Happy Times in Norway

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THE NEXT MORNING THE WEATHER WASTHE SAME, EXcept that the rain had thickened into sleet, but now and then a few wet, gray snow splotches fell to earth. It was, at least, snow. Later in the day, large soft flakes appeared , the garden turned white, and the tree branches began to bow under a burden of heavy, wet snow. The boys leaped to life. They got their skis down from the storehouse attic and began overhauling them, and soon the whole house smelled of turpentine and tar from various mixtures of ski grease Anders had warming—and boiling over—in tin cups on the kitchen stove. The next morning the fogwas sothick one could not see farther than the nearest birches. Of the snow nothing remained but a few strips of slush along the garden 's edge! Now Mother and Thea became infinitely weary of i i 2 H A P P Y TIMES IN N O R W A Y this endless rainyweather. For it was time to begin the Christmas preparations in earnest. In Norway Christmas is celebrated for thirteen days, and in order that wives and mothers and maids shall not have too much to do during the holiday season, it is the custom to cook and store many different kinds of food and bake heaps of cookies in advance. That way there is alwayssomething on hand when guests drop in who must be asked to stay for dinner or for the evening meal. This year Mother had ordered a whole pig, a sheep, and half a reindeer, for she expected a houseful of guests at Christmastime. If the weather is very cold, one needs only to pack down in tubs of snow the meat that is to be eaten fresh. But if the weather is mild—ah, then what a job! Some of the roasts must be partly precooked , other cuts peppered and salted down, pork sausages and blood puddings fried and baked and laid down in crocks that are then sealed over with fat. Besides this, all the other work must be done before Christmas—the pork hams laid in the salt tubs, the mutton hams sugar-cured, and headcheese made from the head and feet. Then the cookies must be baked. And besides all this there is a big washing to be done, and the Christmas house cleaning everywhere. Thea began with the kitchen. Mari Moen came to do the washing. Mari was from up the valley—a tall, I 2, M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S straight-backed old woman with handsome features and dark hair streaked with gray. She had the quietly distinguished air that Norwegian peasant women usually have, and everyone in the house wasglad when she came. Thea saw to it that each day one of Mari's favorite dishes appeared for dinner and when Mari was doing a hig wash, Anders remembered, for a change, that as a BoyScout he was duty-bound to help with the work at home. He carried the heavy baskets of wet clothes up from the basement for her and hung them out to dry in the back yard. As far as the other women in the household were concerned, Anders confined himself to saying he would prepare dinner someday , so they could see for themselves he had learned how to broil steak at the Boy Scout camp. Neither Mother nor Thea was eager to have him carry out his promise. It was well enough to hang out the wash, but how was it to dry before Christmas? Anders and Mari finally had tocarry it to the attic and hang it up there. Suddenly one morning the fog split open. White swirls of mist began to wheel past a pale, glimmering sun that made the millions of waterdrops on the birches around the house glisten and gleam. For the first time in weeks, one could see the dark-forested ridges around the town and get a glimpse of the pale 13 H A P P Y TIMES IN NORWAY sea at the base of the hills. Beyond the garden hedge, in Lysgaard field, the horses were munching at the dead grass. Thea came up from die kitchen garden widi a small bowl of freshly grown lettuce, and in the rock garden Hans found three full-blown pansies and some white Arabis. It was rather...