The Journey

By Karl Olson

As a cabin awaits its form and purpose, an elk seeks comfort in the tall grass, and a man ventures into the woods with his ax. His goal is to find logs that will help him build the walls, floor, and roof of his new home. At the end of the day, he returns to his wagon, his family, and his dreams. As he labors day after day, finally the cabin becomes a reality. He and his family have completed their journey toward a new lifeand home.

With his dream now fulfilled, Anviel welcomes his wife, Lakina, and their children, Svend and Astrid, to the cabin to laugh, cry, sing, dance, pray, and give thanks for the bounty given to them. As the family ekes out an existence in the serene valley they share with an owlwhose voice haunts Anvieldespair and tribulation eventually visit. Still, the family endures year after year. The children come of age and Anviel works hard to make ends meetuntil the owl calls his wifes name, leaving Anviel left wondering when his own time will come.

In this poignant tale, an immigrant family embarks on a journey toward a new beginning where a lonely cabin beckons hope for the future and renews their spirit as life comes full circle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jun 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781480808379

Karl Olson

Karl Olson was born in Nebraska and then relocated to California to complete his College education.  He is married and have two children.  Karl is a retired Registered Nurse and the author of My World at Three. Karl and his wife reside in Washington, where he enjoys reading  historical fiction and non-fiction books.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 Karl Olson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-0836-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-0837-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014910064

Archway Publishing rev. date: 6/16/2014

Contents

Foreword

The Journey

The Cabin

The Barn

The Family

Sorrow and Tribulation

Self-Sufficiency

The Owl Called My Name

The Empty Cabin

Back to Life

What Is Life?

The Last Chapter

Epilogue

In memory of my parents, Berndt and Rebecca Olson

My father, a Swedish immigrant, came to this country to seek a better life and fulfill a dream. My mother’s parents came from Denmark and settled in Iowa. They too wanted a better life. Together my mother and father worked hard and achieved much in a free country, the United States of America.

Thank you to my brother, Roger Olson for the paintings that were used in this book.

Foreword

T he road goes forward, winding around cliffs, hills, and valleys. A winding road is life. It is a time for sorrow and a time for joy. It is a time of strife, despair, and ignorance of events. It is also a time of opportunity and joy. We follow the road into life and meet each curve with courage and purpose, preparing for what is not seen beyond the next c urve.

The human spirit is what keeps us on the path. The spirit of truth is what prevents us from veering off the road. The spirit of self-reliance and independence grasps the very core of our being and then develops into maturity, which will lead to wisdom. Failure to make the turn will lead to a strong desire to find a way back to the road. The spirit is lost in the loss of self-reliance.

We are travelers on a winding road, working our way down a path of life. Beyond each curve is a challenge that must be met. We meet challenges in different ways. We know that past experiences will help in acting on those challenges with maturity and common sense.

The winding road flows through the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. On our travel through the season, we witness change as we confront each season. When we reach winter, we have to ask ourselves if we did our best not only to satisfy ourselves but also to offer good will to others.

We live in a country whose beginning was brought about by people who wanted freedom from oppression. They sought lives where they could build upon their dreams and aspirations. This journey through life in a free country is the essence of what a free being can be.

The road stretches in a direction not familiar to the traveler who seeks a new life …

The Journey

T he road stretches in a direction not familiar to a traveler who seeks a

Reviews for The Journey

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this book, Hannah - a young Amish girl - travels with her mother to Chicago for a week-long trip on unspecified business. Each night Hannah writes in her diary about what she's seen in the big city and how it compares to her simpler country life. I stumbled upon this book at the library today when looking for something completely different but on the same shelf. This book caught my eye because the illustrator is David Small. When I read his memoir Stitches several years back, I learned that he was a children's book illustrator. However, I had never read any of the books he illustrated. Seeing one now, I felt compelled to pick it up and check it out. Small employs an interesting style of illustrations here, which serve to complement the book's country versus city life theme. One page spread is accompanied by the text of Hannah's diary. It will show a rather busy-looking city scene that is almost overwhelming at times. It will also portray Hannah writing in her diary, in a simple black-and-white illustration with little shading or other effects. The following page spread will have an illustration only and will depict something back home that Hannah eluded to in her diary entry. This makes for an interesting reading experience in which the illustrations truly are integral to the story's themes and impact. This is an interesting read that touches upon themes of home versus travel, the unknown versus the known, etc. It's a rather unusual book in that Hannah being Amish is simply a fact and not necessarily something that is highlighted as a huge difference or what-have-you. Overall, I would recommend this book with the caveat that adults will have to explain some things about it, including the Amish culture.

[matthewbloome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another cool book by Sarah Stewart. This one is about an Amish or Mennonite family that goes to the city for the main character's birthday. She is completely enthralled by the entire experience. This book could be read in conjunction with a lesson on noticing. That's all that the girl does on every page. She writes in a personal journal about the things she finds and connects them to things in her own life. Very well presented. Similar to a couple other Stewart stories in the way that they were presented.

[annamoody · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another amazing Sarah Stewart book about a girl, Hannah, who is visiting a big city for the first time as a birthday present from her aunt. The story is written as diary entries from Hannah's point of view of all the events that occur on the trip. It is a great book to show the differences in big city cultures as well as religious farm cultures.The illustrations are fun, bright, and may have been done with water color. I would recommend this book for an author study or a diversity week.

[marciaskidslit · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Journey is about the anticipation and excitement of traveling to another place. Once we journey to that other place, we can’t wait for the journey back home. While we travel, we miss home, our friends, our family, and everything that is familiar. The story also tells how gifts from our hearts mean more than material items. I most enjoyed the illustrator’s depiction of the scenes of Chicago contrasted with those of the Amish community. The illustrations show the hustle and bustle of a big, crowded city such as Chicago. These are followed by illustrations that show the serenity and simple life of the Amish culture. The illustrator uses soft watercolor washes to draw visions of life in Chicago versus life in an Amish community. The pictures are an integral part of the text. On one set of facing pages is Hannah’s diary entry set against a scene from Chicago. The following facing pages have no diary entry only a vision of Hannah’s connection to home. The content of the story is an excellent selection for having conversations with children that compare and contrast the life style of people in urban and rural communities.

[sjeannem · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the story of an Amish girl who goes to Chicago in realization of a lifelong dream. I really liked the illustrations because it shifted on each page in between her trip and relating something back to her life in the country. The kids had a great time trying to figure out how the picture of her life in the country was related to the letter that she wrote on the previous page. This was also told completely through the girl writing in her diary, teaching great journaling skills.