Arrived!

   Now it feels like I've fully arrived at the Old Folk's Home. Gaining access to the garage a few weeks ago now am upgraded to a parking spot near the elevator. 😁 There are fewer storage lockers than residents but now I have one of them. They're a bit larger than the one at the downtown condo. It's large enough that if filled only about a third. The extra space in the apartment is nice. Now there's a project in the works. More stuff is needed so the storage locker get filled up. This should be easily done.

Takk for alt.

Al

                   A band welcomed us to Lithuania. 

I am here, then.

    Where did you think I was? Certainly here is a good guess wherever here may be, not to be confused with hear which I often don't. Here is the Old Folk's Home, at which Kaia and I arrived today. We came a day earlier than planned. The 4th of July in Sinai is torture for dogs with the constant explosion of fireworks late into the night. It agitates Kaia, perhaps she thinks its gunfire and she should be retrieving something. The quiet of the OFH is much better for her. After the 4th we'll return to The Little House.

   Amy G, with her friend, Trevor, are here so I came to MN so we could have a visit which we did. It's a lovely day to sit outside for a leisurely lunch. When visitors arrive from Australia coming to the OFH a day early makes sense, Amy once lived with Joanne and me for several months. In 2019 I visited her in Melbourne where she's on the faculty of the University of Melbourne. 

Takk for alt,

Al

                    Lunch with Amy and Kaia.

Grief Happens!

       Living in the land of grief, as I have for four plus years, I've experienced the randomness of grief. Day by day I do not dwell in the awareness of grief. Writers about grief often mention the unexpected triggers of grief. Hearing a song, smelling a fragrance, seeing a picture and any of a number of things can trigger an experience of grief. 

      The sales closure of the Minneapolis condo surprised me with grief. In the almost six months it was on the market there were a number of issues to deal with. Discouraged by the few showings the months dragged on making me anxious to sell. "Won't someone please buy it?" was my internal remonstrance. Many offering encouragement said "It'll sell." "Easy for you to say!"  I thought. Selling it was the last significant step in full transition to residence in the Old Folk's Home. Just be done with it!!! Kinda expensive, too, maintaining two places.

      So yesterday was final closing and I'm surprised by grief!  Didn't see that one coming. Sure there was much relief but grief? Nope, didn't expect that!  Now that I'm in it, it makes perfect sense. The finality of leaving our place. The one into which Joanne poured her creative energies. The place of her hospice and death. The place of eight years of living and entertaining together. Yup! shoulda seen that one coming but too focused on details, worry and looking for relief. 

     The memories remain, primarily that it was a great place to live for awhile. Joanne loved it, got to remodel it, chose hospice there so chose to die there. The sadness is missing her. That doesn't go away. Yet, there is so much for which to be grateful and I am.

Takk for alt,

Al

I was fond of posting pictures captioned 'how pretty snow is from the 15th floor.'

Fully Closed!

      Sale of #1517, 121 Washington Ave. S, Minneapolis, MN 55401, was made official at noon today. Selling took six months given the soft market for downtown condos. 

    It's mostly a relief tinged with a bit of melancholy. It's the final step of transition into the Old Folk's Home and one less thing about which to worry, therefore the relief. Melancholy because it was a great place for Joanne and me for several years. She took great delight in renovating it to her tastes. It was the only time she had that opportunity, consequently it held much of her essence. She loved living there and the Skyway was a boon to her in retirement.  It is also the place of her final days and death. As life moves on some of that essence gets left behind. It was the place of many memorable times with family and friends. Her love of entertaining brought many to that home.

    So, now I reside comfortably in the Old Folk's Home interspersed with time in The Little House. When I found a house for sale in Sinai our interaction on the phone went like this:  Al, "There's a house for sale in Sinai." Joanne, "Buy it!"  So we did. She loved it. The Old Folk's Home would also be a perfect place for her, so many new friends. 

   Yes, a bit melancholy, but full of gratitude.

Takk for alt,

Al

                      In the dining room of the Old Folk's Home.

"Summertime and the living is easy..."

" Summertime

And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich
And your ma is good-lookin'
So hush, little baby
Don't you cry"     George Gershwin from Porgy and Bess

   Music like this makes me wish I could sing. Retirement means I no longer need to try to sing. The miracle of modern technology brings this song from my phone to my hearing aids. Perhaps I get all the sounds. When  I first got hearing aids and listened to CDs with which I was familiar I was struck by all the sounds I'd been missing before aids.

   This is another rare day in June with sunshine, temperature in the lower 70s and a breeze. Joanne would find this a perfect day. Her comfort zone was below 75. She was famous for going out on subzero days wearing just a windbreaker. She never did take to the beautiful, knitted, Norwegian cap she was given.

    Yes, "the livin is easy" for me. I am blessed and grateful!

Takk for alt,

Al

The temperature was in the 70's in Ayutthaya so Met dressed in coat and hat to do the ironing, thinking it was cold.  😃

Looks Like Snow!

      The large, craggy, old catalpa tree next door recently leafed out. The leaves were followed by white blossoms. The blossoms don't last long and now they're falling like snow. Over the summer the blossoms will be followed by long pods which create a bit of a mess.  A bit of chain link fence separates the tree from The Little House which keeps the leaves and pods at bay. The neighbor's yard was once fenced but some was removed and Jose never replaced it.

      Green is the color of the day. Trees, grass, cornfields, soybeans, alfalfa provide a palette of greens. I've often written that there is nothing more green than a field of rice but the local greens are good competition. Last night's lightening produced no rain and some would be welcome now. A bit of a breeze by a high of 73 degrees means "what is so rare as a day in June?"

Takk for alt,

Al

One of the losses caused by COVID was my volunteering at Noble Academy. This picture is from a field trip to Valley Fair.

Hot weather!

     With summer has come hot weather. Now, for awhile, I'm not cold.  With a comfort zone that starts at 75 degrees and goes up this is my weather. However, there is a/c in the OFH, The Little House, car and truck and I use it. The difference is when I'm outside. Below 75 and I'm cold and above it feels fine. 

   The biggest disappointment of summer is the loss of daylight. While not obvious for awhile, psychologically knowing that daylight shortens reminds that that long period of time when I'm frequently cold is coming. Now I'm only cold when I'm in restaurant with a/c set to frigid.  

Takk for alt,

Al

Staircase in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Gone but not forgotten.

       Many machines have passed through my ownership. Coming across this picture of my truck and bulldozer brought back memories. The bulldozer was a '40s Alice Chalmers HD-10. It was used to bury rock piles, build dams and other projects. When it threw a track I learned how hard it was to get the track back on. It ran very well but the tracks were near the end of their life. With the projects complete it was put up for sale. It sold to a buyer  in McAllen, TX. He was pleased to get it. His father had farmed with one when he was a boy and it had been sold on auction.  To retrieve it he sent a semi-truck to haul it to Texas.

      The picture shows the dozer loading/unloading from my 1970 Diamond Reo. It was a lovely truck but with the dozer sold it wasn't needed. It also took up much space in my shop. It sold locally.

Takk for alt,

Al

 

Sweet!

        The Wednesday noon meals, to which I'm invited with the bankers and butchers, is usually done on a grill in front of the firehall. Arriving in Sinai at noon yesterday, Tuesday, the grill was out in front of the firehall, a huge hint that bankers lunch was happening. Ambling up to the bank it was quickly apparent that the bank board was meeting.  The banker told me to come back tomorrow at noon because there will be leftovers.

     There were leftovers! Steak, baked potatoes, salad and rhubarb pie with real whipped cream. There were only four of us, three bankers and I. One banker is on vacation back to her native The Philippines. During my stint in the Marines I spent some time in The Philippines so we enjoy comparing notes. It was special that they invited me in for leftovers!

Takk for alt,

Al

              Sibelius memorial, Helsinki, Finland.

What I don't know!

     Reading history is always an exercise in demonstrating all I don't know. Latitude measures north and south while longitude does east and west. Latitude has been relatively easy to measure for centuries because of one habit. It's been the habit of the sun to rise in the east and set in the west, almost forever. There is no comparable way to easily determine longitude. How can the distance a sailing ship  has travelled east or west be measured? That difficulty meant that ships were often far off course at sea until a method of  measuring longitude was discovered.

    Between 1730-1770, John Harrison built five clocks that could keep accurate time aboard ship. What's the big deal? Until those inventions clocks used pendulums to keep time. What do you think would happen to pendulums at sea. With Harrison's, non-pendulum clocks. a ship leaving London could tell the exact London time, of the sun's apex (noon) at the ship's location. That would give the ship a true reading on how far east/west if had travelled. 

    This was all news to me that I learned from reading Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Problem of  His Time, Dava Sobel. It's fun to learn new things and the book taught me much. Though I've crossed the Artic Circle, the Equator, and the International Dateline I've known little about navigating and now I know a little more.

   Kaia and Al have returned to The Little House On The Prairie.

Takk for alt,

Al

                The Brandenburg Gate, Berlin. 

Half Closed!

     Half closed doors, gates, drawers, windows...may not be much better than not closed at all. Closing on the sale of real property changed radically during COVID. Now sellers and buyers don't even meet at closing. Sellers and buyers go so separate locations and even at different times.

   Today I went to a real estate closer's office and signed the closing papers as the seller of the downtown Minneapolis condo. So, the sale is half closed. The buyer is scheduled to go to a different closer next Monday to sign the sale documents. Never the twain shall meet. Naturally I won't get my $1.57, or whatever the amount, payout until after the buyer signs. My realtor assures me that this final closing will happen. 

   The final closing will be a big relief and the final step in my move to The Old Folk's Home. The condo was a great place for Joanne and me. From October 2010, until she entered hospice care in 2018 we thoroughly enjoyed life downtown. In her last years Joanne would take her walker and go to the Target store in the skyway. This was a walk of over a mile each way. We had many favorite happy hour places serving the right amount of food for geezers. Joanne even kept a chart of those places. With her death and the emptying of downtown with COVID, downtown living lost its luster. The OFH is good for me.

Takk for alt,

Al

                                               Sunset from the condo.

Passing notes in church!

    Passing notes in school is usually a no no. What about passing notes in church? On my way into church I asked a woman, whom I didn't recognize, her name. "Donna" was the answer. Later she sat down beside me and during the service passed a note. I asked to keep it because I wanted to write about it in my blog and told her that my wife had died 4 years ago. I passed my blog address to her and she said "Phil used to read your blog." 😔😔😔 Only then I realized I was sitting by my friend, Donna, whom I didn't recognize with her mask and new hairstyle. She forgave me. 😊 Her husband, Phil, died a year ago. They were active members in our history book club.

     The note she passed is from her grief group. 

          GRIEF

"Grief never ends

But it changes

It is a passage

Not a place to stay.

Grief is not a sign 

of weakness, nor

a lack of Faith,

It is the price of love."    

So much truth in this brief passage. I'm slightly ahead of Donna in our life in the land of grief. She knew Joanne and I knew her Phil, evoking the presence of absence, as being in church always does.

Takk for alt

Al

I'd call it efficient communication.

                      Yes, and her name is Kaia.😁

Joanne's....

      It was Joanne who got us moving from our house in Golden Valley, MN. Resistant at first, I joined the parade to relocate to downtown Minneapolis. Our house, which served us well from 1988-2010, was a split foyer. That meant two flights of stairs from garage to the main level. With knee problems Joanne didn't like the steps.

    Through our friends, C & H, we found a large condo on the 15th floor downtown. It offered the vista a prairie boy needs to avoid claustrophobia. The unit had not been updated since the building opened in 1980. It was offered at a significant discount becasue it was in deplorable condition. Joanne was ready for the challenge.

    We quickly agreed that she'd lead the renovation and I promised not to second guess any of her decisions. She had all the old dark woodwork replaced with oak including solid oak doors. In the kitchen there were all new appliances and custom oak cabinets. The triangle closet outside the kitchen was removed and the wall opened so one could see from the kitchen across the dining/living room and through the sliding glass doors to the deck. Oak flooring was laid throughout with the exception of the three bedrooms which got new carpet. The bathrooms were redone with new showers and vanities. A walk-in closet was constructed off the master bedroom. The door from the living room to the smallest bedroom was removed leaving the door to the hall. All of the walls were painted. Miraculously the contractor, having to work on the 15th floor, completed all this work in 33 days!

   Having accepted an offer from a buyer the closing date approaches. Today I visited the condo to be certain that it was in good shape and to say a final goodbye. It's been painted since I vacated but yet the place reeks of Joanne and her decisions. Perhaps the buyer likes oak, which I'm told is coming back into fashion. We'll not meet, since COVID sellers and buyers close in separate time and locations

   There was grief in that last visit. It was a stark reminder that Joanne, who transformed the place, is dead. We loved living there, were pleased with the renovation, and delighted in downtown life while Joanne lived. After she died, and COVID transformed downtown, it lost its appeal. She would love The Old Folk's Home, and its a great place for me.

Takk for alt,

Al

                    The kitchen before Joanne.

Patchett, again!

     Reading Patchett has yet to disappoint me. Having just finished another of her early books, copyrighted in 1997, it was as good as the others, Bonnie, who knows almost everything, said she's Patchett fan...so there you have it. The Magician's Assistant is another study in family systems and contains a doozy of a family secret. There's nothing a like a toxic family secret to make the old family mobile dance. Ann Patchett's ability with a sentence and the creating of sympathetic characters makes reading her work a pleasure. 

    Yes I recommend it!

Takk for alt,

Al

A four-year-old child, whose next door

neighbor was an elderly gentleman, who had recently lost his
wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old
Gentleman's' yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.
   When his mother asked him what he had
said to the neighbor, the little boy just said, 'Nothing, I just
Helped him cry.'

Old Folk's Home

    Kaia and I relocated to the OFH for a few days. We blew in with strong tailwind giving excellent gas mileage. While we were gone the apartment windows were washed inside and out, compliments of the OFH. Kaia did a nose print on the clean, sliding glass door, to prove her presence. 

   There are a number of social engagements scheduled for the days I'm here. It's time to catch up with family and friends. 

Takk for alt,

Al

                           A toy tractor made of amber; Lithuania.

Triple threat!

       If you've tried to manage glasses, hearing aids and mask likely you've been frustrated. That combination broke one of my past aids. The wire from inside the ear to the unit back of the ear broke. These latest VA aids have tubes in place of wires and are more resilient. But the Pickles comic below has given me another idea!😁

Takk for alt,

Al

                                    Joanne on her tractor.

Sinai Coop Elevator Co., Annual Meeting

         There has been much consolidation in the grain handling business in rural America. Most grain elevators have merged into larger consortiums. The Sinai Elevator is one of the few remaining independents. When the railroad stopped servicing Sinai, a Great Northern spur line ran from Sioux Falls to Watertown, prospects for the elevator looked dim. Yet, decades after the last train rumbled through town the elevator continues.

      Last night the Elevator held its annual meeting with 20-30 persons in attendance.  The financial report showed that there was a profit of $242,341. on sales of $7,540.377. and $41,443. paid as dividends to patrons. Payroll expenses were $338.193. It's obviously an asset to the community.

     What accounts for the elevator's continued success? Two factors stand out. It has good management. The second factor is the loyalty of the local farmers who choose to do business with it. Good management has led to continuous upgrades in the facility and enhanced services to the customers. 

     The annual meeting is always an enjoyable event. The reports are always positive putting everyone in a good mood. Door prizes are offered as an incentive to attendance. It was Negstad night with the door prizes.  Brother, David, won a giant Channellock plier and I, a $25.00 gift certificate to the elevator. The elevator is the only source of fuel in town so it's where I buy my gas. Oh, ya...the meeting ends with cake and ice cream. 😋

Takk for alt,

Al

                    This 1939, John Deere, B, was my first tractor.

It has to be loud!

      Does anyone sleep with hearing aids? I certainly don't. Recently when Lars visited he told me my alarm clock was sounding during the night.  That was news to me. 😁 Last night the thunder was loud enough to awaken me! Flashes, bangs and rumbles lasted long enough to produce an inch of rain. That moisture is welcome to keep everything growing nicely.

     Driving to the field to check a rain gauge I noticed something dark on the shoulder of the road. See the picture below to identify the object on the road.

Takk for alt,

Al

                         A large snapping turtle was laying eggs.

Summer time.....

     Winter was long and cold and so was spring. Cool weather has hung on with nighttime temps sometimes in the 40s  and daytime highs in the 60s and 70s.That's ideal weather for cereal grains; oats, barley and wheat. There are few fields of those crops locally. It's mostly corn and soybeans. The pastures have liked the moisture and the cool temps but the corn and beans have grown solely. 

    Today it's 86 degrees with 90s predicted for tomorrow. The corn that's been slowly growing will now surge to new heights. Being the pretend farmer that I am, weather is always much on my mind. Then, too, is my personal comfort zone beginning at 75 and going up from there. There's a reason that I taught all those years in tropical Thailand!

Takk for alt,

Al

             Riding a water buffalo in Thailand.

"I want to die in my house."

         That's a common sentiment expressed by aging persons; "I want to die in my house." Tom and Becky, who got me off the dime on moving into an old folk's home, wrote an essay about housing options for the elderly. (And then  being reminded of my age when the first place at which I registered had a ten year waiting list😄) They told the story of a woman who said that, "I want to stay in my house until I die." and she did stay until she died. But, it didn't go well. As she lost capabilities house maintenance became an issue, as did transportation.  As her friends aged she became increasingly bitter and lonely. She did not have a happy end. 

       That desire to stay in one's home begs a number of questions. Who is going to assist when capabilities decline? When death comes who get the job of cleaning out the house? Could the sale of the house provide the financial wherewithal for persons of modest savings to live their last years in comfort?

      Consider the case of Bill and Mary. Life long farmers on modest landholdings budgeting their money was always a worry and a struggle. When retirement came, after a life of hard work, they sold their farm. They took up residence in a comfortable apartment in town. As we got in their new car to drive to a restaurant Mary said "For the first time in our lives we don't have to worry about money."  The farm, which included their home, financed worry free living their last years.

     Down sizing is a pain, I'm here to tell you. But, once it's done there is great freedom. Every bit of property we own also ends up owning us. It's not that there isn't going to be downsizing, the issue is 'on whose shoulders will it fall.'  

    These musing were prompted by a recent conversation. The person  with whom I was conversing quoted his widowed mother "I want to stay in my house until I die."

Takk for alt,

Al

         One of Amsterdam's famous canals lined by floral shops.

Noxious weeds!

         Agricultural departments have designated certain problematic weeds 'noxious'. These weeds are particularly troublesome and control of them is very important.  Drivers plying the highways in and around the Twin Cities might wonder about those yellow flowers in bloom in many of the ditches of those highways. They might be surprised to know that those flowers in the ditch are widely classed as noxious. They are leafy spurge.  Spurge is not a problem in cultivated fields but a serious threat to productivity in grasslands. It is extremely difficult to eradicate.

        Certain herbicides will control it, such as Tordon. Goats like to eat it so they are a form of control.  Spurge is a non-native invasive species. There are beetles that feast on it. One method of control is to capture beetles where they are plentiful and release them where there is a heavy concentration of plants.  This works where large populations of spurge exist. South Dakota ag interests announce beetle capturing events where participants use hand nets to capture the beetles. Volunteers then are allowed to keep some beetles for release on their infestations.

      So why am I writing about leafy spurge? There are two established colonies in my grassland. Today I hand sprayed them with Tordon, which I did last year, and, and... The colonies aren't large, perhaps 500 square feet or so.  The jury is out on who will be here the longest, me or the spurge!

Takk for alt,

Al

       

Leafy spurge.

               A beetle feasting on leafy spurge.

Restoration!

       It started with cutting cedar trees. Two biologists were meeting with a neighbor to plan turning pasture into Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Cutting cedars out of grass across the road from this meeting led the biologist to visit me. They came to compliment me on the cedar removal. We had a nice chat.

     One of them, a Private Lands Biologist for S.D., went back to  his office and did some research. The research led him to call me. He reported that a topographical showed that there was a wetland that could be restored on another piece of property. One thing led to another and now four potential restorations have been identified. 

    Long before I came into ownership, around 1990, four small wetlands had been drained. Now the proposal is to plug the ditches draining those low spots. Reclaiming water on those sites will be a boon to wildlife. Shallow wetlands are quickly colonized by stands of cattails.  Cattails are habitat for red wing and yellow headed blackbirds, ducks and other wildlife. They are also prime winter habitat for pheasants and deer. 

   This makes me a contrarian. While my neighbors are tiling and draining I'm reversing the drainage to keep the water on my land. Luke, the aforementioned biologist, is newly out of graduate school and has been in his job six months. He's an enthusiastic partner in this project.

Takk for alt,

Al

                   Previously restored wetland on a different property.

Grief!

        During the time of Joanne's hospice, death and aftermath much of my blogging was related to my grief. Blogging gave two distinct benefits to me. First, writing about my grief encouraged me to name what I was feeling. Being able to name one's feelings is a step toward healing. Trying to be honest about my experience was therapeutic. It facilitated my recovery from the deepest grief.

     The second benefit about blogging my experience was that it created a virtual community, many of whom knew and loved Joanne, they accompanied me through the depths of pain. Pain shared is pain lessoned. As my grief moved to a new place it was no longer the main focus of this blog.

   MJV shared an article from The Boston Globe.  It was written by a mother who's daughter died at age two of Tray-Sachs disease. The condition was diagnosed when the girl was small. With no treatment possible the inevitable outcome is early death. The parents, with wholehearted cooperation of  family and friends, decided to make every weeks Sabbath celebration a "birthdayshabbat" for their daughter so she could have as many celebrations as possible in her short life. The mother who penned the article wrote:   " We were learning to live alongside grief, appreciating its power to keep us close to Havi. We were learning that pain and love could coexist. We weren’t risking our hearts, we were expanding them."

    Indeed, grief is the way we stay close to our loved as we traverse the land of grief.

Takk for alt,

Al

               Joanne and I at our 50th anniversary celebration.

Relocated!

     After entertaining guests for lunch at the OFH, Kaia and I motored to The Little House. There isn't much to report so I'll write more tomorrow.

Takk for alt,

Al

            Kransakake at our 50th wedding anniversary party. 

Anniversary!

     June 6, 1964, Joanne Elizabeth Hanson and Allan Robert Negstad were married at First Lutheran Church, Sioux Falls, SD. Pastor Marcus Gravdal presided and Joanne's father, The Rev. Dr. Oscar C Hanson gave the homily. Mary Hanson was made of honor and David Negstad was the best man. The Agustana College Choir sang. The reception was in the church basement.

   There was no opportunity for honey moon. Joanne had a provisional appointment as a counselor in the St. Louis Park, MN, High School. The provision was that she get the one counseling course she lacked for licensing in MN. That course was available in summer school at the University of SD, Vermillion. The first day of class was June 8, and, as you know Joanne, she wasn't about to miss that and start late. 

    That began 53 years of marriage. It ended on April 12, 2018, with Joanne's death. Anniversaries such as this make the presence of absence especially poignant.  Certainly I'm blessed with a very good life in her absence, yet it's life in the land of grief. Frequently I think how happy she would be in the Old Folks Home.  The OFH is filled with interesting persons that she'd love to meet. It has been the relationships; family and friends that have carried me through. Yes, I am blessed.

Takk for alt,

Al

      Joanne with her sister, brother and the three Norwegian men who came for our 50th celebration.

                             Joanne posing with her wedding dress on our 50th celebration.

Old Folks Home!

        With an appointment at the Mpls VA tomorrow, Kaia and I are in the Old Folks Home for two nights. Turn key is nice, turn the key and walk away, with a plus, the apartment was cleaned while I was gone. The OFH cleanings staff clean it for $35.00. Vacuuming is OK but dusting???????? Have I mentioned how easy life is in the OFH? Could be a lot worse. 😁

Takk for alt,

Al

It was a very good thing that this tree, with a split trunk, was removed before the derecho hit. It was behind my shop and had power lines on three sides. 

Discharged!

       It was one this day, June 4, 1962, that I received an Honorable Discharge from the United States Marine Corp in Long Beach, CA. I bought a 1964 Austin Healy, drove to Treasure Island, San Francisco and picked up Ed, from that Marine Base.  Then we headed north.

      Driving up the Pacific Coast we visited the World's Fair in Seattle. After the Fair we went to Port Angeles, WA., to my cousin Leslie's. He took us salmon fishing on the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Ed went back to San Francisco and I headed east. 

    Leslie's son, Paul, age 16, accompanied me to South Dakota and he spent the summer with us on the farm. From the Marines I returned to farming. My brother, the real farmer, was with his activated National Guard unit in Colorado (Berlin Crisis). Until he was released from Guard duty in August, I tended the farm. 

   With the farm back in the proper hands I returned to Augustana College, Sioux Falls, SD., to get my degree. It was there I met Joanne.  My college graduation was on Sunday and Joanne and I were married the following Saturday, June 6, 1964, in Sioux Falls.

Takk for alt

Al

                       1954 Austin Healy 100.

After two weeks of field exercises on Okinawa.

Default

      How did it happen? While resident in The Little House I've become the family convener. All it takes is a group text and a phone call. There are eight positive responses for dinner tonight. We'll be at the Pheasant Restaurant in Brookings.

      Last night I blogged about Eyes of the Rigel. When I finished the book some details from its beginning were sketchy in my mind. Reading the beginning again the next thing I knew I was on page 54! 😀 Maybe I'll just reread it now.

Takk for alt,

Al

                  In the stocks, Hamar, Norway.

Quirky!

      "Norwegian vision quest."  The main character is quirky and thus the book could also be called quirky. It was a 'page turner' for me. Ingrid, who is a young girl in The Unseen, a young woman mostly alone on her Island, Baroy, near the Artic Circle in White Shadow, goes looking for the Russian POW she rescued in Shadow, in Eyes of the Rigel. It's a most unlikely journey full of mystery and surprises. In 1946 Norway was just emerging form the brutal German Nazi occupation. Most persons Ingrid encounters just want to forget which heaps frustration on Ingrid, travelling with her infant daughter, Kaja (alternate spelling of Kaia).

       The author, Roy Jacobson, leaves much to one's intuition.  Dialog between Norwegians often communicates most by what is left unsaid. That's a pattern with which I am very familiar. First reading The Unseen I was captivated and that's held true through the next two books. Last night when I finished reading Rigel I was very tempted to immediately begin re-reading it. I will before long.

     These books, hugely popular in Norway, are so different perhaps not all would enjoy them. For me, they are top of the stack. I've read the first two twice and Rigel will soon follow.

Takk for alt,

Al

A statute of Berger Hareide's  grandfather in Brumunddal, Norway.

Confirmed!

       Personal observation caused me to think that it has been unusually windy.  Now we know for certain. The average daily wind speed for the months of April and May was 18mph. That beats the old record of 15mph.  Now we need  warmer temperatures...upper 70s to mid-80s would be good. Highs this week are projected in the 60s but at least no storms are forecast.

    When it comes to weather there's always something to wish for.

Takk for alt,

Al

                             Buskers on the street in Bangkok.