Wednesday, November 16, 2011

ROCKING AWAY TO NORWAY

I don't want to start a new trip until the holidays are over. Following
is my first rocking chair trip which I made this past September, 2011.
It has not been on my blog before. I had a great time; hope you like it!
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   Although I was excited over my first rocking chair trip ever,
I got a lump in my throat as I flew away from Memphis.


   image.png  image.png
On the way to Chicago I thought about the thousands of
miles I had traveled by air, car, train, and Greyhound.
Now all i have of those trips are memories. Now I would
be traveling a new way. My preparation online, on the
You Tube and other forms of study would serve me well.
This trip will leave memories like my "in the flesh trips."


                        LET US GO TO NORWAY


                        
                                  image.png

Because I had six hours to kill at the O'hare terminal, I felt
justified in entertaining myself by "people watching."
image.png Two interesting ladies sat across from
me in the waiting room for the flight to London.
The younger one was wearing a sport jacket with North 
Dakota on the back.  image.png facsimile. She was upset over
a conversation she was having over her cell phone. Her
voice sounded like the actors in the movie FARGO!
"Nicklas, please don't be upset with us.  We will see you
soon, but after...after"  The older lady said, "Asta, hand me
the phone, please." She took it and said, "Nicklas, this is your
Aunt Eve speaking. This is the way it is going to be. We will
spend a few days in Oslo, then come on to Stavanger after
that. It is settled. I have spoken, Nicklas. We love you. Goodbye."
AS I heard  her talking, I thought she looked like this! haha
:image.pngAlthough she really looked like this!
                                   image.png facsimile


My pretend trips are financed by monopoly money. I could afford the most


expensive meal at the airport. But seeing I was alone, the sisters offered me


sandwiches they had brought from home. I accepted gratefully; I was glad


 for the opportunity to get better acquainted.


What luck! I had already met two darling companions. We had six hours to get


to know each other before we boarded the plane for London. I learned they


were sisters from Enderlin, N. Dakolta. Eve, never married, had recently retired


from a career as a social studies teacher at the only school in Enderlin. It was


k-12 and 600 students in one building. Being from a large city I loved the


sound of it.  Eve, 65, had lived her entire life in the family home; she cared for her parents




until they died. They were of Norwegian descent like so many people in that town;


Asta, 56, was a widow; and so far, that's all I know about her. I gather she is an active


volunteer in town.  


image.png There was another sister who had died from cancer 20 years ago. Her husband took her death  very hard & became an alcoholic. He was killed in a car wreck. Their son was Nicklas. Then Aunt Eve raised him and sent him
to college.



 Now he had a job as an  engineer in a big oil company
in Stavanger, Norway. Eve and Asta were hurt that
he did not move back home. But he loved his job and
begged them to come for a year long visit. Now that Eve had retired, they no longer had an excuse.


We slept on the plane to London. When we arrived, there were only two more hours until Oslo.


 Londonimage.png

image.png Oslo terminal.
Eve was being paged as we arrived in the Oslo terminal.
It was Nicklas, of course. He was resigned to the reality
they were going to stay in Oslo a few days; so he reserved a
large suite for them at the Grand Hotel. SISTERS were so
happy. They didn't want any discord with him; and also they would have had a hard time finding a place on their own.
Asta asked me, "Annie, where are you staying?"


I stuttered, "Uh, uh." They begged then insisted I stay with 
them. I surely didn't need a free room, but I did need their
companionship. I was lonesome for home.


image.png image.pngwe checked in.


We stopped for pastries to take up to our room.image.png
It wasn't even time for lunch yet; we went to our enormous suite and rested. This would be the first
day of many wonderful days in Norway.


More later...Love, annie


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1 comment:

  1. this episode is so messed up, pictures missing, etc. I have recalled the memory and rewritten it on memphisannie.blogspot.com...because I cannot delete, add, or make changes on this one. ab

    ReplyDelete