nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
As my mother grew up on her grandparents' farm in rural Minnesota, she looked forward to the picnics held, typically twice each summer at Clearwater Lake (in Clearwater County). Grandpa Ole Johnson ow…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
For those of you who have been checking up on the latest in Norway via "Aftenposten"--the Norwegian online news, be forewarned that their nine-year old English news service will shut down any day now.…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
...It sounds a little more promising than "Death by Chocolate," in any case.In the following video, an antique dealer tells how "chocolate molds capture history." It's just at the time when our swee…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Gads, Becky at Kinexxions tagged me on this about a week ago, and John of TransylvanianDutch, a couple of days later, not to mention Linda of From Axer to Ziegler shortly after that! And, I've just no…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Each autumn after an annual membership drive, the Chippewa County Historical Society of Minnesota holds a special event, the "Enchanted Evening at the Swensson Farm.""To say that these evenings are tr…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Whenever I look through Norwegian genealogy and census records that are filled with many of the same names (Karen, Maren, Berit, and Kirsten, to name a few), I've had to wonder how one of my great gre…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
An Imaginary Trip to Hobohemia (Hobowhatia?)The bindle stiff looked around cautiously as he exited the alley. He’d been carrying the banner and was long weary of going by hand. Distracted by a high…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
In September 2005, Cousin Duane was driving two of my first cousins and me around Leonard, Minnesota to see the old family sites. We stopped at the farm once owned by our great grandparents, Ole M. a…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Norwegians have come a long way since the early days of communicating by handwritten letters, painfully and slowly carried aboard emigrant ships to North America and elsewhere. Now, they're moving dat…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
I heard a faint knock at the door late yesterday, and at first I thought I'd been imagining things. But, the dog barked insistently, alerting me to something unusual outside. I opened the door and pea…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
I must pause briefly from my Norwegian-American focus to introduce a source helpful to those wanting to read more about population migrations during the twentieth century. Social history, when added t…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
I am a Bay Area girl turned Seattlelite, with eclectic interests ranging from history and genealogy to science-fiction and Chinese film, to name a few. One of my main passions has been discovering all…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
I would love to spend months exploring Chippewa County, Minnesota. It is the center of the genealogical universe when it comes to my mother's ancestry. All four sets of her Norway-born great grandpare…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Those of us who are serious about the pursuit of genealogy and family history can appreciate the treasure that is gleaned by a field trip to the cemetery: not just treasure in data, but of feelings,…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
As promised, here is the preface to my recently published family history, A Long Way Downstream. I learned so very much during the research and writing process, and I can't thank enough those who help…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
A day in the life of a Norwegian-American family historian doesn't always include things specifically Norwegian. On Sunday, September 7, my husband John and I attended the Kirkland Concours d'Eleganc…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
From the land of sky-blue wa-ah-ters...(Remember that Hamms Beer commercial, or am I dating myself?)Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Photograph by Chery Kinnick, September 2002. Bemidji, Minnesota.In…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
In July, I picked up the fruit of my labors at Gorham Printing in Centralia, Washington--a short-run printer of the finest calliber. The photographs below are proof: the Johnson/Winje family history i…
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nordicblue has posted a new entry on: Nordic Blue
Hello again... I said I would be back, and here I am! At this point, I am quite delinquent in reading all the wonderful genealogy/family history blogs out there, and I have a lot to catch up on, so th…
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