To What Ends? Again!

I like a challenge, but this one has me stumped.

Over the past year, hundreds of hits have been logged on my post To What Ends which highlights Anita Hegerland's childhood hit "Hvis Jeg Var En Fugl." In this post, I shared the Norwegian lyrics and the singable American translation that I wrote as a gift for my husband's birthday.

I explained the lengths we went to online to find the "If I were a Bird" song, noting my brother-in-law's help in remembering "Si, Si Albertino" – the B-side song of the single vinyl record their grandmother played over and over for her grandchildren.

Early this month, someone left a comment on that post seeking the lyrics to "Albertino." I laughed. Originally, I intended to translate both of that single's songs. But "Albertino" presented a few problems. After dozens of attempts, I couldn't make sense of a few words in four lines of the two verses. I gave up.

But with this new request, I've started fresh. I've narrowed my trouble to a few words in three lines. I created a little video with images depicting Anita's childhood fame and the song's lyrics about an old clown who jokes, laughs, sings and plays the mandolin for children on the streets of Torino, Italy.

Now I am asking for help to unlock the hyphens in the lyric PUZZLE.
Er det noen som vil hjelpe? Så blir det mange takknemlig folk.

ALBERTINO

På en gate i Torino kan du se en gammel man
Det er klovn Albertino, ingen er så snill som ham
Han kan le og han kan spøke og med først han er i gang
Blir det liv i - - -- og man hører barnesang

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Alle barna i Torino kommer mer enn gjerne fram
Når de hører Albertino og de følger ut til ham
Nå -- - --- - til alle verdens land
Bli det aldrig krig og -- vel kan få no' slik hos dem

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Albertino

TO WHAT ENDS? AGAIN!



**** Hurrah!*** Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:35 PM ****

Thanks to my Norwegian-language professor and her Norwegian husband for solving the puzzle for one and all. We believe these are the Norwegian lyrics to Composer Fredrik Friis'

ALBERTINO

På en gate i Torino kan du se en gammel man
Det er klovn Albertino, ingen er så snill som ham
Han kan le og han kan spøke og med først han er i gang
Blir det liv i hele strøket og man hører barnesang

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Alle barna i Torino kommer mer enn gjerne fram
Når de hører Albertino og de følger ut til ham
Og hvis toget får marsjere ut til alle verdens land
Bli det aldrig krig og ufred den kan få no' slik hos dem

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Si si, Albertino, kom og spill for meg bambina og bambino
på din mandelino så det klinger som fanfarer i Torino
Si si, Albertino, du er veldig morsom hver gang du skal si no'
Med musikken og humøret sprer du solskinn på din vei
kjære snille Albertino vi er alle glad i deg

Albertino

Daisy Daisy

give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you.

This little jingle reminded me: It must be for love that I woke at 4 AM today and couldn't go back to sleep. In an hour I was to be Dan's alarm clock rolling him out of bed to shower, load his luggage and head to the Twin Cities to catch a flight for a work week in Atlanta.

Seeing him off, I rousted Isaac to greet his friend who's been spending the weekdays with our family before and after Driver's Education class while his mom works. Then I woke Noah for swim lessons and asked Aaron to walk dog and care for the cats. Late afternoon, I taxied Isaac back to school for basketball camp from 3-5 PM. Meanwhile I prepped the house for tomorrow's big window installation and made meals.

Daisy – certainly not lazy – Days!

Grasping Charity

I love languages. Sometimes another helps me better understand my own native tongue. Today was one of those instances.

I had an itch to stitch something girlishly fun – a sachet with a heartfelt message for an overseas college friend celebrating her birthday soon. The old-fashioned gift is made from calico, filled with fragrant beads and used in a closet or drawer to scent linens.

To personalize the sachet, I cut a swatch of muslin, grabbed a needle and a bagful of embroidery threads and planned to sew the words "Faith Hope and Love" in coordinating colors.

Rather than using English or even Norwegian – as I sometimes do with Anna – I googled an internet translation site to find her native Swedish: Tro Hoppas and Älska.

While Aaron and Noah fished at the lake, I stitched into the sunset!

Back home, I put away the needlework to finish in the morning. I rose today thinking something about the project seemed off. I knew: the Swedish "tro" = "tro" in Norwegian. But I thought: "hoppas" might be the verb form in Swedish. In Norwegian, the noun form is "håp." And "älska" in Swedish seemed awfully close to the Norwegian "elske." And THAT – I knew – meant "love" in the spousal form.

I wondered: How can I be certain to stitch an appropriate message? I remembered a Bible translation website with not only different English interpretations but also various languages. Online, I typed in 1 Corinthians 13:13 and found the verse where the Apostle Paul writes about Faith Hope and Love. Then I looked up the Swedish translation from 1917 and found: tron, hoppet, kärleken. To be certain, I cross-referenced the modern Living Bible translation which showed the same: tron, hoppet och kärleken.

Kärleken. I wondered: In Norwegian, isn't that "kjærlighet?"

I checked the Norwegian Bible translation from 1930 and found: tro, håp, kjærlighet. The Living Bible cross reference also showed: tro, håp og kjærlighet.

From my teenage language lessons, I remembered "kjærlighet" is the kind of fond love shared by sweethearts, parents and children and even dear friends. I learned to express that kind of love in Norwegian, a person would say: "Jeg er glad i deg" or "I am fond of you" but never "Jeg elsker deg" – the physical act of love-making.

Elske. Älska. Scratch last night's sunset stitching.

Using the Swedish Bible translation, I started anew: tron, hoppet, kärleken.

As I sewed, I pondered "kärleken" or "kjærlighet." Is there an English equivalent? Curiosity made me dust off my Norwegian-English dictionary and page through the entries. Under "kjærlighet" I found this translation: "love, affection; (strong) passion; loving kindness; and "tro, håp og –– faith, hope and charity."

"Charity" as in the King James Version kind? That's the sort we Americans often associate with giving away what we don't want or need to the poor or needy. Hmmm...

Charity. Kjærlighet––roughly pronounced: SHAW...ER-lee-het.

Yeah. I began to hear the similarity.

Kjærlighet. I thought: Love, affection, loving kindness.

I began to understand the "charity" of olden days.

Charity. Kjærlighet. Kärleken.

I stitched the word that through generations of Norwegians and Swedes has remained constant.

As I sewed seams to form the pouch, poured in beads and closed the sachet, I whiffed the fragrance of the old-fashioned gift – Grasping Charity in an old-fashioned way.

Happy Birthday my dear friend. Or rather: Grattis på födelsedagen, min käre vän. Jeg er glad i deg!

Noticeable Nest

On our way to drop off Isaac at a friend's house, we came around a road corner near the lake. Aaron hooted and hollered having spotted a loon.

On our way back, we stopped to look, saw the tiny island – not far from shore – was perfect to evade predators but wondered why the pair would build so close to the road making such a Noticeable Nest.

Fervent Fishermen

Earlier this year, Aaron bargained: no summer baseball for fishing trips. I agreed. We've plenty of local fishing holes. I figured the trade would mean less time traveling to neighboring community baseball fields. And so, most evenings he and I spend an hour or two where he can wet his line and I can catch up on my reading.

That it was raining tonight didn't matter. Aaron was determined to fish. In an hour's time, he pulled in:



a

sizable

sunfish,







a

scrawny

northern

pike



and






a

fighting

big-

mouthed

bass.





His enthusiasm eventually lured me out of the car and onto the pier





to
fish
for
frames
of
Fervent
Fishermen.

Wild Rose

From



bud












to



bloom,









I
spied
them

now
growing

Along
Life's
Road.

Encouragement

Ever leave a project hanging? I often do – especially when I bite off one that's more than I can chew. Last week after a church council meeting, Dan brought home a membership letter which reminded me of a promise I'd made months ago to the couple.

In May 2008, they'd asked me to write a detailed history of a decorative-
ly hand-
stitched quilt I'd started the fall of 1996 and finished the spring of 2008 with the encouragement of many people along the way. Here's the piece designed, stitched and written with love for them.

A NORTHWOODS ADVENTURE

Once upon a time, there was a farm girl. Her favorite pastime was walking the wooded trails along the river. There she found serenity. Every summer, the girl and her family vacationed by a lake in the Northwoods. She loved the evergreen forests – even more than her farmland home. That affection grew with the girl. And as a young woman, she went to live in the Land of the Midnight Sun. There, rolling hills, sparkling lakes, rushing streams and pine forests fueled her Northwoods passion and filled her letters home.

Now the farm girl dreamed of becoming a journalist. She returned home to study, gained more worldly experience, graduated with a bachelor's degree and found work on a newspaper – deeper in the Northwoods. There she met her future helpmate. They fished Borderland rivers, hunted evergreen forests, skied voyageur trails and discovered Northwoods passion.

Marriage took them away – south into the cities for career-building work. Before long, she was home fulltime – mothering a toddler and infant. In spite of walks with her brood along wooded trails in nearby parks, this young mom longed for the Northwoods as well as a creative outlet.

One evening she went out alone on errands. She stopped at a fabric shop. There she found a woodsy print that captured her passion. She bought a few yards, sewed small wall quilts and sold them. That led her to design a throw-sized quilt for her mother's log bedroom set. She finished the quilt with decorative hand stitching. The result was her small masterpiece.


Now the young mom and her man dreamed of moving their family to the Northwoods. This inspired her to make a queen-sized quilt for their new home. She triple sewed seams to make a sturdy top and back, laid batting between, bought a portable quilting frame and began hand stitching. The pattern was tedious. The young mom lost heart and packed away the quilt.

Ten years later while fall cleaning her Northwoods home, she and her mother found the unfinished quilt lying in a tote. Staring in awe at the half-finished project, her mother said, "What you need is motivation!"

"What I need is time – a little every week," she replied. Inspiration struck. She vowed to work on the project each week with the church quilters and donate the quilt to the Synod's Silent Auction in the spring. Her mother asked, "Are you sure? That's a lot of work to give away."

"Better to get it done and give it away than to leave it hanging," she said. "God's got a plan."

Indeed! Each week she took the quilt and frame to church. While the ladies tied quilts, sewed baby diapers, packed school kits and rolled bandages, she ran the needle and thread around the quilt blocks. Someone always wandered over to encourage: "How you have patience for that!"

Late that winter, the hand quilting was done. She took the project to her mother who pulled out a bolt of fabric that matched the quilt's rolling-hill pattern. She insisted the farm girl edge the quilt in the checked fabric for a finishing touch.

Two weeks later, the quilt was done.

She showed the church ladies who marveled at the project. One was especially moved. Her job was to present the quilt to the silent auctioneers in a city two hours away.


During the Synod Convention, this church lady and her husband couldn't resist checking on the farm girl's quilt and upping the ante.

On the last day – at the last minute, her husband entered the final bid.

The couple brought home the Northwoods Adventure quilt they'd driven to the convention.

Returning home, they reported the news to the farm girl.

She cried tears of joy over their story about how her determination and love had moved them to make the quilt a family heirloom.



"If your gift

is to encourage,

do it!"

Romans 12:8

Minnesota Moment

We
took
an
evening
boat
ride.

While
we
sped
along,

I sat
up
front


– facing
the wind –

taking in

sights
and smells

over miles
of inland
waters


as
the
guys

joked
and
laughed

from
behind.


Through
a
channel

and

into
a
cove,



we
stopped




to
rest



and



cast
fishing
lines.





Someone
else

was
fishing

from
a

nearby
dock.



No
lured
luck.



We
moved
on
again



to
test
deeper
waters.



The fish finder
showed

many sizes

swimming
at 30-50 feet.


We waited
for bites

while
wafting


on
wavy
waters.


Still no luck.

We moved closer to shore to please the boys who then took their first seasonal dip.

A cold, short one!


Dad stretched out
a pinched nerve
causing him days of
back and neck pain.


Heading home,
Isaac found
a friend.


EDGAR rode back to the landing on Isaac's finger,

helped him
land the boat,
and then

– with a little push –

soared into the sky...




only to be instantly
snapped up by
a patrolling dragonfly.


Meanwhile, Aaron spotted his last chance.

Near the pier, just below the water's surface,

floated a "just-barely-alive" minnow.


Aaron scooped it up, hooked it to his line, cast and pulled in our day's first catch –


a perch.

He used the scavenged bait to pull in two more like this one before the minnow fell off.
And then – with just the SMELL of a minnow – he cast again and pulled in a fourth perch.

"YEAH! WHO
caught fish today?" Aaron asked as we pulled away

leaving others
to catch

what he'd
released

another day.


Sharing a
MINNESOTA MOMENT.

Sweet Home Minnesota

My husband and I banter about what makes a place home. For him, it's the moan of the mourning dove. For me, it's call of the common loon. In our neck of the woods, we're blessed with both.


Tonight as our son
fished off the pier
of a local public landing,

I sat on a bench looking out across the lake framed by distant clouds and listened to the tremolo our our state bird.



Sweet Home Minnesota.

Test Driving

t
h
e








n
e
w
e
s
t









S
o
n
y











C
y
b
e
r
s
h
o
t









a
n
d












f
i
n
d
i
n
g






m
y
s
e
l
f







falling












in

love!







Thanks to Dan who left his latest company purchase at home to entice me into more CHANGE!

I must say: clearer photos, a moderated pop-up flash, smile feature, stop action, continuous shutter feature, twice the telephoto power and 2x3-inch screen are a few features that make the new camera's slightly larger and thicker size a temptation





to replacing

my trusty,

well-use

model.