Well now, doesn't this feel funny -
nominating my own blog entries for a prestigious
iGene Award
My little Norwegian g-g-grandmas will be turning in their graves, collectively thinking: "Where did we go wrong?" But, what the heck, it's time to make a run for it and hope that the Viking God of Humility can be forgiving, as well as humble.
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Best PictureWho's the Gal with the Legs? 12/31/2007
Pictured (l to r): Doris Johnson, Bennie Johnson, George Johnson, and Phyllis Johnson. Leonard, Clearwater CO, MN, ca. 1930.
Cousins in drag. Even farm kids have to find some comic relief now and then. This is one of my favorite pics in my mother's large collection. One summer day, my mother and aunt decided to trade clothes with their boy cousins. Someone grabbed the old Brownie and snapped a photo. I'll bet the boys were cringing a few years after this one!
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Best Screen PlayWish Books and Hardwood Floors 12/19/2007
Pictured: Downtown Richmond, CA, 1959.
Christmas shopping with the Wheeler family in the early 1960s: anticipation, Richmond rain, early Montgomery Wards, wet wool, figgety little sisters, and more rain.
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Best DocumentaryWoolly Dog Nights: Tale of a Prairie Blizzard 11/15/2007
Pictured: Saron Lutheran Church, Chippewa CO., MN, ca. 1900.
The January 1873 blizzard in the Midwest was of devastating proportions. Read about its effects on the charter members of the future Saron Lutheran Church of Chippewa County, Minnesota. What happened when 35 men were stuck at Ole Anderson's cabin for several days during the big storm?
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Best Biography
Thanksgiving on the Other Side 10/29/2007
Pictured: Bill Wheeler & his turkey, El Cerrito, CA, ca. 1966.
Thanksgiving with the "other side" of my family: my dad's non-Norwegian side. Uncles, aunts, and cousins form a different sort of a grouping for one young girl.
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Best Comedy
No Ode to Lutefisk 12/3/2007
Pictured (ugh): reconstituted cod.
Do not pass the lutefisk, please:
the history behind the custom of serving reconstituted cod at holiday meals, plus a family story or two.
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4 comments:
Chery, I enjoyed reading these SO much - you are such a good writr, and the phots are wonderful (what a collection you must have). I especially liked reading about "the other side" relatives and the lutefisk. I knew what it was from reading Garrison Keillor years ago. Have got a tiny drop of Norwegian in me from a 17th century New Amsterdammer from Bergen, I think. Do not know if he liked lutefisk though!
Oh dear, typos. Need more caffeine, clearly.
writr = writer
phots= photos
Amsterdammer - is there such a word?
Cheers - Lidian
I enjoyed all of these too, especially the blizzard. Does your Wheeler side go back to early New England?
Thanks much, Lidian (and I could use more caffeine this morning, myself!)
Hi Apple - I am not blood-related to my dad's side of the family (the Wheelers), but I believe Dad's father's side came from England, then ended up in the Midwest. His mother came from Edinburgh, Scotland. I'm not blood related to the Kinnicks, either... it's my husband's name. The only certain blood relations I have are: Johnson, Berge, Slaaen, Winje, Strand, and a Celtic side I haven't had much success in researching yet: McKinney (my mystery family!)
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