If this Thursday it must be postcards, 501

 

 

 

 

 

 Nygårdsparken, Bergen, Norway, ca 1951

 

Nygårdsparken shown in the black and white photo on this Normann postcard, B-1-101, is another card from Dick Thompson’s scrapbooks.  It shows a section of the park with a swan swimming in the pond.  As with most of the cards in the scrapbooks this one was glued on a page and kept in an album.  It is probably a card he purchased while on his trip to Norway in 1951.

 

The park is located in Bergen’s city center and is the largest urban park in Bergen.  It covers about 18.3 acres or 74.2 decares.  Joachim Georg Wiesner and Klaus Hanssen founded the Park Association of Nygaard in 1880.  The grounds are modeled after a typical English park and was laid out by the Danish gardener, S. Lund Leiberg.  In 1898 the park was changed into an exhibition area with a small zoo and a botanical garden.  There was also an exhibition of objects from Nansen’s polar expeditions.  One of the first electric elevators in Norway, with a uniformed lift attendant, took visitors up to the top of Wisbech & Meinich’s Panorama tower for views of the city.  All these areas were open to the public with a ticket costing 50 øre.

 

Originally the park was within walking distance of general population of the city; however, as time went on the city expanded and the population in the city center declined.  The number of visitors to the park also fell off leading to a lack of maintenance.  In 2007 the city decided to build a kindergarten in the park.  The school capacity is 550 children.  In the beginning there were some protests from local people not wanting the school constructed so close to existing buildings; therefore, there were delays in construction.  Today the kindergarten is now in use.

 

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nygårdsparken

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 500

 

 

 

 

 

Arrowleaf Balsamroot [Balsamorhiza sagittata]

 

Mary Kieau is credited as the photographer on this postcard produced by www.mountaininphotography.com.  Featured is the Arrowleaf Balsamroot, a sunflower-like flowering plant found across the western United States and western Canada.  Pale lavender colored Lupine is  mixed in with the bright yellow of the Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Mt. Gardner can be seen in the background.  Both the Balsamroot and the Lupine are common symbols associated with the Methow Valley in Eastern Washington where this picture was taken.

 

This card represents a milestone of sorts since it is the 500^th postcard shared on a Thursday.  When we go hiking, Bob and I enjoy taking pictures of the flowers and wildlife.  The Arrowleaf Balsamroot is a showy, large flower that sometimes is found in vast displays.  To give some perspective here is a photo taken on a high ridge in Yellowstone Park showing people walking in a field of flowers.

 

 

 Field of Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Yellowstone, 2017

 

These flowers are found in Canada in British Columbia and Alberta.  They range across the western United States from northern Arizona, the Mojave Desert of California, and east as far as the Black Hills of South Dakota.  They are found here nearer to home on the eastern side of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon.  It is a perennial herb with a long, 6 to 7 foot, branching, barky taproot.  Above ground it has a stem about 7 inches to almost 2 feet tall with leaves that can reach about 1 foot in length.  The leaves have untoothed edges and are coated in fine, rough hairs.  Grazing animals will eat the leaves, flowers and the developing seed heads.  Many Native American groups used this plant as food and as medicine.  The seeds were used as food and oil.  In 1806 the Lewis & Clark expedition collected specimens and noted seeing the stems eaten raw by the American natives.  Also called the Okanagan Sunflower, it is the emblem of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

 

 

 Fireweed mixed in with Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Yellowstone, 2017

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balsmanroihiza_sagittata

 

 

 

Three short, easy hikes on the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, 2021

 

 

 

 

 

Oxbow Loop

 

Sitting atop the snag

Stepping down, so we can see all his pretty colors

This one has to take photo billing, a delightful bonus surprise of the day. A Red-breasted (yellow bellied) Sapsucker woodpecker. 

 

 

The first salamander of the year—we think it may be an Oregon slender salamander

 

 

 

The trailhead sign has a map of the loop

The last hike we went on in 2020, due to COVID-19 restrictions and our desire to limit exposure by choosing lesser known or less frequented trails, was in August at Oxbow Loop.  It is a 2-mile loop that winds through the forest and dips down to the river beach in one place.  There are numerous views of the river and lake along the route.  Last time we started from the right hand side and had a hill to climb on the return.  This time we started on the left side of the loop and went steeply down but had a less steep climb back up to the junction at the end of the loop.  Perhaps because we did it in the reverse from the previous time, we noticed things we did not remember seeing the first time. 

 

This trail is a new trail, finished in 2018, and built by the Department of Natural Resources on State land.  The trail surface is gravel for most of the way, easy walking, and wide enough for people to walk side-by-side in many places.  This is short and easy enough to be a good hike for parents with young children.  There are two parking areas, one by the loop junction and the second a short distance beyond as you continue driving on the road.  The second parking area is slightly larger and has an outhouse.  This trail requires a Discover Pass. 

 

 

Salmon berry blossom

Colt’s Foot

Bleeding heart

Trillium

Middle Fork Snoqualmie River

 

 

Oxbow Lake

 

 

Pratt River Bar

 

Fire pit near camp site

Continuing down the road from the second trailhead for Oxbow is an unmarked 1/4-mile (1/2-mile round trip) trail to Pratt River Bar.  Before starting the trail there is a bridge over a substantial creek.  The trail surface is mixed gravel and packed sand-dirt with a few rocks.  There are several campsites and fire pits at the rocky beach.  As we were returning to the car, we met two mothers with four children on their way down this easy walk to play on the river beach and have a picnic lunch.  There is no outhouse and no pass requirement was posted.

 

Champion Beach

 

Trail head sign with map and information

Champion Beach

 

After stopping at Pratt River Bar, we turned around and drove back past Oxbow on the way toward the main roadway where there is another very short, 1/4-mile or 1/2-mile round trip trail that leads down to a riverside beach called Champion Beach.  There is a larger parking area, an outhouse and a trail head sign with information posted.  The Discover Pass is required.  We did not check out all of Champion Beach.  Even though it is marked for day use only, we could see some campsites and fire pits similar to those at the Pratt River Bar area.  The trail surface is gravel part of the way, packed dirt, has a bridge over a creek, and a boardwalk with metal slats over swampy places.  The beach is a typical rocky river beach.

 

The road to all three of these short day-hikes is paved.  Since these hikes are short, easy, and not frequented as often as some of the more difficult, longer hikes along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River they were ideal choices for us as a first outing of 2021.

 

Count for the day:  Three miles. Elevation gain:  maximum 100 ft.  On the trail, one grandpa, one dad, one baby in a carrier at Oxbow.  Two moms, four kids at Pratt River Bar.  No other people on the Champion Beach trail but additional cars at all parking areas when we left.  NO DOGS, NO BUGS (big deals)!

 

Note:  We like dogs, just not when they are running unleashed and out of control on trails. 

 

 

 

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 499

 

 

 

 

 

View of the Chr. Michesen monument, Bergen, Norway, ca 1950

 

The two postcards shared this week have photographs of the Christian Michelsen monument or memorial located in Bergen, Norway.  Dick Thompson bought these cards in 1951 during his trip to Norway.  The card above is a Normann product titled Bergen, Chr. Michelsen-monumentet (uttort av Gustav Vigeland).  The card has the number 14/746 at the lower left.  Vigeland (l869-1943) is Norwegian sculptor famous for the cycle of life figures found in Frogner Park, Oslo, Norway. 

 

A previous Thursday postcard, #38, 10 May 2012, has more information about Christian Michelsen and two additional vintage postcards from 1905.  Michelsen, the first Prime Minister of independent Norway (1905-1907), was a Norwegian shipping magnate and statesman.  He and Jørgen Løvland [see the 11 May 2012 post in this blog] were instrumental in negotiating the peaceful separation of Norway from Sweden in 1905.  Michelsen was born in Bergen in 1857 and died in 1925 in Fana, Norway.  He believed in a democratic republic accepted the fact that a democratic monarchy would have the greatest chance of success abroad and also among most Norwegians.  Prince Carl of Denmark became King Haakon VII of Norway .  

 

 

 

 

The monument stands in the city park near the pool, Bergen, Norway, ca 1950

 

The second postcard, above, is identified as an Eberh B. product, but no photographer or catalog number is given.  Dick trimmed and pasted both cards in a scrapbook making it impossible to see all that might have been printed or written on the reverse. 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Michelsen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custav_Vigeland

 

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 498

 

 

 

 

 

 Den Nationale Scene or The National Theater, Bergen, Norway, ca 1950

 

Here is another unused postcard from Dick Thompson’s scrapbooks.  This one has a photograph of the National Theater in Bergen, Norway.  It is a Mittet & Eneret postcard printed in Norway with the identifier B.16 at the lower left corner on the reverse.  Dick purchased this card when he visited Norway in 1951.

 

The National Theater, or Den Nationale Scene in Norwegian, is one of the oldest and largest theaters in Bergen.  The theater had its beginnings in 1850 when Ole Bull, a famous Norwegian violinist, suggested that a theater should be created to encourage Norwegian playwrights.  At that time, it was called Det Norske Theater.  Henrik Ibsen was one of the first writers-in-residence and art-directors of the theater.  The original building was replaced and a new one was designed by Einar Oscar Schou.  The new building opened in 1909 with a production of Erasmus Montanus by Ludvig Holberg. King Haakon VII of Norway and Queen Maud attended.  In 1913 and 1920 extensions were added and over the subsequent years the building has undergone major changes, renovations, modernizations, and expansion.  In 2001 the building was restored to almost its original shape.  Today it houses three stages and presents about 20 productions annually.  In 1993 the theater became a state property.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Den_Nationale_Scene

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 497

 

 

 

 

 

A Mary La Fetra Russell illustrated postcard, ca 1908

 

Happy Easter week!  I found these vintage Easter postcards at Laughing Elephant [Laughing Elephant.com], the small local shop that specializes in reproducing vintage cards, posters, and books.  The one above has an illustration by Mary LaFetra Russell who signs her work as MLAFR as seen at the lower right near the grass.  Russell not only illustrated cards she also illustrated and published a Mother Goose book.  The other cards shared this week are not dated and do not have the illustrator identified.  Vintage cards are generally about 100 years old; therefore, we can estimate that all the cards were issued sometime between about 1900 and 1920.

 

 

 

The use of rabbits and hares as symbols of abundant life and associated with Easter was a traditional brought to America by German immigrants in the 1700s.  Lilies are symbols of purity and are also commonly found on Easter cards.

 

 

 

Another symbol associated with Easter are eggs or colored eggs.  An egg is a symbol of the stone in front of the tomb of Christ.  Eggs are also symbols of the tomb itself.  A new chick emerges from the egg as the symbol of the resurrection.  Even before Christianity eggs were a symbol of new life and rebirth.  New hats and clothes also suggest new life or a new beginning.  Hot cross buns remind us of the cross and of Christ.  Pretzels, in the traditional twisted shape, represent arms crossed in prayer.  Baby animals and Spring flowers are often found on Easter cards to represent new life.

 

 

 This is one is especially for our hiking friends

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://www.theholidayspot.com/easter/easter_symbols.htm 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter