SUMMER HOUSE and GOODBYES

The city locals have a very Danish solution to bring a little "summer country living" into their apartment dwelling lives.  You know,  a retreat, a get-away, a place to hang out in the summer, a reprieve from the noise and traffic of the city.   They call it a Summer House.  Now, you might think this is not a unique idea.  Many people in the USA have cabins, campers and RV's which they flock to in the summer for a way to escape the summer heat  and yard work.  Well, this is the same, but different.  Our friends, the Warnsdorf's have talked about their little summer house and how they love to go and get away.  Often they go for the afternoon or for a day, and invite friends for dinner.  She told me that it was near a lake and had a garden and beautiful flowers.  Country living at its best. Couldn't wait to see it.

She invited us for dinner at their summer house a week ago after we closed the office.  We picked up the Brookes, and after driving for about 5  minutes, Elder Buxton started looking for a parking spot. Not a good time to run an errand when we are already late, I thought.  He told us all to hop out, and I stared first at him and then out the window, blankly.   All I saw was a big park properly hedged  like all good Copenhagen parks.  We piled out and headed toward a smiling Elder Warnsdorf standing by a big, red gate in the hedge.  Filing through,  I realized that what I thought was a park was actually a cluster of little summer homes  screened by a tall,  green hedge.  I was totally fooled. I had driven by this place a dozen times.  We single-filed through a maze of paths between smaller hedges which separated each miniature cottage and garden.  Glad for a guide, I was lost after the first 2 corners.   There must have been at least 30 little households in this rabbit warren of paths, and yes, there was a miniature lake.   A tiny,  summer cottage village hidden right smack dab in the middle of the city! This is Danish compactness at its finest.

The Warnsdorff's Summer Cottage

After a half-dozen turns, we opened a small, private gate and saw their little home at the end of the walkway. Perennials bordered one side and grass the other.  The  yellow clapboard house had white wooden trim, and a tiny picket fence front porch with a table for dining.  Decidedly quaint and totally charming.

Front porch of the Summer Cottage

Inside, it's one summery room.  Living room and kitchen.  Light furniture.  Floral patterns on every fabric, plate and dish towel.  No bathroom and no bedroom.  REALLY.  They never stay overnight.  It is just for a day visit.  Oh, my word.  (There are charming tiny bathroom buildings outside along the paths; each shared by about 4 households who take turns cleaning.)  You would never guess you were in the city, except for a glimpse of buildings above the hedge; and near-by church bells chiming during dessert. What a fun evening.

Tiny, but fully decorated Danish style

GOOD-BYES

We did say good-bye recently to some very dear friends here. First to leave was the Johnsons.  Polly Rae and Stanley.  They were  the MLS couple on Bornholm and stayed with us every time mission business brought them to Sjælland.   What a wonderful couple!  Stan is a quite a successful artist and a student of the gospel.  He was the branch president on Bornholm.  And,  Polly can do absolutely anything. One of those high energy, has-to-keep-busy kind of women.  And that she did.  Took care of the branch members, the missionaries and every investigator with love and a happy, positive outlook.  In her younger days she rodeoed (you know the lady who rides two horses standing up), raised 9 children, and before the mission supervised fire crews in southern Utah. Yeah,  one impressive lady.  They have returned home to Parawon, Utah and we miss them.

The other couple who left last week was the Brookes.  Not only our wonderful friends, but our neighbors and Denmark exploration buddies.  Sister Brookes searched out all the cool things to see and Elder Brookes led the way.  We have done a lot of sightseeing and train riding with them.  Salt-of-the-earth type of people with generous and kind hearts.  They also attended our Branch with us.  We tried everything to get them to stay, but nope.  They had been here two years preserving records at the Frederiksberg Commune and made big friendships with all the Danish people there. Sister Brookes especially needed to get home to the grandkids.  I understand that.  They headed home to Orem, Utah after one last train ride with us.  We shall miss them.  We do miss them.

One of our last outings with the Brookes (right) and Ottleys.  Elder Ottley, true to form, was off exploring.  Jor, Em, Shay and Addie will understand.

Meeting and making new missionary friends is an added bonus of missionary service.  The Lord has sent some of the best people found in the church to us!  They become like family.

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It's been a very busy couple of weeks here in the mission.  Unexpected things happen when your mission president goes home for a few weeks for surgery!  I'll explain sometime.  Hope everyone had a fantastic August.....

MEMORY LANE

A few weeks ago, we went on a little tour of Jylland.  This is the biggest "island" in Denmark, to the west of Sjælland, and where Elder Buxton served a good share of his mission.  Our purpose was to re-visit some of his old stomping grounds.  We met up with the CUV couple in Århus (The Larsens) and headed north to Skagen.  The Larsens are always up for some exploring and shopping and poking around  museums.  Too bad they live so far away.

Larsens and me on the beach in Skagen

Skagen is famous for two reasons: their wrist watches which are made and sold world-wide,  and the place at the northern tip of Denmark where the North Sea (going east) and the Baltic sea (going west) meet.  We planned to check out both.

We stayed overnight in a quaint little hotel in Skagen with one of those fantastic Danish breakfasts. Even had gluten-free cereal and bread!  Bright and early we drove up the coast to watch the seas come together.  We parked at the access point with all the other tourists (July is the Big Tourist Month), then trudged down the beach, the wind pushing us from behind.  You know when you arrive, because the land runs out and the sea surrounds you on three sides.  It is NOT a friendly meeting.  The two oceans come together with huge crashing of waves and much protest. You can actually see two colors trying to mix - the North sea an angry green and the Baltic, a dark blue. They do battle beginning just a few meters from your feet and continuing out for miles.  I think the North sea has an edge in the battle; it is much more aggressive and turbulent.

Battle of the Seas

Some intrepid souls took off their shoes to wade in the shallows,  tip-toeing around the jelly fish lying in wait in the wet sand.

Tankers waiting in line

The wind provided a free sand scrub to our faces as we turned back.  We took our time walking through dunes dotted with tufts of sea grass and watching the freighters and tankers off shore lined up and waiting for an escort  into the harbor miles away.  We hear it's either windy or freezing or both on the point, so we felt very lucky to have some sun with our wind.

Colorful and brave street-side flower bed

After the wind bashing, we drove into Skagen, a charming village with narrow cobblestone streets and perennials and hollyhocks crowding up against yellow houses.  We did find the watch factory and Elder Buxton may or may not have folded to pressure and bought one.  ALL the missionaries want a Skagen watch to take home. Or so he claims.

Harbor at Hirtshals

 Our next stop was Hirtshals.  Elder Buxton's memories were of an old sea-side village with a huge fishing fleet moored in the harbor, and ruddy faced, jaunty old fishermen puttering around their peeling boats, and sailing out daily to bring  fresh fish for the markets.  We did find a harbor and we did find fishing boats, all painted in bright colors and bobbing in the bay.  I know the fishing industry is not what it was, so I am guessing tourists hire many of these boats.

Probably the best salad I've had in Denmark.  And yes.  A hamburger on the right.  The Danes attack them quite successfully with knife and fork. 

After trailing up and down the harbor to satisfy the men, we women picked the first restaurant we saw and insisted that we go in.  Hungry!  We managed to snag seats overlooking the bay and the food was fabulous!  Both beautiful and tasty.

White lighthouse and German bunkers

We lingered and watched the sea and the boats.  Hirtshals is also home to old German bunkers scattered up and down the coast and watched over by a white, stone lighthouse.  After lunch we poked around inside and tried to imagine "life in a bunker," from a German point of view.  A notch up from life in a trench; they actually had stoves for heat and cooking.

The USU Aggies need this formidable statue

Last stop on the nostalgia tour was Hjørring.  We drove around trying to find old addresses, but nothing looked familiar.  Elder Buxton insisted that somewhere there was a statue of a stone bull near his old apartment.  Found it!  Bull still threatening.  Apartment gone.

These old missionaries are a strange breed.  They are so thrilled to return to Denmark that they almost kiss the ground on arrival.  Their wives are a bit bemused, but have heard all the "Denmark" stories for years, so smile indulgently as they reminisce like brothers,  yet again.   The missionaries want to recreate, re-find and rediscover their missions and the happiness they felt here.  And, amazingly, even though much has changed, they do find what they are looking for,  considering they have aged as much or more than the places they visit.  The Denmark Missionary Spirit weathers the storms of life pretty well...........