Peder Heltne's Bachelor Bed

Since we are moving to a much smaller house, we are calculating what we can take, and what we must dispose of. At the moment, we are sorting books. Most of them are not coming with us.

It is not just that books take a lot of space. And it is not that we can read many books on electronic devices. We do that, too. It is not so much the books as it is the separation of books from information. Much of the information in books can be gotten electronically. Even Encyclopedia Britannica is discontinuing it paper versions.

And since much, although not all, of the information we want can be gotten electronically, we are much quicker to go to the local library for the books we need. Minnesota has some fine local libraries! (Minnesota also has Michele Bachmann, so we know that Jesus will not be returning soon. She is evidence that there is much to be done, first.)

A second, large trailer load of furniture and tools is almost ready to go to an auction house in Iowa, where we used to live. Every piece represents a calculation that there is not room for it in our next house, so off it goes! It is, truly, an exhilarating process! Bookcases I built the first time we lived in Tucson are on their way to their final reward in Iowa.

We have decided to keep the headboard and footboard of Mari's great grandfather's bachelor bed. If they hang on for a couple more generations, they may become someone's treasure and connection to the immigrants who came to Iowa from far up the Sognefjord. As our families, more and more, interweave with other immigrants from all over the world, we will surely enjoy the tangible symbols of the ways we have come together.

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