Yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the McNeely Conservatory in Como Park. I’ve been fortunate to enjoy it in my neighborhood for the past 10 years, and even in that time there have been many changes. Throughout the seasons the conservatory has welcomed people to its warmth and its plethora of beautiful flowers. In a state where we have a definitive four seasons, it’s been delightful to have an oasis of green and color during the wintertime when our landscape is reduced to black and white. This weekend the Conservatory was filled with the music of 1915 including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, and Muddy Waters. The changes I’ve seen in 10 years can’t begin to compare to the changes in a century. I trust that the conservatory will be around in another 100 years, and that people will continue to marvel at the Victorian glass houses that have attracted visitors for all these years.
Photography
Fall colors in the Ordway Japanese Garden
There are so many lovely “hidden gems” in the Twin Cities, and one just happens to be in my neighborhood. Como Park, which includes a conservatory, zoo, carousel, golf course, lake, swimming pool, picnic areas, and many trails, also holds a lovely Japanese garden tucked away down a winding path. In the early morning hours with the colors of autumn on display, I found myself humbled and amazed at the quiet and the beauty in the garden. The fallen leaves seemed to have a purpose in their random display, as if saying that all is right in this changing landscape. The colors spoke to me, begging to be remembered as they will be quickly replaced with the white of snow. This year’s change of seasons has been hurried, yet here in the Japanese garden there was a stillness and quiet reminding me that each season holds its own purpose and to trust in the changes of fall prior to the long nights of winter.
Fall colors at Wild River State Park
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.
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.
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