Does coffee make you smart?
Does it help you with your art?
Does it clear your brain
so ideas will rain
and stories and poems will start?
Does coffee make you smart?
Does it help you with your art?

I have read a lot of history. Whenever ordinary people have asked for equal rights in the past, those in power claimed it would damage the stability of the home and society. And it was usually God, through the infallible knowledge of the church that clamped down through various laws to keep the flock in order. For example, in Sweden where my dad was born and catechized, the people were legally bound to be in church on Sundays. Each family had their pew, so it was easy to check.

We got about 4 inches of snow before Christmas Eve.
I wish all the readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR
Do you have any snow in Bjarnum
or Vittsjo?
Florence Pendergrast
Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S.

The small wood crib, painted white,
Where I gnawed tooth marks, at age three,
I am told, when I had whooping cough,
I was told, or perhaps another childhood disease,
But not chickenpox, because I had that when I was eight
And in the third grade, never having missed

I see him in my memory's eye. Standing before a mirror adjusting his tie, smoothing down a strand of hair, obviously admiring the image before him, yes, my dad.  Tony Benson, previously Fritz Anton Bengtsson, the Swedish immigrant, who became an instant American, never looking back. Stern father of four, ruler of house and home, a man I feared. And was known to the neighbors, as "that smart Swede." 

I had heard of people who became bonded as friends via the internet. Sometimes, even fall in love and get married. But, last July when I received a letter from a second cousin in Sweden , I had no idea that within three months, my cousin Asta's eldest son, Bo, ("Lion Bo") and I would be bonded, forever. (I think) His address included his email address, so I immediately replied via email. My daughter and I had recently visited his mom, Asta, (her grandmother,  Mathilda was my dad's oldest sister). On that visit, Asta repeated many times, "It is too bad that Bo isn't here."

Jag heter Florence Benson Pendergrast. Smeknamn kan vara "Flo" eller "Flossie. " Jag är släkt till Bo Sigeback. Kanske du har hört talas om honom.
Min far som var bror till Mathilda, mormorsmor till Bo, föddes i Blekinge och kom till USA 1910. Han gifte sig 1920 med min tyska mor, Margaret. Faktiskt, hennes mor och far föddes i Tyskland. Jag lärde mig svenska när jag var på folkhögskolan i Hjo, 1981-2. Jag älskar svenska språket.