Author: michaeljordahl

Retired Miner, loves science, reading, carving, walking, recovering alcoholic

Log Cabin Quote

Whenever I run into an old log cabin on my misadventures, it reminds me of a quote by Gene Logsdon:

“A log cabin symbolized

The embrace between

Civilization & nature,

Humans literally wrapping

The trees around them

As they might draw on

A coat and hat.”

I’m also reminded of the log cabin my friends and I built back in the high school days, mostly for a place to drink. It turned out to be a stunning structure, with over one hundred logs, cedar bunk beds, a cellar, and even an ornate church door with a round, porthole window. (That’s me with the machete–boys will be boys!)

–First photo by me

my torn flag

veterans day

has slipped away

like men and wars

they fought in,

but i’ll display

my flag each day

so they won’t be

forgotten,

and though it’s worn,

begrimed and torn,

its wounds do not

disgrace it–

yet on that day

war goes away,

i’ll happily

replace it.

–photo by me

Norwegian Prayer (Archives)

I grew up in a very old fashioned Norwegian family of ten. (Eleven, if you count Gramma Olga, matriarch of our household.) I remember Olga pedaling away on the old Singer sewing machine, singing ancient songs and rhymes; as a young boy, I was more interested in how the sewing machine worked than those soon-to-be-forgotten words. How I wish now that I had taken the time to learn them!

On the other hand, the Norwegian Table Prayer will never be forgotten, as we children had to recite it, in unison, in Norske, before every meal. It goes like this:

I Jesu navn gar vi til bords

Og spiser, drikker pa ditt ord

Deg, Gud, til aere, oss til gavn

Sa fa vi mat i Jesu navn.

Amen.

Translation:

In Jesus name, we go to the table

To eat and drink according to his word

To God, the honor, to us the gain

So we have food in Jesus name.

Amen

Yea, Olga was old-country stern. I always thought she was just being mean by not letting me rest while churning butter; turns out she was only being firm with me because she wanted firm butter!

Art by Yamata