Nordic Blue

Left to right: Doris Johnson, Bennie Johnson, George Johnson, and Phyllis Johnson. Leonard, Minnesota, ca. 1930. Even farm kids need a lit...

I usually pay little heed to the idea of New Year's resolutions. I've never been much for making or adhering to lists. I just can...

Merry Christmas, Munchkins! This one is just for you. Love, Mom

Advent Calendar, December 21: Music Chestnuts roast on open fires, snowflakes nip at Nat King Cole's nose; Crosby dreams of a white Chri...

Advent Calendar, December 19: Shopping In the early 1960s, shopping was such a special occasion that my entire family went on purposeful exp...

Advent Calendar, December 16: School Today's the day Santa's coming to our classroom! Wow, what will he bring? Alvarado Elementary S...

Thanks to footnoteMaven for coming up with the idea of blog caroling! I'm going to pick one of my 87-year-old mom's longtime favori...

The current Carnival of Genealogy topic is the New Millennium. Where was I at the start of the 21st Century? The 21st Century has long been...

Advent Calendar, December 10: Gifts Christmas Eve was always so special: a splash of color, glitter, mystery, and excitement to break up the...

Advent Calendar, December 7: Grab Bag During the 1960s, Mom often browsed her magazines in search of inexpensive crafts to make in time for ...

Advent Calendar, December 3: Foods Being from a Norwegian-American family, I should be looking forward to the traditional holiday far...

The first big winter storm has come to Snoqualmie Pass, Washington: over two feet of snow within 24-hours! My 87-year-old mother, Doris...

Advent Calendar, December 1: Christmas Tree When I was a child, my parents would not think of using an artificial Christmas tree. The smell ...

When I was an English Lit major, not too long before I switched to history, it was poetry that captured my imagination, ranking alongside Th...

...is a time machine. That's all... just one basic model, functional, reliable, user-friendly time machine. Sure, I'll take pretty i...

"Turn around, Bright Eyes..." and there's another meme challenge! Well, this is a whole lot more fun than chain letters. So, h...

On January 7, 1873, the day before my great great grandmother's 32nd birthday, a severe blizzard struck the upper Midwest. It was swift ...

There is a treat coming up for anyone in the Seattle area who is interested in Scandinavian culture. The Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard i...

 Phyllis Johnson (left) and Doris Johnson (middle), shelling pease on the kitchen stoop with their grandmoterh, Malla Larson Johnson.  T...

Becky (Boo Boo) and Chery, 1961. Richmond, California. By "other side," I mean the other side of my family. The non-Norwegia...