The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2003, Side 16

14
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 58 #1
a hop climber and planted it beside the
verandah were it grew to cover the entire
front of the house. It even climbed onto the
top of the roof of the house. Soon after the
turn of the century a friend of our father’s,
a gardener in Duluth, Minnesota, sent some
lilacs and shrubs which were planted and
are still there testifying to their longevity.
My father and brothers planted a large
number of spruce trees along the west side
of the lane leading to the road and around
the house, leaving the views to the west
open.
The house was heated with small
heaters in each room, with the exception of
fathers room which had a large oval iron
heater. I can recall how I liked to sit in the
dark beside the heater on a winter night
while my father sat in his big chair and
chanted poetry in a low voice. My father
had central heating installed later which
was a great improvement although the
kitchen still became cold on wintery nights
as the central heating was fueled with wood
which burned up very rapidly.
The house was roomy which was
needed as the household was frequently
quite large. The first school built in the dis-
trict was constructed in 1892 just east of
our house. Several young people that lived
a long ways from the school would stay at
our house when trying to get a little educa-
tion. When they first got married my two
brothers, Baldur and Mundi, made their
home with us until they could build their
own homes. I remember others who stayed
with us when they were having difficulty
for one reason or another. As we were
close to the school a number of the school
teachers boarded at our place. With so
many young people around there always
seemed to be alot of gaiety and laughter at
our home.
Our old home was always blessed with
alot of visitors. Neighbours would drop in
often—coming or going to the village.
They knew how pleased father was to get
his mail and they always had time to stop
and chat and of course mother was always
there to serve coffee. Then there were the
visitors from overseas that wanted to meet
my father personally. For him it was a spir-
itually uplifting experience to meet new
people and exchange ideas.
To me it is immeasurably satisfying to
have these pleasant memories of my
parental home. It was always so homelike
and comfortable. I always felt so secure
because my parents were always there. I
consider myself very fortunate for having
had this childhood and for having been
brought up in that era. My father made a
deep impact on our home life with his wis-
dom and steadfast equanimity. My mother
was always at his side with her light heart-
edness and deep concern for home and
family. Blessed be the memory of my par-
ents and blessed be the memory of my
parental home.