A friend of ours sent me this link to a cartoon made by some Finns of the “Three BIlly Goats Gruff” story. It includes the most addicting little song. My husband tried to turn it into a ringtone. We all sing it to one another at odd moments to lighten the mood. My son begs [...]
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On Saturday my Grandma’s niece and her husband came to “Christmas Eve” dinner at our house. They live in Vermont and had to drive down (and back) through a snow storm to share this time with us (what nice relatives!) My son and I made the lefse right before they got there, so as to [...]
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Yes, I know that all of you American and English readers are busy eating your Lucia buns and drinking the coffee that your eldest daughter brought to you at the crack of dawn and all that. Sorry to bug you. I just wanted to wish all a happy Sankta Lucia Day.
In case you don’t know [...]
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Our church does not hold regular services during the summer. It’s not that we completely shut down — there are still some informal services held in the air-conditioned common room, but the regular ones in the sanctuary stop for three months. Then we start up again, the Sunday after Labor Day weekend. And, weather permitting, [...]
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Dear Grandma,
I miss you. Lately these flashes of memories keep intruding on my day.
Your laugh. You looked so regal, so classy. But your laugh was down home, real folk, spilling out of you whenever the smallest opportunity for mirth arose. How much we laughed, working on your book, our book. Every Sunday night when I [...]
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Saturday my son went to a classmate’s bat mitzvah. It was the first he’d ever been to, so I was curious about what his reaction would be. He said the service was nice and that his friend did a good job speaking. She didn’t look nervous at all, he reported. The party afterward was a [...]
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Wish I could put up the photos I took of the relatives, but I do not have their permission, so I’m sticking to scenes of great natural or urban beauty/interest and strangers, who are in my picture by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. For now, I’m [...]
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The audience sat hushed in the oldest church in Lowell this morning. Even the baby near the back who had been fussing for most of the concert was silent. Then the familiar strains began of our national anthem. It was the final song of an hour-long concert. As I looked at the [...]
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We arrived in Newcastle, in the northeast of England, on Monday morning and disembarked from our ship, The Queen of Scandinavia. What we didn’t know was that we were not actually in Newcastle and had to catch one of the DFDS Seaways buses to the city. Having waited until the majority of people left the [...]
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Sorry that I’ve been off-line for a while, folks. Odd that it’s been harder to get internet in Scandinavia than in Peru…. Anyway, here’s a recap on the last part of the Scandinavian portion of my trip. Tomorrow I’ll post on the UK part.
TRONDHEIM: Discovered a few key things of use there for my book.
(1) [...]
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