The Wearin' of the Green (and Purple) by Karla Stover

The Wearing’ of the Green (and purple)

 

     It’s March—that time of year, again when people eat corn beef and cabbage, drink green beer, wear something green, and celebrate a saint. Any excuse for a party, right? Well, not for the Finns who, as is well known, are of a reserved nature. Fortunately, for them, celebrating St. Urho Day on March 16^th doesn’t require much in the way of revelry.

     People became reacquainted with St. Urho in the 1950s although opinions differ on whether he grew out of tales told by one Sulo Havumaki of Bemidji, MN, or from the whimsical stories told by Richard Mattson of Virginia.

     According to a man named William Reid, Sulo was feeling bad because there were no Finnish saints. The Reid family had relatives going to Finland and William’s father “got some very old pieces of old human bones and wood and gave them to the relatives to take to with them along with a letter and the following instructions:

            (1) Find a recent obituary in a Finnish newspaper.

(2) Have the letter translated into Finnish and insert the deceased's name.

            (3) Mail the letter to Sulo Havumaki by air, and send the bones and wood to Sulo by sea.” In time,

     Sulo received both and held on to them until Reid senior finally fessed up when Sulo was terminally ill with cancer.

     However, Mattson’s son says “his father, a fun-loving Finnish-America and employee of Virginia’s Ketola’s Department Store, created the saint, after which female employees threw a St. Urho party in the store’s lunchroom and a woman read a poem she’d written. The local newspaper ran an article about the event and, Bob’s Your Uncle, a legend was born. Either way, St. Urho’s legend has grown to where he is celebrated across the United States and Canada and even in Finland. His claim to fame:  he chased the grasshoppers out of ancient Finland, thus saving the grape crop and the jobs of Finnish vineyard workers. Contemporary wine drinkers are well aware of the quality of Finnish grapes and wine.

     Thirty-five years ago, Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson issued a proclamation naming Minnesota as Saint Urho’s unofficial home. And the saint has been recognized with proclamations in all 50 states. So wear your green but add Urho purple, make a Kalakukko (fish pie) and give thanks to the saint for Finland's amazing vineyards.

On March 16th everyone's Finnish.

 

 

 

 

and give thanks

 

 

to the saint for Finland’s amazing vineyards. On March 16^th, everyone’s Finnish.

The Wearing' of the Green (and Purple) by Karla Stover

The Wearing’ of the Green (and purple)

     It’s March—that time of year, again when people eat corn beef and cabbage, drink green beer, wear something green, and celebrate a saint. Any excuse for a party, right? Well, not for the Finns who, as is well known, are of a reserved nature. Fortunately, for them, celebrating St. Urho Day on March 16^th doesn’t require much in the way of revelry.

     People became reacquainted with St. Urho in the 1950s although opinions differ on whether he grew out of tales told by one Sulo Havumaki of Bemidji, MN, or from the whimsical stories told by Richard Mattson of Virginia.

     According to a man named William Reid, Sulo was feeling bad because there were no Finnish saints. The Reid family had relatives going to Finland and William’s father “got some very old pieces of old human bones and wood and gave them to the relatives to take to with them along with a letter and the following instructions:

(1) Find a recent obituary in a Finnish newspaper.

(2) Have the letter translated into Finnish and insert the deceased's name.

(3) Mail the letter to Sulo Havumaki by air, and send the bones and wood to Sulo by sea.” In time,

     Sulo received both and held on to them until Reid senior finally fessed up when Sulo was terminally ill with cancer.

     However, Mattson’s son says “his father, a fun-loving Finnish-America and employee of Virginia’s Ketola’s Department Store, created the saint, after which female employees threw a St. Urho party in the store’s lunchroom and a woman read a poem she’d written. The local newspaper ran an article about the event and, Bob’s Your Uncle, a legend was born. Either way, St. Urho’s legend has grown to where he is celebrated across the United States and Canada and even in Finland. His claim to fame:  he chased the grasshoppers out of ancient Finland, thus saving the grape crop and the jobs of Finnish vineyard workers. Contemporary wine drinkers are well aware of the quality of Finnish grapes and wine.

     Thirty-five years ago, Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson issued a proclamation naming Minnesota as Saint Urho’s unofficial home. And the saint has been recognized with proclamations in all 50 states. So wear your green but add Urho purple, make a Kalakukko (fish pie), and give thanks to the saint for Finland’s amazing vineyards. On March 16^th, everyone’s Finnish.

 

Swing into Spring Contest ~ New, Easy Entry!

 To celebrate the Spring Season, BWL is giving away a Kindle Fire HD 7, 7" HD Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB

All you have to do to win is visit the Books We Love home page  browse our "Coming Soon" and new releases books and tell us which book you would like to read.

Send an email to bookswelovecontest@shaw.ca with your selection(s) and your email address and home state/province. One entry per subscriber. Multiple entries do not increase your chances of winning. Sorry, this contest is only available in the US and Canada - not valid in Quebec or where prohibited by law.  Winner's name will be posted on the website on June 15, 2015.

Good Luck!

Swing into Spring Contest from Books We Love

 

The Apothecary's Widow by Diane Scott Lewis

Just released at Amazon.  Don't miss this exciting new historical mystery.

Books We Love's newest release from the legends of Haida Gwaii

http://amzn.com/B00UBARFE8

What if a native legend came back to life and was saddened by the destruction of his people, their culture and their environment?

What if that legend was the Haida creator god Raven and he spirited away the girl you were falling in love with?

What if you didn’t believe in native spiritualism and found yourself battling Raven with only a shaman to help you?
Inspired by true events that took place on the Queen Charlotte Islands, Raven's Lament centers on a journalist who investigates a killing tied into the destruction of old-growth forest and becomes tangled up in a spirit war. He finds love and meaning as he encounters a centuries-old Haida prince, formerly imprisoned along with Raven in a rare Golden Spruce tree.



Endorsements:

"After being stranded twenty kilometers from the nearest road at the tip of Rose Spit, Haida Gwaii, and having to push his spanking new SUV a few kilometers along the beach before the tide came in and we ran out of booze, my first reaction on being asked to write a back cover blurb was, “over my dead body." Some people will do anything to get an endorsement.” Susan Musgrave

From the lands and legends of the Haida Gwaii of Northern British Columbia Canada comes a paranormal suspense rich in traditional lore mixed with modern environmental concerns and forgotten taboos. You won't be able to put this one down until you've reached the surprising conclusion. Jude Pittman, author of Healing Spirits, Book 1, Bad Medicine

Diorama Card by Cheryl Wright

I am very lucky to be part of a tight-knit group of cardmakers on Facebook. When one of us finds a new-to-us idea, we share links, then challenge each other to attempt the card technique in question.

Recently someone found these fabulous cards, and a video on how to make them. I am talking about Diorama cards.

They are a little fiddly, and they do use slightly more cardstock than a regular card, but they are worth the extra effort for someone special.

This card was my first attempt. I had to watch the video a second time as I was having some difficulties, but it turned out okay in the end.

From the outside, it looks like a regular card, but when you open it, it's a whole different story:

There is so much scope for these cards, and you really could get carried away if you let yourself.

If you would like to see the video instructions, or would like to view a masculine version of this card, go here.

Thanks for looking!

Til next time,

Links:

My website:  www.cheryl-wright.com 
Blog:  www.cheryl-wright.com/blog
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor 
BWL website: http://bookswelove.net/authors/wright-cheryl/

Stephen King: My Favorite Teacher by Joan Hall Hovey

The year was 1984, a lovely summer’s day and I was sitting in the packed, buzzed audience waiting for Stephen King to appear.  To say I was excited is an understatement. Uncool? Totally. I’d bought my hardcover copy of his book Different Seasons for him to sign.  I wouldn’t be denied. I had all his books in hardcover – Carrie, Cycle of the Werewolf, Danse Macabre, Salem’s Lot -  there would be  many more to come. He was my hero in a time when I was already much too old to be star-struck.  I’ve read that it is mainly teenagers who are addicted to Stephen King’s work, and I was hardly that.  Though probably immature.  I’m at a much more more advanced age now and that hasn’t changed, and I hope it never does.  Stephen King was  the Elvis Presley of the literary world.

I hadn’t had a novel published yet; that was still a dream, floating somewhere above the horizon. But I’d written and published some articles and short stories, enough to make me eligible for a travel grant through the NB Arts Council to London, England to the writers workshop at Polytechnic Institution  on Marylebone Road, aptly across the street from Madam Tussauds wax museum.  Stephen King would be a panelist, along with authors P.D. James, Robert Parker and some others.  I was eager to hear all the celebrated authors, but I’d flown all this way from New Brunswick, Canada to see and hear Mr. King. 

He came into the large room through the back door and I swear I knew the instant he did.

You couldn’t miss the rising buzz of the audience, of course, the shifting of bodies as people turned to look, but I also felt the change of energy in the air. On stage, Stephen King joked about his ‘big writing engine’ and I had heard (within my third eye – yes, it can hear) its power, its purr.   Or maybe there’s more to it.

As he talked to us about writing, he spoke about seeing with that third eye.  The eye of the imagination.  He told us to imagine a chair.  Then he said it was a blue chair.  I saw it clearer now.  He added the detail of a paint blister on the leg of the chair.  Now I saw it close up, with my zoom lens.  We hung on his every word.  He was funny and brilliant and entertaining, and we learned. Everything he said was not necessarily something brand new, but were reminders to pay close attention to details.  To always tell the truth in our writing.  I even got to ask a couple of questions.   And his answers to all our questions were thoughtful and insightful.   I try to pass along a few of those lessons to my own students.

Stephen King has been teaching creative writing to aspiring and even established writers for decades, long before his wonderful book On Writing came out.  Such a gift to writers that is, regardless of the genre you write in.   I am gushing.  I don’t mind. It’s true. I have been fortunate to have had many highlights in my life –  an anniversary trip to Niagara Falls with my wonderful husband, the births of my children and grandchildren, great-grandchildren – a trip to the Bahamas with my eldest son – my own first novel published and several more after that - and I have to say that that workshop in London, England, where Stephen King spoke to us about writing, is right up there.  Thank you, Mr. King.

I want to leave you with a quote from an interview with contributing writing for the Atlantic, Jessica Lahey, published in The Atlantic,  Sept  2014.  She asked him if teaching was craft or art.

“It’s both,” he said.  “The best teachers are artists.”

Stephen King is an artist on every level.   He tells the truth.  In his fiction.  And in his teachings.

~~

By Joan Hall Hovey, author of The Deepest Dark

www.joanhallhovey.com