In Part II of my journal “Up in Norway,” I discuss May 17, the country’s big national day, its Fourth of July: glorious occasion. This has provoked a fair amount of mail, from and about people who celebrate May 17 all over. Thought you might enjoy the below:

Jay,
As you may or may not know, Wisconsin has a proud Norske heritage. [Yeah, but it must take second to Minnesota’s!] My Irish daughter and her husband, after a tour in Egypt, decided to settle in Stoughton, Wis. Syttende Mai [May 17] is a big deal in Stoughton. Festivals, parades, canoe races, and plenty to eat.
There is a King and Queen elected, as well as a Princess. Long story short, my granddaughter (she of Anglo-Irish extraction) was selected as Princess. I sent a picture of her in her Norske costume to everyone I know, with the caption “Is this a great country or what?”

It is.

P.S. Do you have to be Puerto Rican, Pakistani, or something cool like that to be “ethnic”?