Sunday, September 25, 2011

Gazing upward

It's late.... actually, it's early; 3:39 a.m. and I cannot sleep. An annoying little voice has been whispering in my head, "It's too early to get up; go back to sleep". I finally give myself permission to surrender to sleeplessness and quietly leave the bedroom.

I step outside onto the deck and look up. A fingernail moon hangs in the sky swirled with wispy clouds. Here and there, stars are visible.

The darkness of the wee morning hours wraps around me like a soft quilt. Moisture transfers from the chair to my fuzzy pink robe as I soak in the quietness. All is still.

I gaze upward while breathing deeply and invite the calmness in. My mind soothes and soon I'm realizing (again) how habitually I allow the events and cares of life to rob me of the kinship I share with this night sky/universe.

Perhaps I couldn't sleep because I needed this reminder to look up, rather than down and straight ahead. It gives me a certain kind of knowing - one of limitless possibility and infinite connection.

(source: intent.com)

Friday, September 16, 2011

Chicks

No longer is my hen house empty. Four 7 week old Plymouth Barred Rock chicks now inhabit it. This breed of chicken lays eggs by the sixth month of life so this winter, I'll have eggs galore!

Perhaps when they are a bit older I'll be able to take a decent picture of them. At this age, they are extremely skittish and flee when they see me. (This breaks my animal loving heart!) (I could name them Foolish, Frightened, Flock, of Four.)

On this cool, Fall-ish day, these wheelbarrows appear to be saying, 'Yup. We're done for the season'.

Nick (and Courtney) is looking for a home to buy. The realization hit me. My son is all grown up & acting like an adult. This page in my art journal expresses my dismay:

... and this page because sometimes I have to reassure myself that everything is going to be OK...

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Falling into Fall....

Fall.

The 'f' word I've been resisting.

Usually I'm ready to pack up the oft frenzied pace of fun summer days and allow the cozy atmosphere of autumn to envelop me. Not so this year. Our summer was too long in coming and too short in duration.

So, I've found some images to help ease me into the delights of the fall season.

Daylight savings time so I can catch up on lost sleep,

Dahlias in bloom....

long walks through fall leaves....

homemade apple pie...

reading in my easy chair by a crackling fire,

warm sweaters to keep me warm,

the deep richness of fall hues,

and, last, upcoming fallidays.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Road trip to Alberta - final post!

Seeing all there was to see in the Dickson area we headed north along country roads (avoiding the freeway) to Edmonton. Who can be that close to Edmonton and not stop in at the largest mall on earth?!

We left Ellen snoozing at the motel (catching up on some much needed sleep) while Glynn, Elda and I hit the mall. Its immense size paired with stores not found in the US of A and many amusement attractions make the Edmonton Mall a step more grandiose than any other mall. But, a mall is a mall is a mall. I'd much prefer to shop in unique stores in a quaint little town any day!

ItalicBy afternoon, we were on the road heading west to Jasper National Park. Ellen wanted to head south, journeying to Montana via Medicine Hat where we would see Indians on horseback. She insists they use their horses for transportation to this day! We are relatively positive that these modern day Indians traded in their hay burners for gas burners many, many years ago....

Just outside the park we slowed down to accommodate this flock of bighorn sheep.

Words cannot describe the rugged beauty of the Canadian Rockies. (Nor can photos taken from a moving vehicle!) Rivers and lakes were turquoise blue due to what the guide book calls glacier flour. Glaciers cling to the sides of rugged mountainous peaks.



We spent the night in a rustic cabin along the roaring Athabasca River just outside of the town of Jasper.



It was chilly enough to enjoy a fire in the fireplace and we fell asleep to gentle rain only to awake to this in the morning!


Continuing south from Jasper, we soon entered Banff National Park. Not quite as rugged as Jasper but still gorgeous. The day was chilly and overcast but visibility was good enough to ride the gondola to the 7,500 ft level of the mountain where we were pelted by hail and gentle flakes of snow. Fall comes early in this neck of the woods!

Squint and you can see the famous Banff Springs motel.

The town of Banff reminds me of Leavenworth, Bavarian in flavor. We did not stop to mingle with the scores of tourists clogging the sidewalks but it's definitely a town worth exploring. We observed many foreigners in Jasper and Banff (tour buses full of them) and I realized that day that I, too, was a foreigner.

Journeying further south, we spent the night in Sandpoint, Idaho and completed our trip the following evening when the buggy pulled into Tumwater at around 6 pm.

All in all, it was an excellent trip. Ellen wants Glynn and I to buy the farm back from the county (to the best of my knowledge, it's not available for sale) and build a home there so the family can use it as a vacation spot! In a perfect world (and if we had more money than brains), it would be a lovely getaway from the mad rush of life as we know it. Quietness by a slow moving river in the middle of nowhere...... Anyone want to partner with us?!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Road trip to Alberta - part II






A few miles from the farm lies the little community of Dickson. A cemetery, a church, the old high school (now a municipal building), a general store, and a few houses comprise the town.

The general store is the crown jewel of the town for it is now a museum. This is the very general store that the Raun family patronized during Ellen's growing up years!

Much of it remains exactly as it was when Ellen was a child. The cash register, Post Office cubicles, cheese cutter, and coffee mill were likely touched by Raun hands. How my fingers were itching to caress every item in that store! (Signs abound warning 'Please do not touch.') There is even a record keeping system which tells what was bought by whom and who owes what on credit. Ellen was in her element, pointing out items she remembers as a child.



The Campbell Soup company made these labels specifically for the museum. Oxtail soup and Mock Turtle Soup are no longer offered!


Remember Mrs. Olsen, the snooty shop owner of the general store in Little House on the Prairie? Well, apparently the family that owned the Dickson general store 'put on airs' also. They lived above the store and it wasn't until the general store became a museum that Ellen was able to peek into their upstairs home. Some items are genuine, having been donated by the Christiansen family. Others are simply period pieces.


Regardless of their social status, it was a small home to raise a family of four children.

We continued our 'tour' of Dickson by visiting the cemetery where Ellen's dad, Neils, is buried along with one of her brothers, Adolf.
Last, we ate lunch at the Danish Canadian National Museum and Gardens, a gem in the middle of nowhere! I ordered Rullepolse, spicy rolled pork on rye bread. And look at our gorgeous desserts. I must say, my Danish genes stood up & took notice as I ate this delicious food!



The round balls are Ebelskiver, spherical shaped Danish pancakes. Elda bought Glynn a couple of Ebelskiver pans. Come to our home one weekend morning for a Danish breakfast!

Stay tuned for more travel commentary in Road trip to Alberta - part III, coming soon!

Monday, September 5, 2011

Road trip to Alberta - part I

All my married life I've heard about 'the farm' in Alberta where Glynn's mom, Ellen, was raised. Earlier this summer Ellen said she'd love to see the farm 'one more time before I die' (just to let you know she does NOT have one foot in the grave!) Wanting to take a little road trip with her this summer, Glynn, Elda and I decided that 'the farm' would be our destination.

At 84 years old, Ellen has become somewhat frail and tired. Being as she sleeps a lot, we were unsure of her stamina for the near 2,500 mile trip. She surprised us all. She was giddy with excitement and anxious to set foot in Alberta once again.

Here she is at a cute log cabin motel in Bonners Ferry, Idaho - our first night.


Day two: still giddy!


Along the way, we stopped to view the devastation caused by 82 tons of rock sliding from Turtle Mountain in 1903 onto a portion of the town of Frank, Alberta. 100 people died when their homes were buried by rock, mud and water.


Soon we reached the prairie and headed north toward Calgary. The land became flat and wheat farms dotted the landscape.

Ellen was born in Gleichen, the closest town to her parent's farm. Gleichen is on an Indian reservation and she said her mother's confinement was actually in the home of the doctor.

Ellen is one of 12 children born to her father, Neils. 2 of her half siblings, brothers, died before she was born. Hans was 15 when he died from dysentery (or typhoid) after drinking water from a lake. Vego died at age 3 from 'quick pneumonia'. In the little town of Standard (wide spot in the road) we found the cemetery where the boys are buried. In rain, wind, thunder and lightening, Elda & I searched for their headstones but to no avail. Perhaps after lying on the ground for nearly 100 years, the grave markers crumbled and became overgrown with grass.



Due to 'dust bowl' conditions during the years of the depression, the farm produced no crop and the family had to relocate or starve. The government helped move farm equipment via train so the family loaded up their possessions and moved west about 230 Kilometers (150 miles) to the Dickson area where Ellen's dad bought a 1/4 section of land to farm, renting another 3/4 sections to farm as well. This is 'the farm' that Ellen has such fond memories of.

In Dickson, the terrain has beautiful hills and trees and rivers and lakes. One side of the farm borders the Raven River.

Close your eyes and imagine Ellen and her siblings frolicking in this river back in 30's and 40's!

In 1954, Neils and Ellen's mom, Amelia, were involved in a head-on car accident. Neils did not survive his injuries and Amelia was crippled for the remainder of her life. Once Amelia passed away in the late 60's, Ellen and two of her sisters bought the farm. By then, the vacant house had been used and abused by local trouble makers so it was torn down.

To date, the only original structure still standing on the property is the chicken coop. I smiled at the opening on the door - perhaps the entry/exit for the chickens? One of Ellen's chores was to collect the nearly 6 dozen eggs per week.


(I wish I could have brought this door home with me!)

This is the 1/4 section, farmed by Neils. The metal grain elevator was placed there in later years.

This lane leads to the house, barn and chicken coop. Amelia planted these trees by hand. Ellen was amazed at their height.

The house stood in this clearning. The river is in back of the trees.

Driving approximately 2 miles away from the farm we came to the site of her elementary school.




We were amused at this sign post! Ellen recognizes many of the family names, many of whom still live in the area.
Stay tuned for more about Dickson in my next post!