Promised Pictures and a Few More

When I got up this morning the thermometer said it was 28 degrees BELOW zero. The radio said the windchill temperature was 46 BELOW zero. I have to go to town today, but I've been waiting for it to warm up a bit. It's risen all the way to 18 below now, so maybe I'll take off when I finish this entry. Lovely Daughter's car wouldn't start this morning, and she even had it plugged in!

I've been promising you Folks some pictures over the last week or so - so today is the day. First up is a copy of the "family" picture that Lovely Daughter had taken. The intense one on the left is Daisy, and the one with the goofy expression is Beau. Doesn't he look like an impish little troublemaker? Ole opened this picture on Christmas Eve and said, "Okay, I don't need anymore presents now - this one is IT!"


And here's the granddoggers without their Mom and Dad. Again, Daisy looks like she has to have things all neat and orderly and be in control. Beau looks like he rolls with the punches and takes thing as they come.

Here's the Queen of the House, at least in her mind. Lucy is a year old as of December. She's a little porkchop - a far cry from the skinny little kitty that came wandering up from the river last summer, so thin that you could see her backbone and every rib. She was only about six months old, terribly hungry and didn't have a clue how to play. Boy, has that changed.

Here's a shot of Beau - he's teasing Daisy by taking her "babies." She's very selfish and possessive when it comes to her toys and definitely doesn't want to share. She snatches them from Beau and then makes them squeak. We often say that if she had had a litter of puppies, would she have squeezed them too, to make them squeak?

Daisy guarding her "babies." I think there's three in her mouth in this picture, but she did manage to have four in her mouth all at one time the other day.

Some time ago I promised a picture of my grandmother's Christmas cactus when it was in bloom. This plant is approximately a hundred years old!! Somewhere I have a picture of it in her living room, in an old coffee can covered with tinfoil. I'll have to see if I can find that picture. It's so big now that I have to have Ole transfer it from one location to another.

Here's another cactus that I have - it's called an orchid cactus and has blossoms that are as big as the palm of my hand. It's not going to do much blossoming this year because it was so big I had to give it a good trim in order to move it this fall. The blossoms drip honeydew when they're open, so it's kind of messy. But the hummingbirds are all over it in the summer when I have it outside.

So that's the end of the photo gallery for today. Now I want you all to be careful when you're out there tonight. Celebrate, but within reason. My philosophy is why would you want to start the New Year with a big headache and a sick stomach? Not my idea of starting the New Year right.

So, in English, have a Happy New Year ~ ~

Onnellista Uutta Vuotta (that's Finnish - Ole's a Finlander, you know)

Gott nytt år! (that's Swedish)

Godt Nyttår (that's Norwegian)

I guess that about covers all the bases - see ya next year!!

Love Lena

The Crystal Ballroom

When Ole and I were young, (back in the Dark Ages), New Year's Eve used to be an elegant celebration, at least in the area where we live. Ladies got dressed up in elegant, sparkly dresses and guys wore suits and ties. There was always a nice dinner and dance to follow at the Eagles or the Elks, both of which had large wooden dance floors and brought in live "Big Bands." The Ball would drop at midnight, followed by a champagne toast and then a midnight supper served again before everyone went home.

Things have sure changed from back then. The Eagles and the Elks have both downsized. They combined and have moved their headquarters into a small building - no more dance floor, no more elegant dinners - just a bar where you can go sit and socialized a bit. And now, dressed up means having a crease in your blue jeans.

Gone are the days of the big ballrooms with the huge wooden dance floors and that beautiful Big Band sound that was so fun. I'm not QUITE old enough to have lived through that era, but I do love the Big Band music. I often say I was born in the wrong generation.

We had a big ballroom still functioning in our area when Ole and I were in our teens. It was called the Crystal Ballroom and was a regular hangout for teens every Friday night. Mostly records were played by a DJ, but occasionally there would be a live band from the 60s that would come in and then the place was packed. Here's a picture of the building that the Crystal Ballroom was in. It was built in 1926 and the Crystal Ballroom was on the main floor. There's a white walkway on the lower right-hand side that goes from the street level to the entrance to the ballroom. This building was actually built into the side of a hill. The lower floor housed the armory and at times was used for a roller skating rink.



My Big Sister was a teenager during the Big Band era and partied at the Crystal Ballroom back in the DARK Dark Ages. Here's a shot of a dance she went to back in the early 50s. Note all the gals are actually wearing dresses - not blue jeans with a crease.

I found this picture on the web site about the Crystal Ballroom. This is what it looked like when it was first opened back in 1926. Can't you just imagine all the couples twirling around in circles on this huge wooden floor?

Then along came 1962, and it was time for the poor old building to go by the wayside. It was demolished and senior citizens condos replaced it. Funny thing - the senior citizens that are living in the condos probably attended many dances in that old ballroom. I was there the day they knocked it down. How sad - it was so beautiful - so fun - and held so many memories.

Plans for this New Year's Eve? Very low key - IF we can even get out of our yard with all the snow that's been falling over the last 24 hours and with what's predicted in the next 24 hours. Dinner out at a little hole in the wall restaurant that we love in a little town not far from here - no, it's not The Watering Hole. And it's Bob's birthday (of Bob and Carol) on New Year's Eve. His family is taking him and Carol out for dinner and then we'll meet them later at the Watering Hole for karaoke. Bob never stays for karaoke even though he used to sing in a band. But he's promised that this year he'll stay for an hour or so and will grace us with his voice. I've heard him sing bits and pieces of some Beach Boys songs and he's terrific so I can't wait to hear in do an entire song. He's got a brother who sings in a local band called Billy Dee and the Crystals. Billy Dee is a BIG guy and bounces around on the stage like you can't believe. Bob is built like him, and I think probably will clone his little brother on stage. Hearing Bob will make my night.

My most memorable New Year's Eve? Well, I wasn't 21 yet at the time - and there's a reason that I no longer drink champagne under any circumstances. And that's all I have to say about that.

What's your most memorable New Year's Eve? I'd love to hear about it.

Love Lena

PS: I'll probably be wearing Levis with a crease in them!!

On Being Grinchy

Sorry, Folks, but I've been a bit on the Grinchy side through the holidays. I just haven't been able to get into the holiday spirit much and I can't even tell you why. I guess things have piled up on me lately and I haven't handled it very well. I've been losing a lot of sleep for some reason, averaging only about three to four hours a night. I guess that could have a tendency to make one a bit on the Grinchy side.

Normally I love decorating the house and putting up the Christmas tree, but not this year. All it meant to me was just a bunch of work I'd have to undo again in short order. Ole and I took down the tree last night and the rest of the stuff is getting packed away today. I can't wait to get back to some form of normal if I can.

I should be looking forward to packing up the RV, and I guess I am - kinda. It means getting out of here - for awhile at least. And I do look forward to that. But there's been a bunch of things around here that have kind of beaten me down a bit; kind of like trying to swim in mud. Doesn't work very well. Why is it that if someone has an issue with something you do or say they don't have the guts to discuss the issue with you to your face? They'd rather go Pssst Pssst Pssst behind your back and talk about you and then when you happen to walk in on the conversation they're having they act all surprised and go on the defense? What a bunch of putzes.

Oh, well, enough of that. I'll get over it. I always do - it just takes me awhile sometimes.

So I apologize to all of you - I haven't been doing much reading of blogs so I'm way behind on everybody. If I've missed something important in your lives I'm sorry. But I won't tell you I'm going to try to catch up because when I look at the number of entries I would have to read in order to catch up it's overwhelming. Some of you have really been productive with your blogging throughout the Christmas season. Me? I've got nothing here.

Santa Claus was good to me though. Somehow he manages to blow me away every year with something totally unsuspecting. We've been putting off getting an LCD flatscreen TV because none of our TVs in the house were very old and all worked fine. So this year one just happened to show up under the tree and I must say it's really nice to watch. I guess that's what makes a good gift - something you wouldn't go out and buy for yourself and you really don't need but really like.

Ole got a wonderful gift from Lovely Daughter and Lars. They had a formal portrait taken of themselves with the two German Shepherds - Daisy and Beau. It is absolutely gorgeous. I'll have to post it - maybe tomorrow. Then they had a portrait of just the two doggers. I think people who can capture the personality of animals in a picture are some very special people. It takes a tremendous amount of patience to do that. And the personalities of these dogs shine through- Beau as kind of a little imp, full of mischief and fun; and Daisy very intense and somewhat neurotic. It all shows on their faces.

One of my fun things this year was buying fiestaware for Lovely Daughter. She has been interested in it for quite some time so I decided this year would be the year to get her started. I started her with two place settings, one scarlett and one evergreen, with a sunshine yellow pitcher. I had given her a cobalt blue gravy boat some time ago. When I went shopping for it I wanted to start my own collection, but I've already got four sets of dishes in the house already so I certainly don't need another one. I've got some beautiful complete sets left over from my mother, some that I've collected myself, and still I only use my plain white Correll. Isn't that boring? Maybe fiestaware would help spice up my life and change my attitude, huh? That sounds like a good excuse to me to go out and buy some.

But then maybe I better save my money because our goal is to pack the RV this weekend and be out of here by no later than Monday - depending on the weather of course. One always has to take that into consideration when you live around here. We're supposed to be hit with another storm tonight that will drop 4-6 inches of additional snow - AAAACCCCKKKK! Maybe all that white stuff is what's making me feel Grinchy.

Enough already, okay?

Ole and Lena's Christmas Wish for You

May da ruts always fit

the wheels of yur pickup,

May yur earmuffs alvays keep

out da nort vind,

My da sun shine varm on yur lefse,

May da rain fall soft on yur lutefisk,

And until we meet again,

May the Good Lord protect you

from any and all

unnecessary UFF DA'S!

God Bless

&

Gladelig Jul!!

Everything you ever wanted to know about Lena - -

But never dared ask. Well, not really EVERYTHING - but I've got to keep up with the cool kids so here goes.


1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii - twice
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (and DisneyWorld) many, many times
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped - You are kidding, right?
12. Visited Paris - headed that way once, but the people on the train were so rude we got off the train and headed for Luxemburg instead. Ole was traveling in uniform and the French hated Americans at that time.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France - there's that French thing again.
20. Slept on an overnight train - in Europe
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked - there are certain things I DID listen to my Mom about.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - when the sun doesn't come up until 8 o'clock and sets at 5 o'clock, that's not hard to do!
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish commuity
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - Then? or since the stock market took a dump?
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke - I do a mean Patsy Cline
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight - Yes, and watch out for the jellyfish!
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted - in Italy
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater - Ole and I grew up in the era of drive-in theaters - but who went to watch the movie anyway (snicker)!
55. Been in a movie -
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - Ole runs it but I own it!!
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching - In Hawaii and Iceland
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp - Dachau - it gave me nightmares
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - several as a matter of fact
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - many, many times
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House - at Christmas time no less - beautiful
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox - AND shingles
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit - and I won, too.
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

There you have it - that's my life!! Now tell me about yours!!

Love Lena

And How Cold Is It?

I read h20phobic's blog this morning. She's from Montana and she think's she's SO smart today because her thermometer read 16 degrees ABOVE zero this morning. Mine said 12 BELOW when I got up. My only consolation is that maybe her tropical weather will head this way (crossing fingers and toes and eyes).

Okay - so it's not officially winter yet - but it's right around the corner. Heck, in many places, it's around the corner and halfway down the street!! But I guess it could be worse. When you're outside bashing and bloodying your knuckles while you try to scrape the ice off your windshield at oh-dark-30, just keep telling yourself how very lucky you are. Why? Well, you know, you could be living in Frostbite Falls with me where there's a good chance it's about 40 degrees colder than wherever you are.

Big deal? What's so special about Frostbite Falls? Well, I'll tell you. There's some pretty special people that live up here. You gotta be pretty darn tough to survive living on the edge of the world. How many towns do you know where people leave their cars running all night long so they'll start in the morning? Everybody around here has a snowmobile just to ensure that they won't get cabin fever during "weather episodes" like we had last weekend. You notice we call them "weather episodes" not blizzards. The word Blizzards would only scare folks away. And we have to increase the population up here somewhow, or at least keep it stable. Anyway, most people put more miles on their snowmobile in a year than they do on their cars. Some folks have been known to build a fire under their tractor so it will start so they can move enough snow to get out of the driveway (snicker - I think we know him, don't we?)

Have you ever wondered what it's like to drive a vehicle in the winter in Frostbite Falls? First of all, you crawl into the car or the truck (most folks around here have 4-wheel drives - for safety purposes you know) and the springs in the seats are so stiff that it feels like you're sitting on a piece of plywood. Not much give there when you hit a bump. And if you've got vinyl seats - Woo - Hoo - that's like having to make a trip to the outhouse and sitting down on that frostcovered hole!! When you manage to get your transmission shifted into gear and take off down the road there's this strange whump-whump-whump sound coming from the tires because they're actually flat on one side from sitting in the cold overnight. The ride is just a bit rough for the first few miles.

I remember having a car that the speedometer cable froze up on, it made loud grinding noises and then broke. Don't go through a carwash on an extremely cold day - windshields have been known to break when the warm water hits them. Ole's steering wheel cracked one morning when he grabbed it to pull himself into the seat.

Ole had a super-soaker once. You know those great big squirt guns that kids used to have and you'd pump them up to make them squirt? Well, one day he filled one up, opened the shop door and let 'er rip. The gun shot the water out all right because it was warm inside the shop, but the water went up in the air about 10 feet and immediately turned to ice crystals. You could hear it tinkle as it hit the ground.

If you're venturing outside during one of our "cold snaps," especially at night, you can hear these exploding noises coming from the trees, particularly the evergreens. The sap in the trees freezes and splits open parts of the trees. When you're house starts groaning and cracking and snapping you know it's really cold out. One night I woke up with a start because I heard an extremely loud bang. I thought someone had driven into the side of our house but it was just the cold temperatures contracting the wood.

And if you're out walking in the snow when it's REALLY cold the snow squeeks with each step. It sounds like it's crying out in pain. You most certainly couldn't sneak up on anything or anybody when the snow squeaks so loud.

Now up here in the Northland people do a lot of ice fishing in the winter. There's a lot of vans and pickups that are used to plow snow off the lakes so the fishermen can get to the ice houses. They adapt the vehicles to this special task by simply cutting a hole in the top and covering it with a piece of canvas. Why, you ask? So the driver can escape if his truck goes through the ice and the doors get pinned closed. No lie (snicker)!!

And most importantly for all you novices that don't know how to deal with REALLY cold weather - make sure you wear gloves when you're pumping gas because human flesh can freeze fast to the gas pump handle in a very short period of time.

Now, granted, these things don't happen when it's *only* 12 below like it is as I write this, but when the temps get down to 20 below and colder, as it does commonly here in the winter - then you better be careful.

From your friend with icicles hanging from her nose,

Lena

How (but not why) Lutefisk Became a Delicacy!

Since it's getting close to Christmas and I haven't done my annual lutefisk rant yet, you people are in for it today. So grab a cup of coffee, make yourself comfortable and let me get this off my chest.

I am a half breed - half Norwegian and half Swedish. Just think of the conflict that must go on inside my head. Some things about being ScandiHOOvian I will never understand, and that is their love of lutefisk. It literally means "cod soaked in plutonium" - and dates back to the Viking era.

Writings from back then say that the Vikings came ashore from their long boats and shuffled along over the ground with their hands in their pockets. Their funny appearance (they were huge people and wore pants that made them look like musk ox) frightened the local villagers. So one day the village women decided to make them a special meal.

First they gathered cod in the traditional ScandiHOOvian way. They wrapped their arms around the middle sections of seals and squeezed real hard making the cod pop back out. (This later became known as the Heimlich maneuver. Today it's used to save the lives of folks who have a whole codfish lodged in their throats.) After gathering the cod - despite what I may have implied earlier - they did NOT soak the fish in plutonium. No, the village women really wanted the Vikings to suffer. So they soaked the cod in lye. I'm not kidding. The same lye, as you know, that is an industrial strength chemical and is used to clean your drains.

Remember, I told you that the day of the storm the Sons of Norway had to cancel their annual lutefisk supper. Well, they held it last night. And Ole and I, being the good ScandiHOOvians that we are - well, he's a Finlander, but he came along just in case he had to do that Heimlich maneuver on me - we attended this annual lutefisk supper with some friends that are members of the Sons of Norway. I love the Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and gravy. But the main course, not surprisingly, was the same delicacy served to those Vikings way back when.

Anyway, the Vikings ate ravenously of this marvelous new food, despite having to chew so hard and long on the rubbery fish that in many cases, horns actually grew out of their heads. History books tell us that within a few years the Viking era ended. Most historians think the invention of more powerful weapons doomed the proud, sea-faring warriors. But some historians cling to another theory: It's pretty hard to wander the globe plundering and pillaging when you cannot wander more than 50 feet from the toilet.

In the centuries since, lutefisk has not only remained a crowd-pleaser among the ScandiHOOvian folks, it's also become very important in training sled dogs. We have a musher that lives about a half mile from us and frequently in the winter we'll see him running his dogs down the river yelling at them "Vichvin yew moots vants da lutefisk?" or "Which one of you mutts wants da lutefisk?" Then of course, they run faster because none of them want it!!

But back to the dinner.

The Sons of Norway shouldn't be confused with a similar sounding group - the Sons of Silence. The Sons of Silence don't hold a lutefisk dinner every year. And the Sons of Norway don't wear helmets, goggles and leather clothing - unless they're preparing lutefisk . . .

The dinner was to start at 5 o'clock, but being good ScandiHOOvians we, of course, arrived at 4:30. ScandiHOOvians are always early, you know. At 5 o'clock the eating began. Throughout the dinner an accordion player entertained the crowd with all the traditional lutefisk eating songs.

Approximately 1.43 seconds after receiving my plate of food that contained a chunk of lutefisk that was the same size as my head, along with a plastic fork, one of the members putting the dinner on came up and asked me if everything was okay. The plastic fork, it turns out, couldn't cut the lutefisk, which is also used as roofing material in Denmark, I'm told. Because I couldn't think of the Norwegian word for "chainsaw" I stuffed the entire slab of lutefisk into my mouth and swallowed.

That quickly ended my conversation with the questioner. I excused myself and headed for "the facilities." Seems someone else had a bit too much lutefisk also. I could tell because she was screaming "Oh, Good Lard! Ven vill yew be dun in dare?" and kept slamming her head against the door so hard that it was making the seat vibrate!!

To quote Forrest Gump - "That's all I have to say about that!"

A Bitter Cold Weather Blizzard Story

I know, I know, you're probably getting tired of us Northerners talking about the weather and how cold it is up here at the edge of the world. But when it's so cold and you're housebound for months at a time you've got to have something to talk about. There's always one-upsmanship in the weather category. So here goes, okay?

Back when Lovely Daughter was 5 years old we took a trip to visit Big Brother over the Christmas holidays. He was living in California at that time - out in the desert where he was employed as a "rocket scientist." Of course the weather was beautiful at that time - up in the 70s in the daytime although it did get a bit nippy at night.

One day Ole and Big Brother's son, who was about 12 at the time went out riding dirt bikes in the desert, and unfortunately they had an accident on their way back to Big Brother's house. Ole broke some toes on one foot and did some other damage to his leg (the one he just had surgery on in October. I think that's where all his problems started.) So he couldn't wear a real shoe because of his broken toes.

We had initially flown out there to buy an old Mustang (car) and drive it back to Minnesota to sell it. California cars are noted for not having any rust, you know, and California Mustangs were selling for big bucks back here at that time. Big Brother had found a beautiful creamy yellow '68 convertible with a black top for us. So when the time came we loaded up the car and headed north. We had the "smarts" when we packed to go to CA, knowing we would be driving back in January, that we better pack lots of warm clothes in case we got caught in a storm or something.

Of course at that time of the year there was bad weather in the mountains, so we had to take the southern route through Arizona and New Mexico to get out of there. All went well for the first day or two until we got up into Nebraska and we started hearing weather reports of a bad blizzard in South Dakota. That was back in the days when Ole thought he was invincible. We drove into the storm about the time we crossed the Nebraska/South Dakota border - and was it a storm to end all storms. Lovely Daughter was sitting in the back seat with every piece of winter clothing on that we had along, wrapped up in blankets and coats to the point that all you could see were these big brown eyes peeping out of her coverings. Ole and I had our long down coats on and couldn't stay warm. You see, this was a California car and even though it had a heater I don't think it had ever been turned on - and it wasn't working at all.

The snow was blowing so hard that we could barely see the front of the car, let alone see ahead of you. Ole many times had to stick his head out the window to watch the white line in the middle of the road. I watched the white line on the side of the road to keep from going in the ditch. And we heard on the radio at that time that the wind chill was 100 degrees below zero - and Ole with no boots on - just a sock and a moccasin on the foot with broken toes. It was so cold in the car that the snow was blowing in where the convertible top met the windshield. It landed on the dash and didn't melt. And if you know anything about South Dakota, you know it's pretty sparsely populated and it can be a long, long ways between towns.

I finally convinced Ole to stop so we pulled into Watertown, SD and managed to find a motel room. Fortunately Ole is very mechanical and automotively knowledgeable. So he dumped us in the motel room and took off to find something to fix the heater with. He found an automotive supply store that was open, bought what he needed and headed for the nearest car wash where he knew it would be warm and out of the wind so he could work on the car. He had to kick some kids out of the car wash that were hanging around doing nothing, flushed the radiator and the heater core, got all kinds of gunk out of it, replaced the thermostat and he was back in business. The heater blew all kinds of warm air.

So he stopped and picked up a pizza and made it back to the motel. Now the next problem was how were we going to get that car started the next morning when the forecast was for 40 below zero temps that night. Never fear, Ole's mind is always working. He had purchased a dip stick heater at the supply store, plugged that in and then took out the battery and brought it into the hotel room to keep it warm.

The next morning we woke up to bright sunshine and no wind and the 40 below temperatures. Ole brought the battery out and installed it, unplugged the dip stick heater and the car started right up. Now mind you, this car still had California plates on it, and it was the ONLY one at the motel that was running. Ole had a pair of jumper cables in the trunk, so he hobbled around in his moccasin and jumped a number of other cars to help get them started. The best one was when he drove over to a car with Alaska plates, hooked up the jumper cables and got the guy's car started. The guy looked in amazement and asked if Ole was REALLY from California. Of course Ole had to say yes, and then asked, "Does it always get this cold around here?"

We made the remainder of the trip without incident and landed home safe and sound within a couple of hours. But when I think of what COULD have happened to us in that storm - well, let's not go there, okay?

Love Lena

The Leftovers

"DANGEROUS WIND CHILLS WILL CONTINUE TODAY..WINDS TODAY WILL BE NW AT 15 TO 20 MPH WITH A FEW GUSTS AND THESE SPEEDS COMBINED WITH BITTERLY COLD TEMPS WILL RESULT IN WIND CHILLS IN THE 25 TO 40 BELOW ZERO RANGE THROUGH EARLY EVENING."



The storm is over. The wind died down sometime during the night and this morning dawned bright and sunny but bitterly cold. I spent the morning blowing snow off the deck and cleaning off the concrete in front of the driveway. Ole's been out in the tractor cleaning out the driveway and had to run the half mile into town to get gas before he was done. Unfortunately on his way home from the gas station he got a flat tire. Definitely not the kind of weather to have a flat, and on a tractor yet. He drove the tractor home on the flat, pulled it off the tractor, dumped it in the truck and took off for town to buy a new tire. So he won't be done moving snow until sometime this afternoon.



I've started a pan of homemade carmel rolls. I thought that would be a good treat for him after he's spent the day out in the cold.



So here's some pictures of the leftovers from the storm. Yes, I know it's pretty and all, but having to deal with it when it's so cold out just isn't any fun. I looked like Frosty the Snowman by the time I got done blowing snow because no matter which direction I turned the shoot on the blower it always blew back into my face. Brrr.

I have a blizzard story to tell you, but that will have to wait until later. Right now I've got to get back to my carmel rolls.

Love Lena

THE OTHER SHOE DROPPED

"LIFE THREATENING BLIZZARD CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE OVER EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA AND WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA."

Ole and I have been listening to all the cancellation announcements on the radio this morning. And horror of horrors - The lutefisk supper at the Sons of Norway Hall had to be postponed for tonight. Ole and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. All those poor Norskies will have to park their salivary glands until next weekend and just wait to enjoy their lutefisk. There won't be a problem keeping it that long I'm sure because after being soaked in all that lye water it certainly won't spoil anymore than it already is.

This is a very dangerous blizzard and it's hit with a vengeance. We're currently having 50 mph winds, it's snowing sideways, (but then it always snows sideways here) and visibility is down to zero in the country and less than a block in the city. Even in our yard, which is lined on all four sides with rows of very large evergreens, we can occasionally get a glimpse of Daughter's house, but mostly all we see is white. All the highways are closed and we're hoping that Ole doesn't get called out on a fire call.

My deck has become a bird sanctuary. I've got several large feeders out and loaded them all yesterday and placed them on small tables right next to the house in front of the windows - mostly so they would be protected from the wind but also for cat entertainment purposes. When I walked out into the living room this morning Lucy was sitting in the bay window face to face with a squirrel. They were busy chattering back and forth at each other.



That's my grandmother's Christmas cactus over on the left. It's covered with blossoms this year. I'll have to get a better picture of it for you. Here's the resident squirrel talking back to Lucy.




Here's more entertainment for Lucy. She flattens herself on the floor in front of the window and pretends the birds can't see her. Then her whiskers go a mile a minute and she chatters on and on. The birds drive her crazy.
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Then she took up residence on Ole's lap where it was warm. By the way, it's Lucy's birthday tomorrow. I'm sure she's appreciate any gifts of catnip that you may want to send her way!!

A bit later it was nap time with Senior Citizen Simon.

If one spot doesn't suit them they can always find another.

I've been meaning to share this with you for some time. We take Daisy and Beau for a run in the country every night. Isn't it amazing what internal clocks animals have? Every afternoon about 4:30 they start poking Ole in the leg convincing him that it's time to go for their run. They're very persistent and become more and more obnoxious if Ole doesn't drop everything and put them in the truck. Of course it's too cold for them to ride in the back now, so they're in the cab with us. Thank heavens Ole's got a big truck. When they get close to the point where Ole let's them out they become - well - here, take a look for yourself. You'd think that Daisy is being whipped to within an inch of her life - all she wants to do is get out ~ ~ ~

I think Ole and I are going to bake cookies this afternoon. It's a good day to do it. So come over for coffee and fresh cookies later, okay?

Love Lena

Waiting for the Shoe to Drop

“A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM CST MONDAY.
HEAVY SNOW WILL DEVELOP TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FROM THIS STORM WILL RANGE FROM 7 TO 14 INCHES. THE SNOW... COMBINED WITH NORTH WINDS GUSTING TO 40 MPH... WILL PRODUCE NEAR ZERO VISIBILITY IN WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ALL THE WAY THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING. THE WINDS WILL ALSO PRODUCE LIFE THREATENING WIND CHILLS AS LOW AS 45 BELOW ZERO SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

THE COMBINATION OF SNOWFALL... STRONG WINDS... AND LOW WIND CHILLS WILL MAKE THIS BLIZZARD A VERY SERIOUS... LIFE THREATENING ONE. CONDITIONS WILL DETERIORATE THIS EVENING AND BE AT THEIR WORST LATE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY.”

Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about having a white Christmas, do we. I could most definitely do without all of this. But I guess if you live this close to the Canadian border you have to put up with it. This afternoon the local weather guesser predicted that this blizzard would/could be as nasty as the blizzards of ‘96/’97, and they were blizzards I really don’t want to live through again.

Oh, well, there’s not much I can do about it except live through it. Ole filled all the gas cans so we have gas for the generators so we can stay warm, filled the tractor so that we will have gas to blow the snow out of the driveway. I sent him to the store this afternoon to lay in supplies so we won’t starve so I don’t know what else we can do except hunker down and accept it all. But we’re tough Northerners so we can do it. I just hope we don’t get freezing rain and ice because the last time that happened we were without electricity for a week.

I know I have readers out in Montana and that they know what it feels like to be 45 degrees below zero, but I’m betting not a lot of other readers can even conceive of that.

We went down to the local Watering Hole for supper tonight because they had a steak special. Really good. And besides that, we knew we better have other human contact now while we had the opportunity because with this weather moving in who knows when the next outside human contact will be. Had a good visit with Bob and Carol; fun. Carol is this big cookie aficionado and bakes dozens of different kinds of cookies for Christmas and gives them all away. It’s really a sin – she’s as thin as a toothpick - and passes all these calories out to everyone else so she can make all their waste lines thick. It’s just not fair. Dick & Jane and Ted & Alice were also down there having supper, friendly as could be, so it was a pleasant evening.

Ole and I hauled the Christmas tree upstairs this afternoon. We’ll “dress” it tomorrow afternoon because, of course, we won’t be able to get out of the house according to the forecast. Here’s hoping they’re WRONG!!!

Love Lena

A Bit of Nostalgia

When I was a little girl my father was a farmer in north central North Dakota, where the farms are small compared to what they are here in the Red River Valley. My father farmed 400 acres of soil that wasn't very productive, especially during the dry years of the early 50s. In order to hang onto the farm he had to take another job, which ended up being something called a "grease monkey" for a road construction crew. Not exactly a politically correct job title in today's society, but back then that's what it was. Today he would have been called a mechanic for heavy equipment.

So my Mother was forced to move from an eleven room farm house into a 25 foot trailer house with three kids, and no indoor plumbing. We lived like gypsies. I won't say we even became "trailer trash" because that indicates you embed yourself in one place. We didn't. We moved from one location to another, following the progress of the road that the construction crew was working on. Many times I remember my Father coming to the trailer and telling my Mother, "We've got to be moved down the road to the next location within one hour." And we would.
Now mind you, there were 20 to 30 families living like this - vagabonds. And a big "cook car" - which was a mobile kitchen, run by several ladies who would do all the meal preparation for the single guys who worked on the crew. Inside on one end was a kitchen, and the remainder was one long table going through the center of the car with benches on each side for the guys to sit and eat.

So this whole procession of trailers and the cook car would go down the road several miles to another location, which was usually some rancher's pasture, pull in and set up camp. Now think about this - this was a pasture - no well for running water, or sanitation faciliites. First things first - several holes would be dug for the outdoor biffies, then one very large hole to bury garbage. Then a truck with a huge water tank on the back would arrive and park itself somewhat centrally located. One of my brother's regular jobs was to fill water into buckets and haul it to our trailer whenever needed so we had water to drink, cook and wash dishes with. Baths were taken once a week in a large round galvanized tub that my mother used to wash clothes in every Monday. Otherwise you did a "spit and polish" between the times when you would sit in the galvanized tub. And all HOT water was made hot by heating it in a large pot on a gas kitchen stove.

I often think when we're out traveling in our motorhome, my Mother would have thought she'd died and gone to heaven with all the conveniences I have. Completely self-contained - solar powered, gas/electric hot water heater, same for the frig, TV, air conditioning - We often park in the middle of the desert for weeks at a time when we travel in the winter, and have all those conveniences. She had NONE of that. But then neither did anyone else in the "camp."

Going to town for groceries on Saturday afternoon was always a big event. We got to go to TOWN!! They were mere wide spots in the road, and sometimes up to 30 miles away on gravel roads, but it was still a big event. Places like Elgin, Carson, Cannon Ball, Amidon, Black Butte, Flasher - some of which no longer even exist other than a few fallen-in buildings. But at that time most every little town had some kind of a grocery store where a big treat would be a bottle of pop (soda to you NON-upper-midwesterners). Nesbitts orange and grape Nehi were my favorites.

I have very fond memories of those days as a kid - playing with all the other "camp kids" out in the pasture not knowing what you were going to "step" in or find - and that included rattle snakes!! Most generally the rattle snakes were hunted out of the area we were going to be camping in. The construction company would send their snake crew in ahead of time and they would locate the snake dens and clean them out. An ugly, dangerous job, but it had to be done.

I remember very vividly a time when a large bull snake decided he was going to move in under our trailer. He was only about six feet long and possibly six inches in circumference. The scariest part was that these snakes would crawl up into the underside of the trailers looking for warmth on chilly nights, and could possibly get into your house. Wouldn't that be cute - wake up during the night and have a snake that size trying to crawl under your covers to warm up!! That's just slightly intimidating. We didn't know it at the time but bull snakes weren't poisonous - but beneficial. They caught lots of mice. I don't care - I still wouldn't want him for a bed partner - AAAACCCCKKKK!

Most of the roads that my Father worked on were in western North Dakota and all over South Dakota - a very slimly populated area, even back then. It's even more thinly populated now, but still holds a mystique for me when I travel the area. There's something so hauntingly beautiful about it. Take a look.

PSSST: You may want to go waaaay down to the bottom of the page and turn off the Christmas music because this video has it's own music. Somehow they just wouldn't sound good together!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How Cold Does it Get in Frostbite Falls?

Well, folks, just check that little weather thingie over there to the right and you can see how cold it is right now. As I write this morning the current temperature is 7 degrees ABOVE zero, but our local Weather Guesser tells us we're in for a snowstorm this weekend with 8-12 inches of snow and a cold snap next week. By Tuesday we're supposed to have a 20 below zero nighter. I told Ole I better find his red long handles so he can stay warm next week.

If we get 8-12 inches of snow that means Ole's going to have to get his tractor going with the 8 foot snowblower on it. Moving the snow these days is a breeze compared to what it used to be when we first moved out here.

When we bought this property Ole decided we had to build the house WAY back away from the highway, so that required a really long driveway - about a quarter mile long - and besides that it's got two curves in it. It's pretty in the summer because we've got trees planted along each side of it the entire length. But it can be a real bugger in the winter when you're trying to get in and out and everything is white. It can be a bugger to blow the snow off it also, but then that's not my job, so . . .

For the first few years after we built the house Ole used the tractor below to move snow. It had a bucket on the front at that time, and lots of levers to push and pull in order to go forward and back and to get the bucket to go up and down to dump the snow. He would dress up in his snowmbile suit, put his face mask on, and pile blankets on the metal seat in order to keep from getting frostbite on his backside because the seat was so cold.

That old clunker was a beast to start when it was below zero. It didn't have an engine heater on like the cars up in the Northland do, so sometimes it would take hours to get the engine warm enough to get it started. Now Ole, being the ingenius person that he is, came up with a solution. He would park the tractor alongside the garage so it was out of the wind. Then he filled a five-gallon metal bucket full of old gunny sacks and poured fuel oil over them. He would set that bucket underneath the engine, cover the front of the tractor with a big tarp and then light the bucket on fire. It would burn like a huge candle and by golly that tractor would start in less than an hour. You see, when it's that cold the engine oil gets so thick it's like a brick and the engine can't turnover to start the tractor. You just have to thin that oil out a bit and then things move right along. I was always afraid the house would burn down.

After a few years of fighting with that old tractor and freezing his tookus off all the time, he graduated to a four-wheel-drive pickup with a blade on the front. We got into the 20th century because now he was sitting inside with a heater and the truck could be plugged in to start it. The only problem with that was that Ole didn't think a four-wheel-drive could get stuck. WRONG! When a four-wheel-drive gets stuck it's REALLY stuck. He had to be pulled out of snowbanks more than once by sombody with a bigger truck. And he still needed to wear his red long-handles because he had to get outside to shovel the truck out!

Now Ole thinks he's pretty smart. He got a newer tractor with a cab and a heater and a big snowblower and a set of chains for the big wheels. And he doesn't get stuck anymore and he stays toasty warm. He doesn't have to wear his red long handles anymore and sometimes he even has to take his jacket off.

But I still hope we don't get that 8-12 inches of snow that's forecast. Ick.

Love, Lena

PS: Local news article from last year: "Police arrested an intoxicated man one cold morning for urinating on a car in public. His claim? He was only trying to thaw out the frozen locks on his car."

My Very Own Charlie Brown Christmas

Okay, my time out is over. I've sat in the corner long enough now. And thanks to those of you who have written in concern and telling me that you miss my stories, etc. I truly didn't start this blog to become a story teller, but I guess when you're as old as I am you have a few under your belt to tell.

I'm having a lot of trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. I'm really working at coming out of this grand funk, but unfortunately I think it's a long way to the light at the end of the tunnel. But I'm working on it. I guess that's all I can ask, right?

As I was laying awake during the middle of the night last night I was pondering many things, remembering interesting moments in my life and my thoughts turned to the Christmases we spent living in Iceland.

Christmases of 1969 and 1970 were spent in Iceland in a town called Keflavik, located on the far southwestern peninsula of the country, just outside the gates of the NATO Base that's located there. We were 30 miles from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and between the two cities ran the only paved road in the entire country. All the other roads were surfaced with ash from volcanoes. Iceland is extremely volcanic, and had two "pop their tops" in the short time we were there. To my knowledge there have been about a half dozen erruptions within the last 20 years - kind of scary, but extremely impressive.

One of the things difficult to get used to in Iceland was the fact that there were NO trees. That meant no Christmas trees either. So all the Christmas trees had to be ordered in June for shipment into the country in November. Thanksgiving came, the trees arrived and Ole went to pick up our little four footer. Understandably, it was so dry by this point it went snap, crackle, pop and every time it was touched about a thousand needles fell off - and we hadn't even set it up yet. We soaked it in water and did everything else we thought would help, but the poor little tree was so far gone by this time it was hopeless. BUT - we had no more to pick from as all the trees were spoken for so we had to make do with what we had. Now being a fairly new bride and new to the country, I of course wanted Christmas to be "perfect." Ole was one of the few enlisted men who had his wife in-country - most of the guys his rank were there alone and not able to go home for the holidays, so we invited a number of them to our house to spend Christmas.

The morning of Christmas Eve I was busy cleaning in preparation for our company, when I bumped the tree stand with the vacuum cleaner. That was the last straw for that little tree. It was already pretty bare but this bump knocked every last needle off. I had a Charlie Brown tree with glass balls and lights. NOW what was I to do. Our tree was bare, we had company coming that I wanted to have a nice Christmas for, and there was not another real tree to be had in the entire country. I made a tearful phonecall to Ole at work and he advised me to run downtown and check on the artificial trees we had seen in the hardware store window. At this point there were three left in the window, one all white, one aluminum and one beautiful green, ferny, lacy one about 5 feet tall that cost $40. It was made in Denmark and was gorgeous. Now mind you, at this point we didn't have a pot to pee in financially, and we certainly could not afford $40 for an artificial tree, but I just knew if I brought home the silver one or the white one I could just as well pack my bags and fly back home. Ole would never stand for that - it was quite an accomplishment just for him to allow an artificial tree at all!! But home it went - I would deal with his wrath later.

By the time he got home I had the tree set up and decorated and even he had to admit it was wonderful - until he found out how much it cost. BUT - we used that tree until 1999 when we donated it to Lovely Daughter and her husband and the tree moved to Quantico, VA and celebrated Christmas with them for several years. We purchased the tree in 1969 and finally retired it to the thrift store in the year 2001, so if you pro-rate it out, we certainly got our money's worth, don't you think? Maybe we should have kept it just for nostalgic purposes.

The Icelandics are very big on Christmas. Because of the island's global position, days are very short, and by Christmas time there's only about four hours of daylight, but the Northern Lights are spectacular. The long hours of darkness probably explain why the Icelandics are so big into lighting at Christmastime. EVERYTHING is lit up - even the cemeteries. Their houses have beautiful displays and every apartment balcony has lights strung in various configurations. And what you DON'T see (or didn't at the time we were there) were the garish displays of blow up santas and snowmen and moving things all over everyone's yard and rooftop, etc. Things always seemed to be tastefully done.

Reykjavik is situated along a fjord. As you enter the city in the darkness, coming over the mountain overlooking this city of 100,000 people spread along the ocean, it's quite a fabulous sight. All of the fishing boats and trawlers and large ocean-going vessels are lit with Christmas lights, and it almost makes your heart stop.

All over the countryside and on the edges of the city and the towns the Icelandics build huge bonfires that are burned on a nightly basis between Christmas and New Years, with the biggest set on New Year's Eve, along with huge displays of fireworks.

One way to keep your children in line in Iceland is to tell them about all the trolls that live in the countryside. Santa Claus doesn't have elves for helpers in Iceland - the local trolls watch you all year long to make sure you're being good. And if you could see the rough terrain of the countryside - all huge rocks in weird shapes and forms - and imagine driving those roads at night with headlights flashing - you soon can imagine you truly see trolls dashing from one rock to another, "watching" you. Especially if you've had a drop or two of aquavit!!

What are YOUR most fond memories of Christmas?

Time Out

When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on!!

Poof - it's gone

A nuclear war took place at our house last night. The atomic bomb exploded and Sky Blue Waters was blown from the face of the Earth.

Poof - it's gone.

Part Deux of the Gossip Mongers

If you don't have the link or the password for my private blog please email me at lenaswenson@gmail.com and I'll forward you the information.

The Gossip Mongers

If you don't have my new password for Sky Blue Waters, please email me. There's info over there about the gossip mongers.

Love Lena

Ole's Office

In past blogs I've mentioned that Ole wore a three-piece suit, white shirt and tie to the office for 30 years. He retired at 55, and that's a few years ago now, but we just won't say how many. Since he retired I haven't been able to get him to wear anything more formal than a flannel shirt, blue jeans and cowboy boots. But, believe it or not, he still goes to his office every day. Now, mind you, I didn't say it was the SAME office, but he does go to his office.

Here's a picture of it. It's his F250 three-quarter ton truck.

Can't you tell by all the important papers lined up on the dash in front of the steering wheel? His XM radio, the box of milk bones and the phone book all placed strategically on the dash? I told him the other day that I was going to take a picture of the inside of his "office" so he must have gotten busy and straightened it out because it's usually piled so high with important stuff that the window defrosters can't blow on the windshield. And in Minnesota, that's pretty important. Oh yes, there's also about six inches of dog hair all over everything because his dogger buddies are a very integral part of this office.

That's Beau on the left and Daisy on the right.

You see, he needed a big truck so his buddies would have plenty of room to wander around in the back. Since this picture was taken he's put "sideboards" on the back of the truck so there's no danger of them falling out when they lean way over the sides to get their noses into the wind better. But it's too cold for them to ride in the back now, so they ride in the front.

Here's coming -

And here's going -

Ole often says the truck is their truck - they just let him drive it. Under no circumstances does that truck leave the yard without Beau and Daisy in it. And if they're waiting in the truck while Ole is doing something in a store, you better not touch their truck either. They'll let you know, whether they're in the back or the front, that touching their truck is completely against their rules. Ole says they're the best "chick magnet" he's ever seen. When he's in town all the pretty young girls, (and the old ones,too) roll down their windows at the stop signs and want to talk to the doggers. Of course they're more than willing to oblige with a bark or two and lots of tail wagging.

Ole goes to the gym three times a week and the doggers wait patiently inside the truck until he comes out. Then they go to either Burger Time or McD's and have burgers and fries for lunch. In the summertime they stop for a DQ sometimes, and entertain everyone in the parking lot because Ole always shares.

Another mandatory job of Ole's office is to take the doggers for their nightly run. They live in dog heaven - we've got five acres in the country that they can run freely on whenever they please, patrolling the yard and keeping it free of rabbits and squirrels. After all they have to earn their keep somehow. But every night at 5 o'clock they start poking Ole in the leg - it's time to go for a run. So Ole and I hop in the truck, put the doggers in the middle now that it's cold (believe me that gets crowded) and cruise the country roads while they run the ditches scaring up gophers and rabbits and an occasional skunk.

Yup - that's right - skunks. Most of them are hibernating now, but occasionally on a nice warm day they come out about dusk and if they happen to run into Daisy, they let her have it. She just doesn't learn. One week she got skunked twice. Beau on the other hand seems to be just a bit smarter. After he got skunked the first time he now turns tail and runs when they come across one. I guess Daisy just has a more controlling attitude and isn't going to let the skunk get the best of her. Little does she know that she's really the loser in that situation. Then somebody has to come home and scrub the smell out of her. Glad they're not MY dogs (snicker).

Life is entertaining at times.

Love Lena

ADDITIONAL INFO ABOUT OLE'S OFFICE:

As K-Lo so kindly reminded me - I forgot to tell you how nationally famous the doggers are. Click on the link below and watch the video all the way to the end. Maybe you saw it on the national news when it first came out - if you did you just didn't know who those guys were at the end. Now you know - It's Ole and the doggers!!

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=5923649