God is Bowling

Background: Informant was born and raised in Florida, where there are very frequent thunderstorms, and this was told to me in person.

Informant: My mom would always tell me whenever there was thunder in the sky that God was bowling… and there’s a lot of thunderstorms because I’m from Florida, so she said it a lot.

Me: Do you think she said it to lighten the mood or make you less afraid as a child?


Informant: Oh maybe…I never thought about it that way, but maybe? It definitely made it feel less intense thinking about bowling instead of thunder.

Thoughts: This is something that I’ve heard before and I always found it kind of funny and sweet, but the religious undertone is interesting in it as well. Being a little kid who was afraid of thunderstorms because of the loud unexpected noises, thinking of it as a game of bowling played by god definitely lightens the mood and giving a younger kid a cartoon-like image for the phenomenon of thunder can put a child at ease and even though logically it doesn’t make too much sense.

Seeing Butterflies

Background: Informant has a lot of family that lives in California and was raised religious, more on his father’s side, his mom not as much, but still spiritual. Informant went to church weekly and did all the required sacraments, also going to school for Christian formation and education. This was told to me in person after a conversation about family members who have passed on.

Informant: Most… well, not most, but a lot my family is… well they’re up there.

*informant points at sky*

And a lot of my family is also buried at the cemetery plot right by Griffith Park. Whenever we go to Griffith Park, my aunt, we’d always call her Ta-Ta, loved these monarch butterflies so much, and whenever we go to Griffith Park, we always see this specific type of monarch butterfly… we always think it’s Ta-Ta.

Me: Aw, that’s sweet. Would you see the butterfly in general? Or was it ever in a specific place?

Informant: We would always see the butterfly on her gravestone and by her plot specifically. It always feels like a sign. 

Thoughts: I think it’s really common for people to associate signs with loved ones who have passed, and butterflies in particular are said to be a sign from deceased ones that they’re still with you and/or watching over you and sending love from the “beyond.” It’s sweet that it has that association for so many, and to me it always begs the question of whether people see butterflies more often when they’re hoping for a sign from a loved one or if there is somehow a correlation between butterflies and graveyards and there are truly more butterflies at graveyards.

Sasquatch

Background: Informant was born and raised in Florida, with a very religious father. This story was told to me in person.

Informant: My dad always told me that sasquatch was gonna get me… whenever we’d go up to North Carolina or went to a cabin in the woods. It was definitely a cabin in the woods story. One time I woke up in the middle of the night and I could’ve sworn that Bigfoot was outside and I totally freaked out.

Me: What did you do?

Informant: I immediately went and woke up my dad and told him that Bigfoot was outside. I was so scared.

Me: what did your dad say?

Informant: He didn’t care. He just told me to go back to sleep and that Bigfoot wasn’t out there. 

Thoughts: It’s funny to think about the line that parents will draw in order to play a prank on their children and when they aren’t invested enough to keep up “the bit.” Obviously, my informant’s dad doesn’t really believe in Bigfoot if he was able to wave it off and tell his son to go back to sleep. If he really believed in Bigfoot or had even the slightest thought that. Bigfoot was real or was worried about it, the thought of Bigfoot being outside would have woken him up instantly and he would’ve responded to his son in a different way. 

Hunting Trolls

Background: Informant has a Norwegian background from his fathers’s side and was raised being told about these Norwegian traditions and holidays, and this anecdote was told to me over a FaceTime call.

Informant: We would have a special toll hunt on the seventeenth of May… or syttende mai. Kind of like an easter egg hunt but trolls.

Me: Why did you hunt trolls?

Informant: Umm… it’s because trolls have a negative connotation, like how you’re supposed to clean your house in Chinese tradition on Chinese New Year to get out the bad luck… for us it was trolls.

Me: Did you get a prize for finding the trolls?

Informant: Yeah, we would get rewarded in chocolate.

Thoughts: Syttende mai in Norway is also known as Constitution Day, which is an official public holiday throughout the country. Essentially, it’s a country-wide party—people dress up in traditional costumes, with a lot of parades and drinking and ice cream. Syttende mai is not celebrated in any large way outside of Norway, as it would be like celebrating the Fourth of July as an Irish person—it just doesn’t really make sense to. It’s interesting to me how the informant’s mother brought together various folklores in order to give her children meaning on syttende mai as children born and raised in America. Trolls in Norway are seen to be creatures that are evil and dangerous, and beings that belong in the wilderness, not by the home, so there is even meaning behind the act of hunting trolls in Norwegian folklore, especially since the informant was rewarded for finding the trolls.

Norwegians Are Born With Skis On Their Feet

Background: Informant has a Norwegian background from his fathers’s side and was raised being told about these Norwegian traditions and holidays, and this anecdote was told to me over a FaceTime call.

Informant: Norwegians are born with skis on their feet. It’s an old Norwegian expression just because Norwegians are good at skiing and winter sports.

Me: Where did you hear it?

Informant: My great-grandma told me about it. 

Thoughts: This one is pretty self-explanatory, but there’s something funny about how straightforward it is as an expression. It is also a pretty well-known fact that Norwegian people are especially good at winter sports—they’re known in the Olympics as “the ones to beat,” and even now Norway holds the most medals in the winter olympics.