Well, hello there, and come on in. I'm Lorna Petersen. I'm 67 years old, and until this summer I had never once touched a computer. Our grandson Tyler set this one up at the kitchen table in July and showed me how to make a page, so here I am. He says people all over the world might read this. If that's you, I hope the weather's nice where you are.

About Arvid and me
Arvid and I were married in June of 1953, which makes it 46 years this summer. We have farmed wheat on the same section north of town that whole time, and his folks farmed it before us. Our son Dale does most of the work now, though Arvid would not say so and you shouldn't either. The harvest is in for this year, thank the Lord, and now Arvid is out in the shop fixing things that aren't broken. He is a quiet man. He'll go a whole supper without saying three words and then say the one thing that makes you laugh till you cry. That's been worth waiting for, 46 years running.

The kitchen table
If you came to our place you would end up at the kitchen table, everyone does. It's oak and it was Arvid's mother's. Every child we have did their homework at it, and every grandchild has spilled milk on it. We've done the farm books at it, rolled out lefse at it every Christmas, and sat up at it more than one night waiting for the phone to ring. There is always coffee on. There are usually Scotcheroos in the pan on the counter. People ask me for the recipe, and I tell them to come visit.

Church circle
I have belonged to the same circle at our Lutheran church for over forty years. There are nine of us now. We sew quilts for Lutheran World Relief, we do the funeral lunches, and we visit. Mostly we visit. When I told the ladies I was going to be on the Internet, Ardis said, "Well, don't tell them where the key is." So I won't.

The spring of '97
Anyone from up here will tell you about April of 1997. The blizzard came in that first weekend in April, ice first and then the snow, and the power went out and stayed out. Arvid and I kept warm by the old oil stove in the basement, and played a lot of cribbage by lamplight. He won. He always wins. Then two weeks after, the Red River came up and went right through Grand Forks. Our granddaughter Kari was at the university there, and she came and stayed with us until the water went down. I don't wish a flood on anybody, but I did enjoy having her. And of course our own lake has been coming up every year since '93 and has taken roads and good land from people we know. You learn to be grateful for what's still dry.

The grandchildren
We have three children and seven grandchildren, the youngest is 4 and the oldest is 22. I would tell you about each one but then this page would never end, and Tyler says there's a limit. They are all good kids. Two of them live close enough to come for Sunday dinner, and I set the table for them whether they come or not.

Thank you for stopping in. If you ever find yourself up in Ramsey County, the coffee's on.

Your friend,
Lorna Petersen