Fuglefjell (Bird Mountain)

Today is the "Second Day of Easter" here in Norway, so everything is still closed and no one worked today. I guess the Norwegians need a little extra time to relax after all that time they spent up in the mountains over Easter break. Feeling a bit guilty we had yet to climb a mountain at “such a time as this,” we headed for the hills today with our Kwikk Lunsj candy bars and oranges. Everywhere we’ve been in the last week has been desolate with very few people anywhere, but wouldn’t you know, the hills were alive with the sound of Norwegians today – they were crawling all over the mountains like ants on a mound.

We took my friend Paula out to the island of Runde to see Fuglefjell – a very famous bird nesting spot on the Norwegian coastline. I didn’t know the birds don’t show up until next week, but I found out once we were on top and didn’t see them. (The cliff face behind Paula in the photo is the nesting ground to thousands of Puffins and other seabirds every spring.) The two hour drive out was as picturesque as anything gets in these parts, and the hike up the mountain today was something out of a movie scene. We even had gorgeous blue sky weather until we reached the summit and the fog moved in. Every direction we looked was eye candy.

One thing I love the best about living here is being close to all Kory’s family. Last night at 9:30 we called up a few relatives and told them our plans to go on a hike today. They all cancelled their plans for the day and said they would LOVE to come on a hike with us. So cousin Axel and his wife Kari came along, as did their daughter Miriam and her husband Kenneth and their son Elander. Miriam is more than a super mom as she had a 30 pound toddler in a backpack as she hiked straight up the mountainside faster than any of us could go with just our own bodies to deal with. Their ten year old foster son, Benjamin also came along. Odd and Turid and Hege were late combers, but they met us at the top as we were sitting down to eat our lunch. We found out today another popular mountain food item is hot dogs – packed in a wide mouth thermos of boiling water. These Norwegians have it all figured out.

I have to say I was bummed the birds weren’t around because that just makes the whole trip something unbelievably special, but the scenery is so stunning Paula thought it didn’t matter the birds weren’t there, but she doesn’t know what she’s missing. I hadn’t been to Runde for ten years, since our first visit to Norway with Kaleb. I sat in the exact spot Paula is standing in that photo, feeding Kaleb. It’s so vivid in my mind, it’s like it was just a few months ago. The image today of Kaleb and Kory lying on their bellies to get right out on the edge so they could look straight down to the sea is one I hope to soon forget, however. It makes my stomach drop just thinking about it.

Paula got a taste today of a “typik Norsk” (typical Norwegian) day. We had a caravan of cars heading off to some high altitude destination, that included a ferry ride to get there, we stopped for coffee and waffles, and then trudged our way up a mountain watching out for goat and sheep poop with every step. The scenery was spectacular, everyone was in high spirits and there was much discussion in the parking lot afterwards about what a fantastic outing it was. If there could be one day anyone would spend in Norway to get as much feel and flavor of this part of the country – today would have been it. We are thankful God gave us the perfect weather in which to carry it out.

On the way down the mountain we ended up in four separate groups as Odd and Turid needed to hurry back home to catch the Aalesund soccer game on TV. Miriam and Axel wanted to take an offshoot path to see and old lighthouse, Kaleb and Kenneth couldn’t be bothered with us old ladies and the guy with the bum heart, so they scurried down faster than a rabbit, and Kory was left with me, Paula and Kari as we slowly made our way down, carefully taking every step so we didn’t end up with a broken body part. We may become a bit more frail with age, but at least we aren’t stupid.

After we got home and had a quick dinner of leftovers, Paula and I walked down to the beach to watch the sunset, which is happening later and later these days. The sky was light before five this morning, and it was still a bit light at nine tonight, so the days are already very long and spring has most definitely arrived. I even have a few vases full of daffodils I managed to “find” growing in odd and abandoned places today. Nothing like a little yellow to brighten up a room.