Category: Memories

Ivinson Memorial Hospital

Ivinson Memorial Hospital

by Justin Durand ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
Ivinson Memorial Hospital, about 1960 (Credit: Laramie Plains Museum)

I was born at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, Wyoming (According to my birth certificate–Mom teases that I was born in a log cabin at Tie Siding, but that’s a different story. She means I was born when we lived on the ranch at Tie Siding.)

I was looking for the CPS coordinates not long ago. (Trying to resolve a question about my natal horoscope, as people do.) I came across an article about the old hospital. The history is about what you’d expect from a small town.

The old hospital was built in 1917 between 10th and 11th Streets on what is today Ivinson Ave. Until 1949, it was managed by nurses “who were not generally trained in administration” That’s when a local businessman took over. (Really? A hospital managed just by nurses? Was that a thing?) A new hospital opened in 1973. The old hospital was purchased by University of Wyoming. They used as offices for the Police Department and for computer facilities. The building was demolished in 2011 and replaced with a parking lot. 

I didn’t grow up in Laramie. The first time I was there was in 1974, when we moved from Ft. Collins to Orem. After that I was there many times, just short visits. I drove by the old hospital in (probably) 1975. I’m glad I got to see it before they tore it down.

Garden Church of Eden

Garden Church of Eden

by Justin Durand

I always loved the Episcopalian church in Eden, Wyoming but I always thought it was called Garden Church of Eden. Guess not. I did a Google search and quickly found it’s really called Oregon Trail Memorial Church. I wonder if the name might have changed.

My grandparents Harry Swanstrom and Vivian (Luce) Swanstrom didn’t belong to any of the local churches, although they contributed to all of them and sent their kids to Bible School.

Oregon Trail Memorial Church, Eden, Wyoming (Source: Facebook)

I can’t remember if I’ve ever been inside. I’d like to think so, but I think I’d remember if I had. I always meant to stop and take a look but never did.

South Pass City

South Pass City

by Justin Durand

Another Wyoming video. This is drone footage of South Pass City, one my favorite places.

It’s a ghost town on the old Oregon Trail. I lived here in a past life.

When I was a teenage boy in Grand Junction I had some very vivid dreams about dying here as a teenage boy in the late 1800s. I had no idea where it was, just that it was an Old West town.

Then, as an adult I visited here for the first time. Say, about 1992 or 1993. We were driving around, taking in the sights on impulse. I don’t remember exactly but I’d guess we had been to Farson and were headed to Lander. We lived in Farson when I was little and sometimes went shopping in Lander. It would have been a nostalgia leg of the trip.

As soon as we pulled into town, I knew it, knew it without being told, the buildings, the roads. I walked around in a daze, feeling caught between two worlds. I saw the hill that had the shack where I was staying in that other life, and the hill where I tumbled to my death because I was too feverish to be careful. A stupid accident.

Then, as my 20th century visit wore on, the other world began to fade. We spent the afternoon there. I think I had the experience only because I came upon it unexpectedly. My mind wasn’t ready for it at first, but when it had the chance to experience the physical reality, it adjusted.

I’d like to go back again, even though it wouldn’t be the same.

Tomten

Tomten

by Justin Durand ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

In the novel American Gods, Neil Gaiman quotes Richard Dorson:

“One question that has always intrigued me is what happens to demonic beings when immigrants move from their homelands. Irish-Americans remember the fairies, Norwegian-Americans the nisser, Greeek-Americans the vrykólakas, but only in relation to events remembered in the Old County: When I once asked why such demons are not seen in America, my informants giggled confusedly and said ‘They’re too scared to pass the ocean, it’s too far,’ pointing out that Christ and the apostles never came to America.” (“A Theory for American Folklore,” American Folklore and the Historian (University of Chicago Press, 1971)

This, of course, is the premise of the novel, that the old gods did in fact come to America, for interesting reasons and with interesting consequences.

Leaving aside, for now, the problem that Mormons believe Christ did come to America, so that doesn’t work well for everyone, I also trip over the idea the fairies and nisser are “demons”. Otherworldly, yes, but surely not demons.

The piece that really stands out for me is the idea our non-human friends didn’t come with us to America. The nisser are the Norwegian equivalent of our Swedish tomten (“house elves”). I don’t know about other families but our tomte came to America in my great grandparents steamer trunk. My mother told me so. Why would he not come? That’s just silly talk.