Category: Miscellaneous
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A tip of the hat to Britanno-American friendship
Everywhere I travelled over the past 10 days, I was reminded of the close and abiding ties between Great Britain and my home country. What might have started as a begrudging alliance between mother Britannia and her uncouth, rebellious child blossomed over time into a deep friendship. The progression of this relationship was laid out…
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Missed connections
Hello from Iceland! This stop was not on my itinerary, but I missed my connecting flight in Reykjavik so I’ve spent the night here. This got me thinking about the less-than-obvious connections between the two countries I’ve just visited — Norway and Germany. Physically, Norway and Germany are separated only by a couple of modest-sized…
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Who was Oscar Veum? The search for a biological ancestor.
There’s a word in the Dano-Norwegian language used by 19th century Norwegian priests that sounds just as ugly as it does in English: uægte. It means “illegitimate”. And if you scroll through as many old Norwegian church records as I do, you’ll notice how often it comes up. In the old record books, whether a…
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Mjøsa
Ancestors on both my mother and father’s sides have lived around Mjøsa – Norway’s largest lake – for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. Mjøsa is massive – from end to end 73 miles (117 km). And at its deepest point, it’s nearly 1,500 feet (450 m). The lake is the dividing line between two…
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Live from Oslo – a photo update
I am taking a little detour (again) from family history to share a few sights with you. Greetings from Oslo! This first photo is from the suburb of Sandvika, just south of Oslo. Behind me is Løkke Bridge, which was the subject of an 1895 painting of Monet’s that I like. If you go to…
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“Proceed to the route”: a detour from family history
“Well, the Earth Mark Two in fact,” said Slartibartfast cheerfully. “We’re making a copy from our original blueprints.” There was a pause. “Are you trying to tell me,” said Arthur, slowly and with control, “that you originally…made the Earth?” “Oh yes,” said Slartibartfast. “Did you ever go to a place…I think it was called Norway?”…
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A visit to Ulvik kyrkje
I came to Ulvik to try to imagine how my ancestors might have worked, prayed, lived and died. And the town does not disappoint in this regard. There is clearly a certain reverence for the past here, and many old houses and farm buildings have been lovingly preserved and restored. And yet, Ulvik is not…
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Reflections on the preservation of memory
The colonization of North America is so relatively recent that our notions of what’s “old” and “worth preserving” are a little different from those of our European counterparts. Similarly, a fascination with family history, while not unique to Americans, takes on an oddly obsessive quality among some in the U.S. (ahem…. guilty as charged). Any…
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A sense of place
I’m in Southern Wisconsin for a few days, wandering around some of the towns and farms where ancestors of mine have dwelt for 170 years. I haven’t lived here since I was five, but deep down in the fibers of my being, this place has always felt like home. And of course it isn’t my…
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The greats
During my formative years (i.e., the early 1980s), I recall a flurry of genealogical interest on multiple sides of the family. My paternal grandpa’s sister Carol (Rude) Luiso had been interviewing her father John Rude and other older relatives about the family’s early years in the US. She and her cousin Judi collected a wealth…
Deep Roots 