Aunt Beulah–Her Perfume, Her Life, and Her Legacy

Aunt Beulah–Her Perfume, Her Life, and Her Legacy

My aunt’s perfume I remember. On a trip to Norway, relatives wore that same fragrance. Aunt Beulah spent time in Norway during the 2nd World War. Family reunions at Mom’s home farm in summer attracted the Larson relatives once a year. Aunt Beulah and others congregated at the farm north of Amery, WI, for an […]

Emergency in the Barn; Nisse Story Concludes

Emergency in the Barn; Nisse Story Concludes

  The kids stared at their aunt. Marianne froze for a few seconds. She positioned herself to reach through the slats to pick up the baby. She unwrapped her, unswaddled her by unwinding the cloth. Marianne knew to hold her upright, facing the nisse family, and reached around the baby so her fingers met at […]

Yule Nisse Gather at a Fjelberg Barn-I

Yule Nisse Gather at a Fjelberg Barn-I

  Five bodies lay on the porch, four of them staring into the field beyond the barn. Emma, the littlest, lay on her back with her mouth open, catching snowflakes. A thick blanket under them kept them warm. The  Nordhus farm on Fjelberg Island. Snowing, barely. Christmas eve. Aunt Marianne, the largest of these humans, […]

Hunger and Desperation

Hunger and Desperation

While touring Oslo, I visited Norway’s National Museum of Art several times. “The Scream” and other paintings by Edvard Munch have their own room on the 2nd floor. The first time at the gallery the above painting grabbed my attention and my imagination. Not sure which artist painted this nor do I know the time […]

Letter from Norway–1911

Letter from Norway–1911

(This letter to my Grandpa Ole Larson was written by Thomas, a neighbor or relative. Grandpa’s mother is alone now and suffers depression and loneliness because her husband, my Great Grandpa Lars Peder Aarak, died recently. Sent mid-January, a time when there was not as much work on farms in Norway and in Wisconsin.) ================ […]

The Ole Larson Farm

The Ole Larson Farm

The farm of Ole Larson in the letter below was located 10 miles northeast of Amery, WI. This photo shows either Grandpa Ole or Uncle Lawrence taking a break from plowing. Notice the chickens scrounging for worms in the newly turned soil, and in the background, the house that sheltered the 10 Larson family members. […]