If I had a fireplace I would most certainly have been sitting in its welcoming orange glow last night as I enjoyed my first Winter Skål of the season. Piper, no doubt, would have been with me basking in the warmth of the flames, the flickering light cascading over her. As it was, I simply enjoyed my beer in the glow of a lamp while Piper lay on the couch.
Yesterday was a busy day. It was a social day. And a day that engendered much reflection.
It began with a trip down to Stoughton with a friend to check out the bake and craft sale held by the Sons of Norway lodge there. The morning air held a chill that was a portent of the months to come but I enjoyed its brisk welcome to the day. I didn't recall what street the lodge was on but knew it was just off Main Street and enlisted my friend's assistance. Her navigation seemed off to me as we tacked a course through various side streets but who am I to question the declarations of an iPhone?
"Turn down Fourth Street!" she cried to me as my car darted forward down an unfamiliar street. A look of giddy anticipation began to creep over her face as the promise of rosettes and crafts drew nearer.
"Hmmm. This doesn't look familiar to me," I offered in my defense.
Her route or rather her phone's route brought us to the Mandt Community Center where we saw multiple families walking inside clutching hockey gear. A quick consultation of the Google and she realized that our destination was, in fact, the Mandt Lodge.
Our course was soon corrected.
We parked a couple blocks away with my friend surmising - quite correctly - that there would be no parking to be had close to the Lodge. We walked up the street and made a short stop at a memory garden where the sun has risen over the mill pond.
It was a lovely space that must look even lovelier in the warmer months.
The path was lined with bird feeders and statuary. This one reminded me of the clock egg hoolie in the video game The Last Express.
"It looks like a giant butt plug," my friend offered with a hearty laugh that made me chuckle. I think this was the first time I'd heard such bawdiness from her.
This statue brought Twin Peaks to mind and prompted me to make the much less ribald comment, "The owls are not what they seem."
When the lodge came into view so did a long line of folks waiting to enter.
In an attempt to alleviate crowding, people were being let inside in small groups as others left. We spent 20 minutes or so in line much of it with the infant in its mother's arms in front of us intently staring at me. A real cutie.
When we were finally let inside, we found that the place was packed with people scrambling for rømmegrøt, a Norwegian porridge, and all manner of Nordic cookies and sweets. I ended up with a small section of almond cake and some kransekake fingers which are the small, tubular siblings of a different and larger almond cake which apparently consists of rings of nutty goodness stacked one upon another.
On the crafty side, there were alpaca socks of all manner plus hats and scarves made from the wool of the South American(!!) animal. I was hoping to add another bar of pine scented soap to my strategic soap reserve from Suds & Harvest so that my skin would be redolent of evergreen through the winter. Mission accomplished.
I also snagged a tube of lip balm as mine was just about depleted.
We didn't stay too long as the lodge isn't very large and I had a date in the woods later in the morning. However, as we walked back to the car, my friend pleaded, "Can we go down to the bridge?" This was a bridge that went over the mill pond and of course I consented. We passed by a house that had a hound in the yard who was desperate for pets. We happily obliged.
It was a gorgeous morning and the bridge made for some fine scenery.
My friend dropped me off at home and I scrambled to find my gloves and put my boots on for I had a date at Token Creek Park ridding it of the dreaded buckthorn.
No comments:
Post a Comment