The Fourth of July

Today our neighbours to the south celebrate their Independence Day.  Was it in 1993 that we made an impromptu trip to Idaho and spent a special July 4th with Myrna and Ernie Damm, Craig and Mark in Pocatello?  Howard, Laurel, Todd and I made the trip in our grey van that's now parked down by the dugout.  We didn't go far the first evening, just got all packed up and stayed in a motel in Glasgow, Montana.  I woke up early the next morning, ready to hit the road.  It wasn't much after five a.m. when I announced to a sleepy bunch that "I'm ready to start driving!" We stopped at a 24 hour grocery store and bought breakfast items, some snacks for the road and we were off.  It worked out well as we got to Pocatello around seven in the evening, well before dark.  We had a wonderful visit with them and will never forget the fireworks display that was even in sync with the accompanying music!  On Sunday we all travelled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for Sunday worship service where a former pastor in Torquay, Fred Westerhold, was serving.  We had prepared a picnic lunch to have after church but discovered that the lunch had been left in the fridge back in Pocatello!  Not to worry, A & W (and a Howard Johnson VISA card!) provided for us.  We had a great visit and evening meal with the Westerholds that afternoon. On our way home, we camped for a night in the Jasper Hole area and woke up to a dusting of snow!

Just as I was typing this, an email came from Kristy in Kristiansund with the itinerary for our three weeks in Norway all outlined for us!  Can't get a better "travel agent" than the one Sandra and I have.  Thanks Kristy, for taking care of all these details for us.  Now I'm going to take a break and go over these three pages right away!  See you later.

Well, the plans look great and two weeks from today we'll be in the air heading for this special three week holiday together.  I don't know how much blogging I'll get done the first while but we'll certainly keep you posted once we get to Todd and Kristy's.  I'll post our itinerary just before we leave so you can keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we travel.

Last night there were severe storm warnings for south-east  SK and north-west North Dakota.  I was home alone but storms don't bother me too much, as long as I'm inside and the power stays on!  I gathered up my basket of sympathy cards, a flashlight (just in case) and headed for the basement.  Our house doesn't have an attic so rain and hail are really loud on the roof.  In the basement I hardly hear a thing.  I went upstairs a few times to check on the situation.  There was a lots of lightning and thunder and 3/10" of rain, but thankfully no hail or strong winds.  I reread all the cards and greetings and again felt so blessed to be remembered by so many in our time of loss.

Laurel took a picture of unusual cloud formations at their farm last night so I'll add it here.  They didn't get any rain, just some wind along with these interesting clouds.

Clouds over the Diekrager farm at Milestone, SK
July 3, 2012

I know there are quite a few of you in the US who follow my blog so I'm going to take this opportunity to wish a very Happy July 4th to Myrna and Ernie, Ron, Runie, Doris and Marvin, Barb and Dennis,  Esther and Maynard,  Lorna and Kevin, Laurel and Jerry, Paul, Nicole, Sophie, Sam and Maren, Mary Koyama, and anyone else in the USA who is reading my blog today. (If you let me know, I'll add you to this list!)  I have always lived near the US border as our Erickson farm at Frontier was just twelve miles north of the border.  Now I am even closer as the Johnson farm is just two and a half miles from the border.  Ambrose, ND is seven miles from the farm while Torquay, SK is almost ten!  We have mail boxes in both places.  Both of Howard's parents and my dad were born in Minnesota so we have roots in the USA as well as in Norway and Sweden.  I think Sandra and I should plan our next trip to Glenwood, Minnesota to see where our dad, his brother Almer and their mother, Sophia were born and lived until moving to Saskatchewan one hundred years ago. How does that sound, Sandra?  Last year we started this tradition with a trip to Alberta so we might as well make it a yearly sister event.

Well, this is it for my blog today.  If I stay on schedule this week, I'll be back on Sunday!