It's a Small World After All!!!

    

     My great, great grandparents were Ole Olsen and Maria Eriksdotter and they were from Norway. They were tenant farmers on a farm named Petterborg. The Petterborg farm was owned or at least run by the Lutheran Church. The Olsen’s were given a part of the farm to live on and where they could raise crops and animals to sustain their family. They had 9 children, two died as infants. The majority of their time and energy was working the big property for the owner. They also gave quite a hefty percentage of what they raised for their family to the owner. Life was hard and NOT easy. Much like the rest of the world at that time.

     In 1866 much of the family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church). When the Lutheran Church minister, who was the overseer of the farm, found out that Ole and Maria’s family had joined the LDS church, he took the farm away from them. Sometime, while they were living on the farm, they took the name of Petterborg as their surname because when they joined the church they were known as Ole Olsen Petterborg and Maria Petterborg. Some of their children took the Petterborg name and some didn’t. The family moved to Oslo where they worked and saved their money so they could move to America and specifically, Idaho where Ole had a ½ brother—David Jensen. Ole, Maria, Emil (my great grandfather) and youngest daughter, Beate, came to America in 1872. Of their 7 living children all but one eventually immigrated to America.My maiden name is Petterborg.

   Fast forward—In 2010 I started a blog called “From Olsen to Petterborg” where I have been trying to tell the story of Ole and Marie and their children and what happened to them and share as much about them as possible for those of us today to read and share and learn. I have not been very good about posting for the last year but the blog is still out there. A few of the posts on the blog show pictures of the Petterborg farm as it looked about 15 years ago when a second cousin (or something like that) went to Norway and took some pictures of the farm as it was then. I went to Google Earth and found it today. I posted many of the Google Earth pictures. It really has not changed very much in years and years. The landscape is beautiful and I would love to visit.Click on the blog name above to see pictures and read those posts.

     On Tuesday of this week I opened my email and there was the most exciting message. A man, living in Norway, was surfing the Internet and stumbled onto the blog. His name is Hege Johansen and he wrote to tell me that he lives on the Petterborg farm today. He bought the farm from his father, who got it from his father, who got it from his father!!!!!!!! I asked him to tell me when his great grandfather lived on the farm. I might be able to close the gap from 1866 forward. They have farm books in Norway that list the history of the farms and who has lived on them. I am not sure how late they go but I can give it a try. Hege sent me pictures of the farm from 4-5 years ago taken from a plane. He said that he is going to takes some pictures with is camera and send them to me.

     His grammar and spelling is charming. He English is great. I wish I could use Norwegian 1/0000^th as well as he uses English. I am ecstatic that he wrote and at the possibilities because of the Internet. What a small world we live in!

    I am not posting his pictures of the farm until I ask him for permission. As soon as he says it’s ok I will post them.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!!!

 Salt Lake has been experiencing a drought for the last several years, just like much of the country. If you have never been here, Salt Lake City is in the high desert. There are mountains all around can help and hinder the climate. The Rocky Mountain to the east and northeast of the state block frigid air from coming into the valley and so the temps are milder than you would think for an area that is at 4300 ft and also so far north. Really cold air that does reach the area comes from the north and western Canada. Temperatures seldom get below 0 °F.

    Temperature inversions sometimes move into the area and create a real mess. An inversion is when cool air, moisture, and pollutants are trapped in the valley by surrounding mountains. The air quality becomes very nasty. There has been an inversion for about the last ten days. When I look straight up the air is clear with beautiful skies but as I look forward all I see is thick, brownish, green smoggy air. The temps stay very cold. Lately the highs have been in the teens and in the single digits at night. The weird thing is that when an inversion happens the areas around the city that are on the sides of the mountains and also the ski areas are much warmer—in the 30’s during the day!! They can look down into the valley and see the thick gunk hanging over the city!!! Kind of weird.

    We finally got a storm strong enough to blow all the pollutants away and in the meantime dumped a massive amount of snow. I think our downtown area got about a foot of snow in 24 hours. Many of the areas around us got around 24 inches of snow and the mountains and ski resorts got several feet. It has been quite a punch but a welcome relief for the drought conditions.

     We still need lots more. I just googled to see how much snow it takes to make 1 inch of water. It depends on the temperature and kind of snow. If the temperature is really cold the snow is light and fluffy and it can take 20 inches to make an inch of water. If the temperature is warmer, the snow will be wet and it can take just 3-4 inches on snow per inch of water. The average is about 10 inches of snow for 1 inch of water. Utah is known for its “powder”, so it is going to take more snow to add more water.

     Even though I am not used to all the snow I am not hating it. It is very beautiful and we have a nice warm and dry place to live. We came prepared with coats, gloves, scarfs and even boots although my snuggly and warm Ug kind of boots has blown a hole in the side where the boot meets the sole. NOT GOOD!! We live just 2 blocks from where we work, so life is good.

    Yesterday, Friday, 11 Jan, they closed all the buildings on Temple Square at 1:30pm and sent everyone home. There weather was getting worse and worse and so were the roads. They don’t do that very often.

    The Church Office building that is on Temple Square is 28 stories high and I am sure there are hundreds and hundreds if not thousands who work there.

     Below I have posted a picture of the Salt Lake Temple as we saw it out the window of my office. Another missionary, Scarlet Holman, took the picture with her iPad. Thanks Sister Holman for an awesome picture!!! BTW, it was even more beautiful seeing it in person!!!!!!!

 They are telling us the inversion will be back this week! I am NOT fond of the gunky air.