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The State gave us first chance to buy back our farm, but we had four growing boys, the oldest 13 years. Palmer wondered if it would be a better idea to look for a bigger farm. We had set deep roots in this little home. I hated to leave this neighborhood and friends. It had been our home for eight years. After much contemplation and prayer we said good-bye to this farm and moved to a 200 acre farm on East Oak Ridge. After a good cleaning the large roomy house and yard looked real cheerful. It was located on one of the highest ridges on East Oak Ridge. We could see building places in all directions. We rented on half shares. Up to this time Palmer had only used horse power. He loved horses. He had noticed that this farm had lots of quack grass in the field. He got a loan and bought a Fordsom tractor and plows to help keep it under control.

Mons, the children’s pet cat, had already gone to the happy hunting grounds. We moved Rolo and Snap along. Palmer put Rolo in the barn the first night and shut the doors. The smaller cats there couldn’t have made him feel welcome. He had squeezed out under the door during the night. We called but no Rollo came. Paul and Alf asked the closest neighbors if they had seen a yellow cat. No one had. Three months later the boys spied a small animal across a ravine. Coming closer, they saw it must be their pet. He meowed and tried to purr. They carried him home. He was in bad shape. In spite of the boys’ loving care, in a few weeks he joined Mons.

Our dog, Snap, was terrified of thunderstorms. If a storm was expected he was put in the barn. But one night a storm unexpectedly came up. Snap must have panicked and run hard against and in between the bars of the grain binder. He was stuck and badly hurt. Much as we all loved him, Palmer had to relieve him with a bullet.

When we moved to Oak Ridge we still talked only Norwegian in our home. Some of the neighbor children tried to get the three youngest to talk. They thought they sounded funny. It wasn’t long before they made use of one of the few English words they knew. Couple months later at the home of new neighbors, Lawrence and Minnie Anderson, three year old Frieda watched while lunched was prepared. Minnie said, “I’ll put a spoon on your plate.” Frieda stated, “I can use a gaffel.” (fork) She was reminded about it for years.

One of our neighbors gave Arne a pair of rabbits. Palmer helped him make a shelter. Now Arne felt very important. He was in business and was a busy boy gathering food for them. He needed no help in expanding his business. They multiplied by leaps and bounds. Housing was the biggest problem. He ended up having 35 in our brooder house before selling out. His part of the profit was some new clothes and a ukelele.

The first Christmas after we moved, the teacher invited our three youngest to each give a little recitation at the Christmas program at school. How pretty our little girl with wavy blond hair dressed in blue and our brown haired girl in rose looked as they tripped up to the stage. We were proud, too, of our four boys. Each spoke his piece loud and clear.

The next summer Palmer and a neighbor, with the help of the county agent, organized a 4-H club. They called it “Oak Ridge Orioles.” The name was changed to Oak Ridge Hilltoppers. They found there were no singing orioles in the group.

We felt fortunate to have Theodore and Anna Larson as our close neighbors. We admired Theodore for the steady, even way he worked his 200 acre farm with only horses, keeping it the neatest and most weedfree farm on East Oak Ridge.

Anna was an inspiration to me. Although a few years older, she was young at heart and had a sparkling personality. She saw good in all people. She asked me along to meetings, introduced me to her many friends. Now Frieda was 4 years, the twins 5 ½. They could be left at home when Palmer was around. I joined the homemakers in Houston County. We worked on a different project in year. The last year it consisted of keeping a record of the feed and expense of raising 100 pullets up to laying age. I was thrilled when I found mine was one of the top three. At this farm we were allowed to keep all the eggs from 100 laying hens, and raise 100 pullets for replacement using grain from the farm. Palmer was a very exact and thorough choreman. He bought and added some concentrate to the grain and coaxed the 100 hens to average 90 eggs a day during the winter.

We attended worship services every other Sunday afternoon at the little Oak Ridge Church <see footnote>. The eight of us filled a church pew. Paul was confirmed by the Rev. N.S. Magelssen together with three girls. I was secretary for the Oak Ridge Ladies Aid for two years. Rev. Bly, the pastor of Houston Lutheran Church, invited us to bring the children to their Sunday School.

Paul spent his first year of high school at Houston. We went out for basketball and did real well. He also tried out for band, practicing on a trumpet.

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• NOTE: Later, after this congregation disbanded and the church stood unused for years, the building was taken apart piece by piece and shipped to Norway, where it was reconstructed in an outdoor museum honoring Norwegian Emigrants to the US. See Oak Ridge Church.

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Next chapter: Highland Prairie