Two Ceremonies, Two Continents, Same Bride!!!

My Mom was the master seamstress for the five bridesmaids dresses and flower girl’s dress.  Since I paid way too much money for my gown that I bought at Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis, I thought I should use it twice. Once in the U.S. for our first ceremony on Dec. 24, 1994 and once in Central Asia.  So, my friend from Kazakhstan, Tatyana Kazanina was in both weddings as I was (including the groom). My students were part of our second ceremony which was held a month later in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Unfortunately, my friend Tatyana, who was my age, died about 10 years ago and I still grieve her loss.  Especially true when I hope to hunt up her parents, if they are still alive in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  If you want to find out more about our travels, look for Kazakhnomad under wordpress.com.  I’ll keep you posted on my whereabouts.  For now, over and out! 

North Dakota weather “freak feature” of 1934

 According to S.A. Olsness’ diaries, if the weather in North Dakota up to this timein the 1930s seemed bizarre, 1934 was to surpass the four years before it.  The wind and dust storms continued through January into April where S.A. ironically commented on April 18: “Winds howling success with northwest dirt storm, soil drifts.”

On April 19 he wrote “desert-like dust fills the air;” and on April 22, 1934, he

also described the dust as “Egyptian darkness.”  The months May through August of 1934 experienced more of the same though seemingly worse when S.A. wrote descriptions such as:  “earth cryeth for rain, everlasting fire, crops near total failure, extreme heat, scorching day, eternal heat.”

By this time, the weather and economic conditions had devastated many North Dakota farmers, S.A. wrote Oct. 1, 1934: “Records show 140,000 acres of farm taken over by foreclosure by North Dakota bank.”  The winds continued, things went from bad to worse, and yet S.A.’s humor remained. 

On Oct. 6, 1934, “Verily the wind blew so fast and furious yesterday that it finished in one day what usually lasts three days!” S.A. ended his journaling the last day of December in 1934 with the following:

“…weather which is the outstanding freak feature of the year.  I have seen several arid seasons in North Dakota such as 1889, 1890, 1900 and 1910 but never anything to equal to this.  For the Bismarck district, the annual, normal precipitation should be 16.22 [inches], while 1934 shows only 8.55 or half normal – crop failure nearly total.  No feed, nor hay was raised in many sections of the state.” 

Wheat prices in 1933 according to S.A. Olsness

 S.A. Olsness made comments about the grain (Dark Northern Wheat) prices at least nine times in his journal in 1933 compared to the several times in 1931 and 1932.  The lowest price he journaled was $.34 per bushel in 1932.  By 1934, the grain prices had stabilized around $1.00 a bushel; due mostly to no crops on account of drought, but that does not mean S.A.’s pen was silent.  He kept writing and writing, see what he wrote in his journal about 1933 weather.  What was the weather REALLY like in Ukraine during 1933, I wonder?

Jan. 1933 – 6^th rain; 10^th NW high raging winds; 11^th 2 girls die in MN in snowstorm; 31^st ideal spring day

Feb. 1933 – 8^th – 50 below zero, cold wave worst weather in 32 years; 10^th storm w/high wind raging at 30 mph

March 1933 – 4^th wet and heavy snow; 8^th 35à70 mph strong NW wind; subzero temps; 11-13^th earthquake in CA; tornado in TN; 25^th sun melts snow; 26^th dark forecasts; 27-31^st golf

April 1933 – 2^nd golf bad weather; 6^th snow flurries; 16^th glorious weather; 21^st warmer; 26^th started seeding on ND farm

May 1933 – 5^th Louisiana tornado; 10^th KY & TN tornado; 13^th green garb in ND; 16^th MO floods; 23^rd tornado in ND; 26^th windstorm losses great; 31^st late growing in IA

June 1933 – 5^th hot in Chicago; 16^th hot high 102, crops suffering; 17^th hottest 3 days in 59 years; 18^th 100 temp, night winds; 20^th grasshoppers, drought, heat wave; 22-27^th heat wave, sweltering, continuous heat, hot weather and drought; 29^th golf

July 1933 – 5^th grasshoppers reigning; 9^th heat, excessive humidity; 11^th rainfall and hail cyclone;13^th highest temps in Norway 32 degrees Cel = 89 degrees Fah.; 16^th withering fields, rain 2” below normal in ND; 27^th Sahara Desert or Death Valley; 28^th extreme 100-101; 29^th breaking high temps, no rain; 30^th NE wind, hot

Aug 1933 – 5^th Dry asSahara!; 9^th Who said ND is cold? It’s a dry state; 20^th same eternal heat, high SE wind

Sept. 1933 – 1^st so extreme is drought; 6^th hurricane storm in TX; 7^th forest fires in northern MN; 11^th 10” rain flood in South Dakota; 16^th rainfall in ND at last; 19^th wind velocity 74 mph; 20^th beautiful weather; 23^rd stiff gale winds

Oct. 1933 – 1^st not having clothes torn off with fierce gale winds; 4^th brush fire in CA; 15^th inclement weather; 22^nd fall, leaves fluttering

Nov. 1933 – 4^th football games cancelled due to snowstorm; 12^th 64 mph gale winds like hurricane; 13^th heavy storm damage; 21^st Norway reports abundant fruit; 24^th superb golf weather

“The Problem of Pain” by C.S. Lewis

I would really like to know what the weather conditions were like in Ukraine while the tribulation of hot winds and no rain existed in North Dakota according to S.A. Olsness’ records.  Are there Ukrainian students who care enough about their Holodomor (Terror Famine) history able to find this information out?  While North Dakota and the rest of the nation may have experienced drought conditions during the Dirty Thirties, this does not mean it can be projected to Ukraine during this tragic period in their history. 

What is needed are the facts about 1932-33 weather, then the other numbers or statistics of 7-10 million Ukrainians dying during this two year period might make more sense.  The Soviet government edicts of forced collectivism went against the term used by G.K. Chesterton of “distributism.”  I just found out about this concept yesterday and need to read up on it more.  In the meantime, C.S. Lewis has some very good points about why we suffer pain, maybe why Ukrainians have suffered so much. 

The Necessity of Tribulation 

“I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down.  At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys.  Then slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times.  I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ.”

1932 ND weather and Ukraine’s “famine”

Jan. 1932 – 7^th cold at 15 degrees; 15^th East Coast very warm, worry about Olympics; 25^th H2O in streets; 27^th cold spell starts with sub-zero temps to 6^th of Feb.

Feb. 1932 – subzero temps 6^th nice snow and 12 degrees; 11^th severe NW wind; 23^rd H2O in streets; 27^th record climate of 65 degrees; 28^th skating rinks are pools

March 1932 – 5^th – cold snap w/strong NW winds; 7^th subzero temps;  20^th beautiful 40 degrees; 27^th– extremely moody; 28^th at 50 degrees

April 1932 – First five days highs in the 60s; rain from 16^th to the 31^st

May 1932 – 1 – 1^st bright day in 2 weeks; 22^nd too windy for golf; 26^th snow

June 1932 – 3^rd ideal temps, green; 4^th Mexico earthquake; 6^th California earthquake; 27^th and 29^th perfect and brilliant weather; 31^st copious rains

July 1932 – 4^th grouchy weather; 6^th showers, windy, 10^th perfect; 14^th fine weather; 15^th hot at Peace Gardens; 17^th sweltering hot; 18^th nation-wide heat wave 103 degrees; 20^th heat wave broke w/rain; 24^th scorching hot day; 27^th high winds but nights dead calm; 29^th no rain for weeks, south wind; 31^st hot temps and high winds

August 1932 – 8^th perfect weather; 14^th hot dry, will it rain? 15^th TX cyclone; 18^th flood in OK; 23^rd scorching hot; 24^th violent weather w/rain & hail; 25^th dusty; 31^st 67% eclipse of sun

Sept. 1932 – 4^th NW winds; 11^th ideal day for golf; 14^th autumn leaves; 18^th tirade of winds; 20^th cool; 22^nd frost on pumpkin; 23^rd Jack Frost; 30^th bone dry!; 31^st windy & dry

Oct. 1932 – 2^nd grouchy day w/NW winds; 7^th rain & sleet; 9^th freezing snow; 13^th fine day; 30^th autumn gloom; 31^st sunny day in 2-3 weeks, played golf

Nov. 1932 – 1^st 30 degrees windy; 3^rd 46 degrees; 5^th perfect day, sunny; 6^th cloudy & raw; 7^th inclement NW wind; 8^th 2” of snow; 11^th Fargo gets 10”snow; 20^th “neuter gender” weather; 23^rd & 24^th golf again!; 29^th Indian Summer

Dec. 1932 – 3^rd high winds; 4^th fine day; 8^th – 20 below zero; 11^th same temperature in  Alaska and  San Francisco; 15-17^th persistent, beautiful and calm; 28^th no snow; 31^st steady and mild 

1931 weather according to S.A. Olsness

S.A. Olsness regularly used to write articles and editorials for the Norwegian and English newspapers in North Dakota while campaigning for his Commissioner of Insurance position in Bismarck, ND.  He also used radio addresses in Bismarck and Fargo.  I would LOVE to hear his voice if any of the radio stations have kept those recordings from the 1930s.  The following is what S.A. Olsness wrote about 1931 “hot” weather conditions in the state of North Dakota. 

Jan. 1931 – Sept weather up to 12^th; weather alarmingly warm

Feb. 1931 – calm, spring-like weather all month, people golfing

March 1931 – lamblike 1^st and 31^st but -6 degrees and snowstorm on 26^th, climactic somersault

April 1931 – superb but windy; 19^th grouchy, rainy weather

May 1931 – 25^th done with spring seeding; Watertown, SD 9” rain, great rain, dry in WY

June 1931 – Draught in ND, east MT on 9^th; 19^th – hot day; 28^th 104 degrees; 29^th – longest siege of heat, extreme heat; 30^th death toll – 500 people

July 1931 – 6^th rains revive pastures; struggling crops; desperate conditions; 25^th hot 106 degrees; 27^th terrific heat

Aug. 1931 – 1^st – 100s pray for rain in SD; 7^th – 5,200 hail claims; 12^th – poor crops; 18^th – forest fires in WA; 19^th – drought and grasshoppers in ND

 Sept 1931 – SAO is sick doesn’t record much

Oct. 1931 – 21^st beautiful weather; 29^th – northern storm; 31^st spell is broken, good raining

Nov. 1931 – very mild Norwegian like winter, very clement

Dec. 1931 – 14^th – severe storms in Europe; Arkansas storm; 30^th 5” snow 

S.A. Olsness on Radio Again

The talk show host and radio personality who interviewed me today in Fargo, North Dakota at West Acres on radio – LIVE! arrived a bit late. No worries.  But, there seemed to be some technical difficulties already before the noon show started from the sound truck outside the shopping mall.  

What was very strange in this half hour sequence of my interview about S.A. Olsness was as soon as I started talking about the weather that S.A. Olsness documented during the Dirty Thirties OR about the wheat prices, there were MORE “technical difficulties” and NO sound, the technicians immediately cut to music.  The global warming gremlins are after me.  (Bring it on, it only encourages me more!!!)

I’m getting the distinct feeling there are forces out there who want to silence the voices from the past, especially from the windswept, North Dakota prairies.  However, there WERE dramatic climactic changes as recorded in 1930 by S.A. Olsness, transcribed from one of his 30 diaries housed at the Institute of Regional Studies on the NDSU campus:

Jan 1930 – below zero temps, lowest -28, coldest since 1916

Feb. 1930 – Snowstorm in ND, 1 ft. snow, record temp in MO 81 degrees

March 1930 – very warm temps, 71 degrees on 15^th, driest in 56 years

April 1930 – much high winds, drought in SW, pastures suffer, getting dry

May 1930 – more high winds, gale like winds, 87 degrees 25^th of May, no rain since 14^th

June 1930 – on 12^th copious rains 2.05 inches, 24^th severe heat wave in U.S.

July 1930 – on 9^th 97 degrees, people dying; on 15^th – 91 degrees, on the 25^th 90 degrees and above for 13 days, 114 degrees in IN, IL, KY.

August 1930 – hot spell, 9^th, record breaking heat period, 14^th – serious drought in US, 18^th rain 3” but too late for crops

Sept. 1930 – snow today, climate change on 1^st; on 26^th 22 degrees

Oct. 1930 – 14^th – 56 year record for rain; frost, windy

Nov. 1930 – 7^th– Indian summer; twister in OK on 19^th; 24^th  12” snow storm; 48 mph gale on 26^th; worst snowstorm since 1908 on 30^th

Dec. 1930 – ND Capitol fire on 28^th – strong winds

Morning rays of an American landscape

The consistency of witnessing the sun rising each morning I am confident that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever! Heb. 13:8

With so much inconsistency in our relations with other people, as Christians we can at least have confidence God is there for us.  Reflecting on the morning rays on my flatland horizon, I think of Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they [unbelievers] are without excuse.”

Behold, I am going up to Almaty…

Jesus said, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem…” in Luke 18:31

Oswald Chambers wrote, “We start with Christ and we end with Him—“till we all come…to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…” (Eph. 4:13), not simply to our own idea of what the Christian life should be.  The goal of the missionary is to do God’s will, not to be useful or to win the lost.  A missionary is useful and he does win the lost, but that is not his goal. His goal is to do the will of his Lord.

Want to be NOUNS, but merely ADJECTIVES

“The Fall” from The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis

“They [Adam and Eve] wanted, as we say, to ‘call their souls their own.’  But that means to live a lie, for our souls are not, in fact, our own.  They wanted some corner in the universe of which they could say to God, ‘This is our business, not yours.’ But there is no such corner.  They wanted to be nouns, but they were, and eternally must be mere adjectives.”