Learning about Norwegian Culture in Minnesota with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Fall colors convinced me to go along with my husband on
a business trip to Minneapolis, Minnesota one weekend when we lived in Wisconsin.
While my husband worked, I drove around Lake Mille Lacs outside Minneapolis and visited
all the small towns. “Lake Mille Lacs”
means “Lake One Thousand Lakes” and “Isle” means “Island.”
The name Lake Mille Lacs refers to all the lakes in Minnesota that were created when the last glaciers retreated. The license plates all said that there were 10,000 lakes in the state. The mosquito was jokingly called the state bird on postcards.
A state park dedicated to Father Hennepin further attested
to French exploration of this area. The
largest group of Europeans, though, who settled Minnesota are from the
Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden. The Objibway are the original inhabitants.
When I arrived in one small town, I immediately saw a little craft store that sold Norwegian items like tablecloths. I decided to start my souvenir shopping at the hardware store, though, because that was the only place that was open. I bought some fishing tackle for the fishermen in the family and started to look for some old-fashioned toys for my daughter.
The toys I found for my daughter included dominoes, white
chalk, a pick-up sticks game, and a little handheld pinball game. I loved getting things like this as a child
and looked forward to sharing them with my little one.
I would dole them out in two-week intervals
so that each item would get her full attention.
I bought my mother a pretty flowered tablecloth for her kitchen table; small
town hardware stores carry just about everything.
The Norwegian crafts store was now open, and I proceeded
across the street. I walked into a party
happening at 10:00 am in this crafts store.
About fifteen Norwegian matrons were gathered around a “Congratulations”
cake. The elderly owner of the store was
signing copies of her first book, which detailed her romance with the American who
had brought her to Minnesota.
She invited me to have some cake and tea and asked where I
was from. I told her about my wanderings
that had led me to Wisconsin. She told
me, “You should write a book, too!
Everyone’s life has drama in it.”
“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” I said.
She knew I was buying souvenirs for a child and let me purchase a book for my daughter. I found a Scandinavian fairy tale called The Tomten and the Fox. The tomtem looked like a Norwegian leprechaun, but instead of tricking people the tomtem helped them.
In this story, the tomten
protected the chickens from a wily fox for a family, who did not realize how
hard the tomten worked.
The visit to the Norwegian craft store left me in high
spirits. The scenery was beautiful with
the leaves turning golden, red, and brown as I drove back to the hotel. I did want to write, but mostly I wanted to participate
in wonderful moments in life like going to a 10 am book signing for a romance book.
By Ruth Paget, Author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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