A week ago I made a quick drive north of Saint Paul to one of my favorite Minnesota state parks, Wild River. Located along the St. Croix River, the park seems to always have some glorious fall colors. On arriving before dawn, I made sure to be by the river as the sun rose over the Wisconsin bluffs to the east. As quickly as the sun cleared the bluffs, the clouds moved in and the light changed. After an hour of cloudy and gray skies, I wandered up onto the hillside and the main area of the park. While walking down the hiking path the sunlight broke through the clouds for about five minutes. Through the golden leaves on the trees, the woods were bathed in a luminous light that was ever so brief. The clouds moved back in, the winds picked up causing the leaves to scatter along the path, and eventually the rain began.
Minnesota
Full moonrise
Last weekend’s super moon and lunar eclipse was an event followed by many people. I found myself in the agricultural fields of the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota at the time of the moonrise. The weather had been glorious with warm temperatures and a southerly breeze, and as the sun set the sky remained clear. Slowly the full moon rose on the eastern horizon, clearing the corn fields that surrounded me, accompanied by the sound of the wind rattling through the dry corn stalks. Although I was in the middle of the city, it seemed like I was distant and not in an urban area. But what surprised me the most, were the number of people that had come out to do the same thing I was doing. The gravel road between the fields was lined with cars. People were sitting in chairs or sitting in their cars, and people were walking — all there to marvel in the size of this full moon and then to observe the lunar eclipse. Another 18 years is a long time until the next event like this, hence the urgency for many of us to enjoy it this time.
The luminous light in northern Minnesota
I wanted to share another image from our vacation in northern Minnesota. I am always amazed at the light when we are in this area. Perhaps it’s because the sky appears so large and the lakes help to reflect all the light that’s around. This particular evening the sun was getting lower in the western sky, slanting to the east. It cast a golden glow on the trees along Jack the Horse Lake. The clouds to the south were a luminous white and pink, dusted with the glow of the setting sun. And the calmness of the evening allowed the colors to be reflected in the smooth lake surface – a scene that still takes my breath away. Calmness, light, stillness, luminosity, and beauty.
The epitome of a Minnesota summer
As the calendar months get closer to turning from summer to fall, I’ve been thinking about the epitome of a Minnesota summer. Although it’s many things to many people, to me it’s characterized by sun, water, and pines. If you live in the urban Twin Cities, a summer highlight is a trip “up north” whether for a weekend or a week. As the car noses northward the landscape changes, the sky gets bluer, the lakes become more numerous, and the smell of pines is evident. It’s here that I relax and breathe deeply – the smells of summer. When the cell phone is out of range and the days are marked by the sunrise and sunset, life becomes simpler and I am more concentrated. Sure, I still try to rush to cram all the “things” I want to do into each day, but it’s a slower sense of urgency. A sense that the day will be delightful no matter what activities take place (or what leisure and quiet is enjoyed). A walk down the path to the lake, some quiet time sitting on the dock watching the sun reflect off the water, and listening to the sounds of the wind in the trees, the fish surfacing, and the loons calling — this, to me, is the epitome of summer in Minnesota.
A weekend up north
As the temperature soared into the 90’s in the Twin Cities last Friday, we did what many Minnesotans do and headed “up north” for the weekend. A small cabin at Whitewood Resort overlooking Spirit Lake was the perfect relief. We spent the time keeping cool either by swimming in the lake or fishing. The first night we were treated to a beautiful glowing sunset with the reflection slicing through the wild rice that is in this lake. As I lay in bed that night I was lulled to sleep by the loons calling back and forth. We caught our share of sunfish and crappies the next day, watched an eagle swoop down and get his fish from the lake, and our second night was highlighted by a view of the Northern Lights as we sat on the dock with our feet in the lake. A few hours later, a storm rolled through with lightning and thunder and dropped the temperatures considerably. This morning we wandered amongst the many lakes in Aitkin County then shared lunch with good friends we haven’t seen in a long time. As we headed back to the cities we found ourselves refreshed and relaxed and thankful for a quick escape up north.
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