To 1973 and BACK in Kvam, Part II



When we got to the main farmhouse, we reminisced while Anders started a fire in the woodstove. 


 Soon dinner guests started arriving. Johan, who lives in a cabin on Anders' farm, Ossi, an old friend, originally from Sweden who terrorized the students back in '73 with his carving knife (he is a highly skilled wood carver, not to mention a highly skilled knifesman), and Ossi's wife Bente.  Their grandkids showed up in Halloween costumes to collect candy (Halloween is slowly infiltrating Norwegian culture, to my dismay). 


A short time later, Anders Jr. and his business partner, Nina, Swedish-speaking, from Finland (a minority of Finns speak Swedish as their "mother tongue") and Nina's dog, Rufus, arrived.  We all sat down to a lovely dinner of roasted lamb.  I wished I'd had my 18-55mm lens so that I could have used a wider angle to capture all of the diners. 

Anders' head, Ossi, Johan, Junior, Nina and Bente. 

Here's a second photo that gets Anders in it.

Unfortunately, I missed Hali in both shots.  Sorry, Hali!  Bente asked me if I remembered everyone from '73.  I said "no" and she was so relieved, because she can't remember everyone, either.  But I did see a little photo album that Sandy had put together and had sent to Anders.  On the inside cover the participants are listed as, Tom, Chuck, Kim, Sandy, Nancy, Liz, Hali, Frank, Bruce, Scot, Allison, Trent, Diane, Sonja, Becky, Cindi, Jack, Dave J, Dave L, Dave M, Doug, Heidi, and Laurie.

There was lots of reminiscing around the dinner table.  Hali's Norsk was truly impressive.  Whenever we started to chat to each other in English, Ossi would shout, "SNAKK NORSK, FOR FAEN!"  It was then that I remembered him.  He shouted the same thing at us in 1973.  He told story after story with Anders supplying the norsk words for the svensk words that he knew I wouldn't understand.  I still had difficulty understanding a lot, but it was fun.

Anders, Jr., is a fine man and a good son.  I think his father worries that he works too hard.  I think junior has the same fear regarding his dad.  In addition to running the farm, and the wool business, Anders Jr. also works at the particle-board factory in town.  He was down with the virus this spring, too, and lost a lot of weight, although not as much as his dad.  Like his father, he is genuinely warm and gracious.

Sunday morning was relaxed.  We reminisced some more, ate breakfast and then I took some pictures of Anders at work with the sheep.

Hay Loft



Hay 



That's Mikke or Bob "helping" Anders feed the sheep.

Sheep get excited when Anders feeds them.

The Fortun farm presently raises about 120 sheep for Merino wool.  The wool is extremely soft and non-itching, not to mention very warm.  I looked at some sheepskins tanned by Norwegian tanners and they were beautiful.  The sheep have RFID tags on their ears that make identification easier.

Before leaving, Anders and I had some very personal conversations about our lives.  We each have endured personal losses that were difficult for us.  Suffice to say that Anders is a gentle man who has had his share of personal pain.  I enjoyed the reunion.  Thank you, Hali.