Indulge Your Nostalgia and Carry On

I am embarrassed - I am watching Secret Princes on TLC just to get a glimpse of the old home town. I couldn't help but smile when I saw the view of the Capitol looking up Congress Avenue. It's funny, I used to watch the beginning of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, just to catch a glimpse of downtown Minneapolis. Place has power. Every story has its setting, and for 30 years and a couple of weeks, Austin was the setting for most of my life's stories.

Two of the princes have arrived in the Austin airport, but so far no guitars. . .  finally! Number four, the Italian prince, brings a glimpse of the guitars to the screen.  (I recently read Chris Bojhalian's Light in the Ruins which is set in Italy during WWII, so it's fun to hear him talking of his part of Italy and his family heritage. One lovely by-product of living where I'm a relative stranger is that I've had a lot more time to read than usual!)

Oh - they just showed a shot of downtown at night. Blue lights on 100 Congress. And one of the princes was just dancing around Goodwill or Savers or some such place in a Westwood tee-shirt. It's a hoot!

How come I never ran into these guys when they were filming in Austin?

But, in other news, Saturday I attended the 41st annual craft show hosted by the Blooming Prairie Chapters of AAUW & Women of Today. Cindy Leonard, a new friend and spouse of my senior pastor, invited me. It was at the local high school (you can get a glimpse in this picture:

I met a lot of really interesting women and I have been invited to join, which I think I will.

I found a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and had a chance to talk stamping for a bit until she got busy. (Don't you love those wreaths? I've been a little chicken to try them but this was inspiring. I may have to give it a whirl.)

I did do a little stamping a few days ago, and made these boxes for the confirmation gifts the Board of Education is giving to the confirmands:

Later this week I will head over to Brookings, SD to work at a craft show organized by my sister. I am looking forward to another road trip.

So, missing Austin, but carrying on!

Missin' Manners

Maybe it was just because I caught the second half of Sweet Home Alabama on Saturday night but on Sunday evening I found myself irrationally insulted when a man didn't stand up to greet me. No kidding! On some level I wanted to throw a little hissy fit. . .

I went out of my way to find this man at an event last night. He had sent me a note asking for a favor and I was seeking him out to grant it. AND HE DIDN:T EVEN STAND UP! That was really only one small part of his lack of manners, and bless his heart, he probably just didn't know any better, but I am amazed at my own reaction to it. I didn't even realize I expected it!

I am also missing the easy way the kids from Texas called me Ms. Julie. They do it here because I asked them to, but it doesn't flow naturally. However, the pastors love it and keep promoting it to the kids and their parents so eventually it will probably stick. The kids are definitely disappointed that I don't sound very Texan, but they dissolve into giggles every time I say y'all (so I'm going to keep saying it!) and I got to explain the difference between y'all and all y'all in the kitchen last night, so I haven't completely left Texas behind.

My sandals are packed away until spring. The weather the last couple of days has closely resembled Austin in January. The highs won't move beyond the 40's this week and we can expect to see the occasional snowflake early in the morning or after sundown when the temperatures drop. Yesterday morning was a dreaded window scraping morning (although I took a Southern girl approach and let the defroster do its thing while I shivered inside the car.) Beginning November 1st I will be parking in the garage (thank you Jesus!)

There is nowhere I am more homesick or at home than in worship. I am acutely aware that I don't yet have friends to seek out and sit with but at the same time I am at home and fully part of the group in a way I am not the rest of the time. I am very grateful for this hour each week.

On Tuesday I registered for a conference in Houston so I can begin looking forward to a visit to Texas in January. I will be in Austin either before or after the conference. That makes more sense than any of y'all coming up here in January!

This was my first week without visitors and by Friday I was ready for a familiar face. Thanks to Beth and Niel Wiegand for letting me drop by for coffee on Friday afternoon. I needed a fix of the familiar, and their presence and their home provided the perfect medicine.

And now, back to Blooming on the Prairie where I'm planted. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

There's something fishy going on here. . .

Today I got to witness a well-oiled machine at work. Throughout the church there were clusters of people performing unusual tasks. When I arrived there was a pickup at the back door filled with potatoes.

Near by, a strange machine was rumbling like a washing machine and shooting water out one side into the grass while the potatoes bouncing around inside got naked.

Inside I found a classroom full of people peeling still more potatoes, and apparently having a jolly good time doing it. Pastor Charlie was one of them and got a lot of good-natured ribbing for bringing his own knife.










When they were done, they had peeled enough potatoes to fill garbage cans, these, and several others!










Across the hall were large storage bins filled rosettes and krumkake baked in the church kitchen by many dedicated volunteers last week. Most of them were back today, working on other kinds of food.

This is what Norwegian desserts for 1600 people looks like.














Around the corner and down the hall there was another huge crowd. I christened them the Holy Rollers, and they seemed pleased to have a nickname.

How many meatballs will 1600 people eat?

And around another corner they were filling still more trays with meatballs.

All of this for an event called a Lutefisk Dinner.  One brave group tackled the "food of honor". Here are the brave souls who "wrapped the fish". While it didn't have quite as dis-stink-tive aroma as I remembered, I was definitely happy to move on after recording the main event.











The tickets are sold, the tables are set, and tomorrow the building will be filled with members, neighbors, and friends gathered to celebrate their heritage, their community, and each other. It's an amazing project. I can't wait to see it all come together tomorrow. I post some more pictures of the actual event. Think about coming next year! You'll be welcomed along with everyone else.

It's Relatively Complicated

Something has been slowly dawning on me since I started work: there are a lot of multi-generational families here at FLC. In true "Sons of Norway" fashion we have households made up of:

• Amundsons (3) 
• Andersons (10) 
• Bensons (2) 
• Carlsons (3)
• Christiansons (5) and Christiansen (1) 
• Erickson (3)
• Hansons (4) and Hansens (7)
• Hillsons (2)
• Ingvaldsons (10)
• Iversens (1) and Iversons(2) 
• Johnsons (22) 
• Kittelsons (5)
• Knutsons (6)
• Nelsons (3) and Nielsens (2)
• Olsons (2)
• Pedersons (1) and Petersons (22)
• Seversons (2) and Severtsons (3)
• Sorensons (2)
• Swansons (2) and Swensons (7)
• Thompsen (1) and Thompson (3)
• Williamsons (4)
• Gullicksons, Jordisons, Larsons, Matsons,Thorsons and Tollefsons are clans of only one household

And many of them are related - to each other and to the -bergs, -ruds, -dahls, and -stads, not to mention the descendants of German and Czech settlers and people with boring last names like Smith and Brown. To further complicate matters, sometimes these people get divorced and remarried, and still all go to church here.

I will get them all sorted out eventually, or at least most of them, but coming from a church that made families out of strangers, it's fascinating to see the dynamics of a church where so many people are connected by blood or marriage. That's enough for now, just thought I'd share. More soon!

You know you're in a friendly town when. . .

. . . you can call your child at the library!

As I sit here in the public library using the free wi-fi to shop for towel racks at IKEA because someone offered to pick up anything I needed there when they went next week, the phone rings and the librarian answers. I hear her say "Yes she is," and then, to my amazement she gets up, walks down into a stack, and says "Emily, phone call for you." Emily wasn't that thrilled to get a call from her mom at the library but it certainly highlighted how different things are when the whole town is part of a child's community.

Another sight that warmed my heart this week was the bike rack at the elementary school literally overflowing with bicycles. There is concrete evidence that as  parents here feel their kids are safe.

I have mentioned to some of you that the school mascot is a BLOSSOM. Fitting for a town called Blooming Prairie, but not exactly fear-inspiring for the football team. However, last night the team prevailed 35-14 against the scarier sounding St. Clair Cyclones at the High School's Homecoming Game. I sat on my patio and could hear the announcer and the cheering. . .

This is a picture I took at yesterday's Homecoming Parade. 

It didn't last long, but it was great fun, and the band sounded pretty good, the Homecoming Court were carried along in convertibles, and the day was sunny, warm, and filled with little kids, big kids, parents, grandmas and grandpas, and of course, the whole church staff showed up to cheer them on!




I'm sure it won't all be sweetness and light, but I am savoring it while I can!

Not this but there's that.. .

Just a quick post to continue the story. . .

All that stuff has come home to roost in my new place pictured on the right.
My new address is:

741 Center Avenue N. #2
Blooming Prairie, MN 55917

I think I'm going to love my new place. It's a re-purposed space so it has some funny quirks, but I really think I'll enjoy living here. The windows to the right of the front door on the first floor are all mine. There's lots of light on this bright September day. The bedrooms are small, but there's plenty of parking, and room for company so I hope you'll come to visit. In the meantime I'll be unpacking all that stuff I discussed last time.

I got a lesson in turn-around-time right away. One of the first things I did when I got here was call the cable/internet company that serves my building to set up an installation. That was Thursday. On Friday an enthusiastic young salesman (who looked to be about 19) came to sort out all the particulars. I signed and initialed everything needed and he said he'd take the order to the office to get it processed and they would be calling to schedule an install. They called this morning (Monday) and I will have internet and cable installed on Tuesday: that would be Tuesday October 1st. Almost two weeks from my first phone call . . .  On the other side of this story: this will be the fastest internet I've ever had, and the cheapest 200 channel cable package ever.

I also have a mailbox. I mean a real mailbox, in front of my house. Before this I have always had a lock box down the street or over by the office of the complex. I expected to have to pick up my mail at the Post Office here so that mailbox was a delightful surprise!

Other discoveries:

• There's no pizza delivery but you can get your milk, butter and sour cream delivered
• There's no place to go out for brunch on Sunday but it's a rare week without a pancake breakfast fundraiser somewhere
• My apartment has no dishwasher, but lots more cupboard space
• The grocery store carries fewer convenience items than I'm used to but sells incredibly fresh meat cut right on site, and to order if you wish

The adventure continues!!!

Sorting It All Out

Everything about moving can be painful. For me, one of the hardest parts has been the sorting. Going through things drawer by drawer and shelf by shelf. Deciding what goes, what should be given away, what should hit the dumpster. The decisions are hard, and some of them bring regret. Why didn't I do this kind of sorting more often? Why didn't I give that dress away while it was still in style, or keep up with those people in the pictures I haven't put into albums yet, or mail that birthday card? Why didn't I use this cake mix before the 2010 expiration date?

On top of that there are unanswerable questions: will I need this? How many sleeveless tops are necessary in Minnesota? (Do people my age even go sleeveless in Minnesota's more moderate summers?) Will this dish drainer fit my new sink?  Is this sweater too hopelessly out of style to go? How much cabinet space will there be in the new bathroom?

Crazy-making!

Into my over-thinking, inefficient sorting rode my friends. God bless them all!!! Some of them made short work of my sorting crises: "It doesn't amount to a shoe-box full of difference. Just pack it." Or, "If you haven't worn it in the last year, let it go." Or, "It really doesn't matter. Replacing your dish drainer will cost next to nothing."  I am so grateful for all their patient and good-natured help and encouragement.

My friends sorted themselves out by their best gifts: sorting, packing, cleaning, running errands, reminding, making custom boxes, deconstructing modular furniture, feeding, housing once the beds were taken apart, distracting and entertaining, gathering groups together to mark my transition, crying with me, and taking care of things that couldn't be accomplished until after I was out of the apartment. I needed all of them and all their gifts because sorting, packing, and asking for help are all missing from my arsenal.

Today they are all in a box in my heart marked BELOVED. And none of them will be discarded!