Mountain Iron the 17th of Maj 1908

Dear grandmother!

Oh, it's so hot, even hotter than at the haymaking over in Walje. I'm dripping with sweat even though I'm sitting still. I like it here ok, even though Mount Iron is an ugly place, soot and smoke, Finns, Austrians, Italians and Jamtar in a mess, everywhere you look. The mine is close enough to my brother-in-law's house, that rocks sometimes fall on the roof when they are shooting (blasting rock). I'll probaby be staying here at my brother-in-law's for a couple of months yet, after that we'll see..

We wait almost daily for brother Lasse to come to us, he has written and told us he will. I have a pleasent pastime in my spare time, babysitting little Arvid, he's so kind and sweet. I am being interrupted, the Edstrom girl is coming, wanting me to come with her to the forrest to pick flowers.

Good day again! The previous was written on sunday and today spells thursday, it rains as if the heavens were open. If grandmother comes by this evening we will treat her to fresh wheat bread, I'm am in the middle of baking.

Brita sends her regards, she is mending socks for Petrus, he is coming back from work soon, wet as a crow and black as a negro. Arvid says hi to his grandmother's mother even though he's asleep. Send my regards to Emma, she will get an Epistle soon.

Many regards from grandmother's Stina.

The address is

Kristina Trapp
Mountain Iron
Box 72 Minn. U.S.A.

 

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Comments:
1) The term 'mormor' literally means 'mothers mother', and so actually translates to 'maternal grandmother'.
2) The term 'sytta' is here translated to 'babysit'. In reality it's a local dialectal term with a somewhat narrower content, meaning babysitting a smaller child, most likely by having the baby in your lap.
3) The term 'vetebröd' denote a sweatened bread made with wheat, like the bread used for cinnamon buns.
4) An Epistel in this context means a letter.