YA SURE YOU BETCHA

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2010 At 3:30 this morning I woke up laughing from the following dream. One needs to read it with a Scandinavian accent. It was in the early stages of the “church” in Utah (Deseret). The Scandinavians were settling in Sanpete County. I was a Dane named Sven. There was a Swede named Oly who was not too bright who lived in the next settlement; virtually next door. Our communities were on the upper side of a hill or small mountain. Oly, in addition to not being too “with it,” thought the only Scandinavians worthy of any consideration were the Swedes. I got a big kick out of teasing or maybe a better word for it is tormenting my “friend” Oly, jokingly putting down the Swedes. One day I went too far and he lost it and came after me. He chased me through the trees and across small streams and finally down the mountainside to where the Swedes and Danes were holding a reunion or community party. All the time he was chasing me I was having a good laugh and was running just fast enough that he couldn’t quite catch me. All this time we were carrying on a taunting (in my case) conversation with a heavy Scandinavian accent. I don’t remember the exact words. I started poking my friend Oly with a long brown slender stick that was not too strong which finally broke off about one third the way from the receiving end when I jabbed him. Oly got into a conversation with an aunt who mentioned that Oly's grandmother was a Norwegian. He was devastated and threw himself down onto an olive-green couch next to me and lamented, “What am I going to do? What am I going to do? My grandmother was one of those no good Norwegians!” and went on and on… “I think I am going to commit suicide!” He got up and paced back and forth then threw himself back down next to me, “No, I’m not going to commit suicide!” He paused a moment then said, “Ya, I tink I am going to have to commit suicide!” At this point I woke up laughing. Fyi: The whole dream was outdoors. The couch was not far from a clump of trees.