The weekend snowstorm brought fresh snow, and enough of it to make it decent for cross-county skiing.
We went out skiing the day before the snowfall and it was icy, cold and cloudy.
A fork in the trail.
We went out a day after the snowstorm and it was sunny, warm (relatively), and good skiing conditions.
A well-groomed trail.
We’ve been going to Riverbend Nature Center to cross-country ski. It is a nice park, close to home. The trails are well groomed and there are a lot of trails – both flat and hilly.
Looking out over the horizon.
We stop every once in awhile to look at the horizon and listen to the silence. These are peaceful stops.
Recently this quote caught my attention, from the book, Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple.
“When your eyes are softly focused on the horizon for sustained periods, your brain releases endorphins. It’s the same as a runner’s high. These days, we all spend our lives staring at screens twelve inches in front of us….”
Another horizon at Riverbend.
Taking pictures while skiing requires a different kind of stop. It more complicated than a listening/peaceful stop. You have to stop, unstrap your ski poles, take off your gloves, get the camera ready, and shoot. Then put the camera away, put your gloves back on and poles back in place and continue skiing, all the while hoping you don’t drop the camera in the snow. It slows us down and that is another reason I don’t take many photos while skiing.
I am always attracted to tree lined paths or streets.
On cloudy days it’s easier to get better photos because I can see the screen. On sunny days I cannot see the screen on my camera so I just point and shoot and hope for the best.
Ornamental sumac pods hang on and stand tall in the winter landscape.
Cross-country skiing helps us enjoy the great Minnesota outdoors for fresh air and exercise in the winter. Our stops along the trail to look out over the horizon seems to be an added benefit.
We were able to get out cross-country skiing at the Carleton Arboretum a couple of times this past week. It is one positive for all the snow that has fallen this winter.
Through the woods…
The white, pristine snow blankets the ground and frosts the brown tree trunks. Water flows through open spaces in the river, the trail recently groomed for skiing, and the temperatures reasonable, even nice, to be able to be outside and enjoy this tough Minnesota winter.
Open water on the river that runs through the arboretum.
Yesterday gentle snowflakes fell during our time on the trail. Quiet beauty surrounded us. It was peaceful. It is always peaceful at the arb. It is sometimes hard to remember downtown is within a mile or two. We are fortunate to have this beautiful, wooded arboretum so near and accessible.
Snow covered trails.
Several years ago I wrote a poem while skiing at the arb and I thought of it again this week.
Cross-Country Skiing
Arms swinging Poles digging Jacket swishing Legs trekking Skis gliding
River Flowing Snow falling Birds singing Peace ringing Prayer bringing
The contrast of dark and light, white snow…brown tree trunks…gray water, is striking, but there can be color in winter. We saw this sunset the night before our last snow fall.
The sun setting over snow covered fields one evening while driving out of town.
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.'” -Lewis Carroll
Fresh snow.
A quilt of snow fell Sunday night and we woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland.
However, the weather forecasters predict we will experience our coldest temperatures in 20 years this week, with 25-30 degrees below zero temperatures. Brrr…We will need to bundle up with our own warm quilts, inside.
The Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) is a destination for many outdoor enthusiasts. I love nature and being outdoors so I consider myself an enthusiast but I had never experienced a trip in the BWCA. It is something I have often thought of doing so I made a commitment to go on the annual Faribault Flyers BWCA trip this year.
A foggy morning! Valerie & Gary’s first BWCA adventure.
Ten of us met up in Ely. We had dinner together and made everything ready for our departure the next morning. After a good night’s sleep we woke up early, went out for breakfast, and then took off to the Falls Lake boat landing to load our canoes and start our adventure. It was very foggy.
We loaded our gear into five canoes and the fog started to lift, thankfully. We took off paddling to the first portage. Our group split up; six guys took off for five days and the other group of four, the one I was in, took off for three days. By this time the sun was shining in a blue, cloudless sky and it was a glorious day to be in the wilderness!
View from “Valerie’s Island.”
We paddled across a second lake and portaged again to the third lake where we found our campsite. Since this was my first time in the Boundary Waters, and the others had been there before, they let me choose the campsite. I wanted to be on an island. We found a campsite on the west end of a small island with a slight, rocky incline. It was perfect. There is a fire pit with an iron grate, and a latrine at each official campsite in the BWCA. (The latrines are several yards back from the fire pit and are numbered for emergency location identification.)
Our canoes down from our campsite.
We noticed this island on the map but it didn’t have a name. There was a larger island nearby named Gary’s Island so we named our island “Valerie’s Island.”
After setting up camp we had lots of time to sit and relax, read, gather firewood, make dinner, enjoy a beautiful sunset, and go to bed early.
We crawled into our tents and fell asleep but in the middle of the night we were awakened by voices…it was very disorienting at first, and then kind of scary, and then we learned it was a medical emergency. The campers across the lake, to the south of us, had paddled by the island earlier in the day so they knew there was someone occupying the campsite on the island. One of the two men was having an asthma attack and forgot his inhaler back in his truck. His friend loaded him into the canoe, paddled out into the dark night and dark waters to our island and used the sounds of snoring to find our site. I don’t remember the words exactly but in essence he said “We need help. Do you have an inhaler?” His talking woke us up and he repeated what he said and added “I’m just a social worker and I don’t know what to do.” After regaining our wits, a woman in our group, who is a nurse, got up and went out to talk with them. She suggested a breathing technique since we didn’t have an inhaler. The “patient” was talking and she said that was a good sign. The two men paddled back into the dark waters, to their campsite. They said they would return in the morning with a report. All this time the “token male” in our group slept through it all!
It wonderful to see the starry, starry sky but, of course, it was very hard to get back to sleep after all the excitement.
The next morning the two guys did come back. We recognized both of them, and their dog. We had seen them at the boat launch the day we left Falls Lake boat launch. They let us know the patient was doing OK. Being away from the smoke of the fire, propping himself up against a tree for the night, and special breathing made it easier for him to breath. We were thankful!
“What would you pay to see you the sun rise or the sun set if it were not free entertainment?”
I don’t remember where I heard this quote years ago but I have never forgotten it. (I have not found a source to credit.)
I have quoted this quote or thought it many times over the years…whenever I see a sunset or sunrise, or see photos of them, or when someone talks or writes about them, but also when I am out enjoying nature…for free!
I love to be in nature…I love to be outside…and I find a lot of free entertainment in outdoor spaces.
I remember a time when the boys were young and we were vacation waiting for a train and the wait was going to be long. I noticed a pond nearby so we went and sat near it and watched some ducks floating around, playing together. The ducks were fun to watch and I remember telling the boys one can always find great entertainment watching birds or animals, and observing nature.
Audrey Helbling’s Minnesota Prairie Roots blog on sunrises and sunsets prompted me to think of the quote recently. Read her beautiful poem entitled “Writing poetry as the sun rises” here.
“What would you pay to see the sunrise or the sunset if it were not free entertainment?” I heard this saying many years ago but it comes to mind often when I see a sunrise or sunset. I praise the Lord for these free gifts of beauty and “entertainment”.
This sunset photo was taken in the Fjord-du-Saguenay area, northeast of Quebec City where we stayed for three nights on our Quebec vacation.
