Just Passin' Thru

3/26/14

You Might Be From North Dakota!

You might be from North Dakota

If you can't start a conversation without mentioning the weather . . .
If you say Uff-da and Fi-da (see the note below) . . .
If you understand ALL the uses of the word "Uff-Da" . . .
If your epitaph will include the words "yep" and "nope" . . .
If your pa repeated first grade because he only spoke Norwegian . . .
If you can't make it through a phone conversation without mentioning the weather . . .
If you never confuse "Yah," "Yep," and "Yah y'betch yah" . . .
If you think everyone from a different state has an accent . . .
If your answer to "How are you?", "How's the weather?", or "How's the crop?" is the same--"Not too bad." ...

(Field of Canola)

If you can identify a Minnesota accent . . .
If you drink pop . . .
If you hear "Yah, sure" not "Yes, sir" . . .
If your conversation response includes, "Oh, sure, sure.....sure"...
If you say, "Outside, zero is below" . . .
If you go to Texas for a visit and everyone says that you have an accent . . .
If you go to the post office to mail a paggitch . . \
If you pronounce it Nor'Dakoda . . .

(Missouri River)

If you consider Spanish a foreign language . . .
If after you have discussed the weather, conversation declines . . .
If you end all of your sentences with either "ya know", "you betcha", or "okiedokie" . . .
If you hear "You betcha" and "Okey Dokey" in the same sentence . . .
If your e-mail address is uffda . . .
If your name is Olson . . . . .
If you say "uff-da" as an exclamation . . .
If you have ever said, "Cold weather keeps out the riff-raff" . . .

(Hoar frost on trees in my neighborhood)

If the comment after "Where are you from?" is always "I have a cousin in Texas."
If you call the grass between the sidewalk and the curb a boulevard . . .
If you don't believe you sound like the actors in the movie Fargo . . .
If you cannot greet anyone without first mentioning the weather . . .
If you pronounce Greg and Craig the same, and people can tell the difference . . .
If your directions include, "Turn at the Olson's" ...
If you stop for anyone crossing the street...
If you have ever brought a "hot dish" to a church supper...
If you have rhubarb in your back yard...

(That's rhubarb from my yard. Yep! You Betcha')

. . . then you might be from Nor'Dakoda.

( and just so you'll know, Glenda says, Uff-da (Ooff-dah) is what you say when you drop your gum in the chicken yard. Fi-da (Fee-dah) is what you say when you think you find it and put it back in your mouth!)

(The Badlands of North Dakota)

3/22/14

Little Churches on the Prairie

When you come,

you will notice the beautiful white clapboard

church buildings with

their tall steeples reaching for heaven.

North Dakota

has more churches per capita

than any other state in the United States.

These historic church buildings

grace the prairies, the hillsides, and the towns.

A few are abandoned

but still cherished.

Norwegian homesteaders

moved to North Dakota

from the late 1800's through 1915.

I wonder -

Did they bring the blueprints with them

on the boat?

Who built them?

Skilled craftsmen or

was it a community effort?

Not only were they places to worship,

but they probably also served

as community gathering places.

The faithful here in North Dakota

are fiercely loyal to these buildings

I'm sure they have nostalgic memories

of parents, grandparents aunts, uncles and cousins

meeting together,

and of weddings and funerals, and preachers,

and choirs, and baptisms.

Some of the pews are packed every Sunday.

and some have only a few members left.

But they are all beautiful and must

have been photographed hundreds of times

by travelers like me.

So when you come,

bring your sense of awe

and your camera!

3/1/14

Miriam's New Dress

Hello,

I'm Miriam.

When I decided I needed a new dress,

my gramma helped me sew it together.

I live in Egypt with my two brothers and my mom and dad.

We are Egyptian slaves.

The army of Egypt was killing baby boys.

Since Moses was a baby, mom told me to prepare a basket.

When I finished I put it in the river.

I was with the basket the whole time,

for I had been running in the reeds next to it.

Pretty soon the princess saw it and sent her slave to get it.

When she saw him I popped out of the tall grass.

I said I knew someone who could take care of him.

I ran to my mom and told her everything.

We got to raise him.

Soon he went to live at the palace.

I saved my baby brother, in my new dress

and Moses saved all the Hebrews when he was older.

(Third Grade History Project - complete!)

2/7/14

Deserted Island

It was just a vision exam, but one of the first questions was, "Are you ever depressed?"

Am I ever depressed? Why would I ever be depressed? Me - an overweight, out-of-shape grandmother, 1200 miles from her darlings, living in months of North Dakota sub-zero weather with a crabby foot, bad hearing, and blurry vision. Me? You mean ME? Depressed?

A few weeks earlier, I was sequestered, exiled, marooned in a walking boot, for a long three weeks, because walking in the snow and ice was hazardous to the rest of my body.

I stayed in the brown chair with my books and devices, and made shopping lists for my hubby. One lonely day, I thought to myself, "Self, you would never make it alone on a deserted island."

I wrote in my journal about my lack of sequester survival skills and checked the world wide web for instructions on surviving the horrible ordeal of being a castaway on a deserted, sandy, palm-studded island. On the world wide web, I found survival instructions: calm down, look for safety precautions, find fresh water, create a shelter, find a food source, evaluate your resources, start a fire, signal for help, try to make contact, and never give up.

With nothing much more to do than think, I pondered:

Calm Down

No panic attacks allowed

"The Lord, Himself will fight for you, just stay calm."
(Exodus 14:14)

Look for Safety Precautions

Don't try to walk on ice.
Don't climb stairs or chairs.

"In the day of trouble, He will keep me safe."
(Psalm 27:5)

Find Clean Fresh Water
Drink lots of water - not lots of coffee or other adult beverages.

"He will lead them to springs of living water"
(Revelation 7:17)
Written by the Apostle John while exiled as a
prisoner on the Island of Patmos.

Create a Shelter
A soft leather chair with a footstool works well.
"He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence."
(Revelation 7:15)

Evaluate Your Resources
Television, cable, Internet, wi-fi, computer, ipad, ipod, smart phone, nook, kindle, old fashioned books, journal, food in the fridge, and a Bible
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life."
(2 Peter 1:3)

Find Food Sources
Chair sitters should only eat carrots and celery lest they grow fatter!
"Long for the pure milk of the Word,
that by it you may grow in respect to salvation."
(1 Peter 2:2)

Start a Fire
I could wish for a fireplace...
or I could work on learning that new song,
"Set a Fire Down in my Soul."

Signal for Help
Pray...Pray...Pray
Sometimes the best prayer is just,
"Help!"
"God is ... an ever present help in trouble."
(Psalm 46:1)

Try to Make Contact
Call a friend
In case of emergency call the hot line:
"Call to ME and I will answer you and show you
great and mighty things , which you do not know."
(Jeremiah 33:3)

Never Give Up
"Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial"
(James 1:12)

In the midst of trying to keep my sanity,
I read about an Oscar nomination that was rescinded.
I checked out the song,
which I would probably never have heard
if it hadn't been for the news item.

The incredibly awesome song,
Alone Yet Not Alone
(if this link doesn't work, you can listen on You Tube)
is sung by artist, author, speaker,
Joni Eareckson Tada
a quadriplegic,
who just happens to have spent forty-seven years
sequestered to a wheelchair.
Forty-Seven Years.

...reality check...
check
check

...

"No, ma'am.
I am not ever depressed."