to our new house. It took about six hours. We set up the beds and slept in our new place for the first time Friday night, and slept well. It was an exhausting day.
7:30 am, Saturday, December 7, 2024.
We woke up to a beautiful sunrise Saturday morning, over the field and bluff out our back windows.
4:54 pm, Saturday December 7, 2024.
And saw the beautiful sunset that evening.
We’ve been unpacking for almost a week and we’re making progress.
There was a twist in plans this year, for an annual get away (this would be #36) with my friend Frances. During the past year, she and her husband moved to Vermont. We wondered, what will we do for our trip this year? Then, there was a fundraising auction and she won a bid for a beachfront condo.
Beachfront condo…
She asked if I wanted to join her on Fenwick Island, a coastal resort town in Delaware. Sure, I said, even though I had never heard of Fenwick Island. And then, we decided to include our husbands…that was the twist…that was new for us…and we had a delightful time.
The four of us…
The criteria for our get-aways include three things: some body of water to enjoy, thrift stores and/or antique shops to peruse, and gardens to meander. Would Fenwick Island meet these criteria?
The Atlantic Ocean
The condo was facing the Atlantic Ocean and we had lovely weather so we could walk along the beach and sit on the balcony… a wonderful fulfillment for our water requirement.
We had a fun time trying on matching shirts (which we did buy).
One day all four of us drove to a nearby, historic town with tree-lined streets, and quaint boutiques – we found sidewalk sales and ice cream. Another day we left the husbands behind, and sought out the thrift stores and antique shops we always enjoy. There is usually no problem finding these kinds of stores anywhere.
A landscape by Piet Oudolf, a Dutch garden designer.
The third requirement is all about gardens, and we found out the Delaware Botanical Garden was only a half an hour away! How convenient.
Could this be Nessie???
The four of us walked the trails, and in addition to lovely flowers, there were other surprises along the way.
This “nest” was created as an outdoor classroom at the botanical garden.
Apparently two volunteers at the botanical garden are clever at creating sculptures with natural materials from the forest floor. They were very creative, and fun to discover as we meandered through the grounds.
A turtle – a clever use of tree trunk slices for the turtle’s shell, with green moss in-between the spaces.
A snail…
A spider and its web…
Another blessing was seeing the nearly full moon (officially the following evening) over the Atlantic Ocean, the night before we left Fenwick Island.
Grasses and sand dunes, ocean, moon…
We could see its refection on the wet sand…so amazing.
Moon’s reflection on the sand.
Our criteria was met…we had a great time…with added blessings.
The term Second Summer is now being used instead of Indian Summer, which was the terminology I grew up with. Although the name Second Summer is preferred by the Native Americans, it doesn’t change the fact that is a great event to experience during autumn in Minnesota. According to Wikipedia, “A(n) Indian Summer Second Summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere.”
Sakatah Singing Hills Trail, November 12, 2023.
We had a beautiful, Second Summer Day over the weekend and decided to take our bikes out (which we thought were tucked away for the season) for another ride.
We went to Sakatah Singing Hills State Trail. It was delightful. We added an extra layer and felt warm enough as we cruised down the paved trail. It felt good to be out in the fresh air, soaking up some illusive sunshine. We’ve had many cloudy days lately.
Sakatah Lake. The 39 mile trail goes along several lakes.
The leaves are all off the trees and the scenery on the trail looks a bit different than during the summertime. You can see more of the lakes as you ride by, and you can see into the woods and the forest floor. There were several other folks on the trail this day.
After our ride we took a quick detour to an out-of-the-way boutique filled with Christmas crafts and decorations. It’s called, A Touch of Class. We walked around the stable-turned-boutique and got some fresh ideas for the upcoming Christmas season. I always wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating for Christmas, but it was a fun place to peruse, and get in the mood to decorate for the holidays.
4:56pm, November 12, 2023 (sunset was 4:48 pm)
As we drove home, the sky had a pretty glow as it was near sunset, which of course is very early these days, in Minnesota.
There is supposed to be a couple more Second Summer days in the coming week…maybe we’ll get out on the bike one more time?
We were in Florida last week, on the gulf side, close to Clearwater Beach. It was beautiful. Sunny… every day, temperatures in the 80’s…every day.
Sunset over Clearwater Beach.
We spent time near the water, and submerged ourselves in the water once. It felt wonderful. We walked along beaches and enjoyed the fine, white, sugar sand, and seeing the awesome shades of turquoise water, beautiful blue skies, shore birds, sea shells, sail boats. We “soaked” it all in…sun, waves, sea air, warm temps.
We didn’t know the name of these interesting shorebirds.
Usually when I am on the water’s edge I look for sea shells…(or rocks if I’m on Lake Superior’s rocky shore). I can’t help myself. As I walked along looking for shells I thought about a poem I wrote several years ago. I looked it up after we returned home and am sharing it below.
Shells found along the sea in Florida.
Along the Sea (2010)
Here I go again...
Walking along the beach,
Tides go out, tides come in,
I’m open to what it’ll teach.
Water rolling over the toes,
Sun sparkling across the sea,
The gentle sound of waves,
All soothes the core of me.
I walk along and sing psalms
As the pulsing waves repeat,
I feel a sense of calm
As my eyes draw to my feet.
I reach down for a token
From the bounty of the sea.
And check to see if it’s broken,
If so, I toss it back quickly.
I can’t resist, so I pick up more
Searching for one without mars,
Noting what likeness to people they bore,
Broken, wounded, with scars.
So, I start being less selective
And find new beauty in these...
My mind gently corrected
As I choose shells along the sea.
We walked along the Atlanta Ocean in January, and five weeks later we walked along the Pacific Ocean. We spent some time with our older son and his wife and two children on the California Coast. It was lovely, sunny, and in the 60-70’s. Here are some photos from our time there.
We grabbed a blanket, with coffee in hand, to watch the sunrise every morning.
Sunrise, our first morning.
We walked to the playground with an ocean view to let the grandchildren play.
The playground.
We would see dolphins swimming off shore, and picturesque sailboats sailing by.
A mosaic tile art piece mounted on a cement fence.
A lone sailboat.
A sailboat race.
We went on a sunset cruise and saw sea lions, and another beautiful sunset.
Lil’ Toot: our boat, and captain, for our sunset cruse.
Sea lions.
Sunset, our third evening, from Lil’ Toot.
My granddaughter and I made fresh lemonade from the lemons off a lemon tree.
Fresh lemons!
Beautiful Bird-of-Paradise in bloom.
Gary and I walked along the beach, in my fancy boot (for my injured foot)!
150 concrete steps down to the beach (and back up!)
The beach and rocky shoreline – low tide rising.
The waves.
We sat by the firepit and watched the sun set every night.
Sunset, our first evening.
Lingering light from a sunset.
Sunset, the second evening.
The colors of the sunset reflecting in the east.
We enjoyed our time together, and making memories.
And once again, it was hard to come back to Minnesota’s cold weather, but spring is coming.
We were on our way to visit our youngest son and his family in North Carolina. Another road trip…YAY.
As the daylight came to an end on the shortest day of 2021, we found ourselves in the southwestern region of West Virginia. It was very scenic, and we were going up, and over, and down the “lesser” mountains (of the Appalachian Mountains), like a roller coaster, with a lot of curves too.
The sun was setting and the conditions were just right for a gorgeous sunset…poofs of clouds, reflecting the sun, catching the rays, turning red.
It surrounded us, and it lingered for a several miles! It was magnificent. I felt I was on a Disney ride, driving through a sunset.
It was dark when we drove into Charleston, West Virginia where we stopped for the night. The next stop…grandchildren!
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.
Thursday morning…
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.
Friday early morning light. (6:52)
Then Friday’s early morning light filling the sky. (6:53)
Friday’s sunrise. (6:53)
Still Friday Morning… (7:36)
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.
Towards the western sky Wednesday evening…sunset silhouettes.
Saturday morning’s sunrise.
In a previous post I showed photos of the moonrise we sometimes see over the lake. We are grateful for those spectacular views too.
Sunday Morning Sunrise.
The sun on Sunday rising through the clouds…
“The heavens declare the glory of the Lord!”
Words cannot describe the feelings evoked witnessing the wonders of the sky.
Monday morning sunrise.
I’m grateful for the sun that rises faithfully every morning, and to see it rise over Lake Superior is a special treat!
We have always enjoyed buckling ourselves into our car seats and taking scenic drives, heading out of town on country roads. It’s fun to see the varied landscapes in our great state.
Photo taken last week, on the outskirts of Northfield.
When the pandemic took hold we started to take more frequent rides to get us out of the house.
Dramatic clouds over the corn field.
Last week we drove a short 20 miles loop around Northfield and were mesmerized by the sky. These dramatic photos were snapped when we quickly pulled over to the side of the road a couple of times.
The colors and lighting of these clouds are beautiful.
This particular evening we were on a road where you could see a whole lot of sky. The sky is always fun to watch. It has so many displays: blue with soft, white, fluffy clouds or clear blue with no clouds, and sometimes stormy skies with dark, angry clouds.
This is what the sky looked like when we left our house.
On our way back to town we saw this gorgeous sunset.
Evening of September 30, 2020.
I’m compelled to include the photo below, taken in July 2018 (pre-pandemic) on a drive west of Northfield. It was eerie. Soon after I took the photo it began to rain. Fortunately it was not a tornado.
