Fred Newton Hjort

Sometime in the 1940's, Uncle Fred & Aunt Esther came to visit us. It was decided we'd take a drive up to Mount Rainier. I think my brother was being held on mom's lap. I was about 5 and liked little spaces, so I wedged myself in on the floor behind the driver's seat. Part way up to the mountain, Fred said, "Want to stop & get some l-i-q-u-o-r?" I sat there for some time, puzzling out what that spelled, then said in my loudest voice, "I know what that spells! That spells liquor!" So much for spelling in front of the kids!

Fred was my dad's half-brother (see Earl Hjort). We used to drive from Seattle to North Dakota nearly every summer, as I remember it. We always stopped at Uncle Fred & Aunt Esther's on the way to Grandpa & Grandma Erickson's home in Carpio. We loved chasing "locusts" & playing games with our cousins. One day, Fred showed us his talent: he could drink a large glass of water in one gulp. He opened his mouth & just poured it down his throat. I was so impressed, that memory has stuck with me all these years.