Mark - Monday, April 13, 2020

I had a really great phone call from nephew Mark this morning; he and Maribel are hunkered down and surviving the pandemic near the tip of Florida. He has had a very interesting life filled with some amazing adventures, albeit with some traumatic experiences as well. La vie, la vie, eh?

We reminisced about some shared experiences and relatives long gone now. Travel, meeting new people from diverse backgrounds, exploring exotic places. Keeping an open mind.

 Mark was/is a chef and, although he hasn't prepared meals for me - - - yet, he has years of experience behind and in front of him. I think Maribel and Mark should move to Michigan's thumb and open a small and manageable restaurant here. We need interesting food here! The above breakfast/brunch omelet has spinach, broccoli, cheese, tomato, and chorizo. My mouth waters just repeating those ingredients. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Rudy is Mark's BFF, best furry, friend and obviously is waiting for a ball-throw. I never trust someone who doesn't have a pet - dog, cat, gerbil, iguana, bird, etc. Yes, even fish. Cheeto-skin hasn't a pet I'll bet. Who could resist Rudy. Perfect dog. (Looks a lot less intense though than my wolf-pack!!)

I would like Mark, Maribel, Rudy and, if possible, even Valeria and her significant other, to come north this summer - if travel is possible.

Like my brother David and our maternal grandfather Firn (remember that name) Harding, he is an addicted fisherman; he/they love fishing. Mark has been building fishing rods since he was a teenager (many, many, decades ago haha!). This rod above is one of his recent accomplishments. I wonder if he sells them? 

Interesting how my mind works. Icelandic is the ancient Scandinavian language that has changed little until very recently. The old Icelandic sagas are still readable and understandable to the people of Iceland. The family of Nordic languages include Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, old English, and even German. Those languages have changed much in the last thousand plus years. Back in the day those diverse peoples could understand one another. 

My Danish cousin Carlo read my blog and said, "Though developed considerably since the time of the old Nordic language(es), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are still so similar that I and most others read and listen to our different languages with few problems. Really no need to learn the other two languages. Speak your own, and it works. But not with the languages of Iceland or the Faroe islands."

When Leif Eriksson, the son of Erik the Red, traveling from Iceland and Greenland landed in North American more than a thousand years ago he set up two campsites or colonies which he named Vinland and Markland. Vinland was named because of the abundant grapevines; Markland further south had forested hinterlands. Mark - forest. The brother of my grandfather (Firn) was named Forrist. So, stretching things a bit, Mark was named after my great Uncle Forrist.