Our first stop in New York was to have lunch with friends. I’m still kicking myself that I forgot to get out the camera. We had a good time, and John for one, was probably glad there were no photos. It was great to catch up with Nancy (of Swedish ancestry) and George.
We had a chance to visit with Ruth a short while on the way to Sons of Norway. We had never been to their hall before, but the prime attraction of the evening was a lecture by nephew Lars. He had a riveting talk about Vikings. Brilliant! He pitched the evening to his audience perfectly.
Barbara introduced Lars by telling a short story about her son in the third grade. He was invited to talk to the 8th grade class about the gods of mythology. Everyone knew he was already an expert on the subject. After school Barbara asked him if he had been nervous.
Lars replied, “I was nervous when I walked down the hall, but as soon as I began, I was fine.”
He is still totally at ease in front of a crowd, throwing out funny comments that got a laugh every time. He had the audience in the palm of his hand. I loved the way he started. He said that for once he was very comfortable with his first name, knowing no one would consider it unusual in that place. I learned things about the Vikings that I hadn’t known before and was very impressed at the way all those foreign names rolled off his tongue as if they were his cousins.
The dessert after the lecture included Norwegian cakes and pastries. Ruth won a cutting board in the raffle. You’d think we were at church, being the last ones to leave.
Mehrling Muse 