Norwegian Officers

I have noted the clamor of the crowd of faithful readers wondering "What up?!" after finding no weekly Scandinavian Saturday update. Alas, I did not prepare a Scandinavian meal yesterday because (a) I needed the day to catch up on work instead and (b) I knew that we'd be eating a meal with Scandinavians this evening following our monthly Sons of Norway lodge meeting. I decided to count tonight's menu even though I knew there would be nothing particularly Nordic about it. It was the lodge's annual Thanksgiving meal, so the spread included turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, salads and crudités, and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was very tasty, but there wasn't even so much as a piece of lefse in sight. Heavy sigh.

Speaking of the Sons of Norway meeting, Susan and I--having been lodge members for a full year now (remember?)--are now lodge officers! We assented to the nominating committee's requests; and the slate of nominees (with our names among them) was presented at this afternoon's meeting. Since there was only one nominee per office, the lodge president was allowed by our bylaws to declare all of us "elected" without having to put it to a vote. So, when our terms begin next January or February (I can't remember which), I will serve as vice president of the lodge, and Susan will be both newsletter editor and youth director.

Suzanna, too, has an office: musician! Yes, they have given our 11-year-old daughter the duty of playing piano for the lodge, which she will do to accompany us in singing the table prayer before a meal and . . . well, I don't know when else they need a musician, actually. At the start of a meeting, we always sing the Canadian, Norwegian, and American national anthems, but we sing along to a cassette tape. Maybe they will have her play those for us? I do know that they are buying an electronic keyboard and sending it home with us so that she can practice on it between meetings. Cool, huh? (But will it be too much pressure for our little girl? Is accompanying a group beyond her piano skill set at the moment? We shall see . . .)