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Mrs. Valders is tongue-tied is the day I know we should be checking to see if Jesus arrived unannounced. I should cross that out, I know, but we can laugh together at least.
    Well, I better get back and set the rice to boiling. I cannot wait for the new potatoes. I was going to make noodles but ended up stitching a certain young man’s hand instead. Oh, I read the cleverest thing in a magazine. Make your noodle dough like usual but without quite as much flour. Then, using a wooden spoon, force the dough through the colander and into boiling water. Boil for five or so minutes until the noodles rise to the top, drain and put into cold water, then drain again and brown in butter with some chopped onions and whatever seasonings you desire. Serve with a meat or under roast chicken. Everyone raved about my new noodles.
    Graduation went beautifully; all our little girls now think they are grown up.
    I always look forward to letters from you but would be overjoyed with a long visit. Cook up lots for Onkel Olaf, and then you, Arne, and Rachel get on the train and come kiss your grandson.
    With love and joy,
    Your friend, Ingeborg
    She read it through, added a word here and there, and folded it so she could put it in an envelope as soon as she went back into the house. After making a face at the cold coffee in her cup, she tossed the liquid under the rosebush and stopped for a minute on the top step to shade her eyes and search the fields for the teams. Haakan was cultivating corn with the new cultivator he and Lars had designed during the winter. Four up could pull the machine, which covered three rows at a time, with Haakan riding instead of walking behind. Hoeing corn would be a thing of the past, or at least that’s what they hoped.
    A hammer on metal rang from the machine shed, telling her that Lars was either tearing apart or repairing another piece of machinery.
    She patted her fairly new washing machine as she walked past it. The men weren’t the only ones to have new machinery. Penny, who loved having the latest household tools, had shown her a new kerosene-heated model of the flatirons she’d heated for so long on her kitchen stove. Because the new iron stayed hot, ironing would go faster without repeated trips to the woodstove.

    When she rang the triangle for dinner, five loaves of cooling bread waited on the counter. She’d made gravy to go over the rice, sliced the venison, and cooked the dandelion greens Astrid had picked for her before she left for the surgery. Fresh greens were such a treat before the garden produce was ready, especially when cooked with bacon left over from breakfast. With the table set, she sliced the bread, holding a heel to her nose to inhale the wonderful fragrance. Nothing smelled as good as fresh bread.
    Barney’s barking would have let her know the men were at the barn if the jangling of harness hadn’t already informed her. She set the platter of bread on the table, sliced the cheese she’d brought in from the well house, and pressed the butter out of the mold and onto a plate.
    By the time she could hear the men at the wash bench, all was ready, and she stood back to see if she’d forgotten anything.
    “We found us a pilgrim,” Haakan called from outside, “so you better put another plate on the table.”
    Without checking the window to see who it might be, she took a plate from the cupboard and set out the silverware. Company was always welcome. She quickly changed her dirty apron for a clean one and went to the screen door.
    “Why, Hjelmer, I didn’t know you were home again.” She pushed the door open and welcomed the traveler in. As usual, Hjelmer’s grin made her smile more widely. As the youngest of the Bjorklund brothers and the legislative representative from their district, Hjelmer was away more often than he was home, much to the dismay of his wife, Penny.
    “Just got back yesterday.” He hung his hat on the rack by the door and inhaled. “Ah, Ingeborg, you’ve