Sixty-four Years Ago Today...

The flags were flying high in Norway today. It’s the anniversary of the end of German occupation during World War II. There are certain days, by law, Norwegians can fly their flag and today is one of those days. They are such a proud lot of people, I’m sure they would fly it every day if they could. If there is a birthday in the house (or the King’s castle), or someone has been baptized, confirmed, or married it’s also allowed to fly the flag. Easter, Christmas, New Year’s Day, and 17th of May (Independence Day) are national holidays that paint the landscape red with flags flying from every pole. So many people fly flags here it’s just a pretty sight whenever it happens.

I went to school today but it was pretty boring because My Pal Vestina was sick and not many others showed up. I mainly went as an excuse to get into town to pick up some books at the library. I ordered the farm history books for the area in Norway my friend Paula’s great grandparents were from, so I was anxious to dive in and see what more information I could discover. I’ve spent at least ten hours today working on that little project and I’ve got a dead butt to prove it. Fortunately for me, Kory was over at his cousin’s house all afternoon building his bedroom extension and Kaleb didn’t come home from school right away, so I had plenty of time to concentrate on translating the words and connecting the dots. Kaleb asked if he could go home with a classmate after school today and I thought it would be for just a few hours, but I finally called him at 7:30 and told him he needed to come home. He loves playing with those boys from his class and I love that he can, and does. I also enjoyed the quiet in the house as Kory didn’t get home til nearly 8pm either.

When I was in town today there were four Russ (soon to graduate) girls at the crosswalk – two on each side of the street. They are easy to spot because they all wear red overalls. I’ve been asking a bit more about the whole Russ tradition (pronounced Roose) and it seems they are “required” to pull pranks as part of their graduation process (it’s a self-imposed requirement.) The graduates attend a lot of parties in the spring of their last year of school and they all wear hats to them with homemade tassels sprouting out of the top. Each time they accomplish a prank, they attach something that symbolizes the prank, to their tassel. There are long-standing traditional pranks, and then there are pranks each class makes up new every year. The goal is to get as many items on their tassel as possible before they complete school. So today, the girls were standing side by side on each end of the sidewalk, and as people were crossing the street they would reach out their hand to shake whosever hand was crossing and then they said, “Velkommen til andre side.” (Welcome to the other side.) They giggled as they did it, but they are required to shake everyone’s hand apparently, and the locals obliged. Tobias told me today he saw some Russ guys on a tricycle riding around and around in a round-about – right along with the cars going through it, so some of the pranks are a little dangerous. I heard about one where a whole group of Russ kids locked arms and walked very slowly onto a ferry – causing all the cars behind them to not be able to load until the Russ kids had gotten on. It’s silly things but they seem to have fun while they are doing them and the adults just roll their eyes and put up with it.

Before we came to Norway I went to a naturopath who told me I should probably not eat wheat. I rolled my eyes because bread is my favorite food. I kinda forgot I was told that, but ever since I’ve been in Norway I have felt older than my years. Every time I moved, I ached (standing up was the worst). I couldn’t figure it out until just a few weeks ago I remembered the whole wheat thing (no pun intended). Norway’s bakeries produce the best bread I’ve ever tasted, so it’s no wonder I would forget (selective memory). I finally decided to see if my aches and pains were related to some kind of wheat sensitivity and I cut out eating bread and crackers and fresh bakery items (how sad). But the saddest thing was, I immediately felt better! It only took one day of eating no wheat, and I could tell the difference. I wanted to cry. It’s like Kory being here and not being able to eat all those disgusting sausages they make that he thinks taste so good, but dares not nibble on. So now we are on an even-keel. We both have foods we shouldn’t eat. I haven’t eaten bread in weeks (I did have a little cake the other night, however), and I can’t believe how much more energy I have. I guess in some people, wheat causes inflammation, and I’m one of them. My knees even stopped hurting once I stopped eating wheat. Go figure. I guess I’ve abused my wheat privileges and now I must pay the price. Sometimes, when life is so good it doesn’t seem it could get any better – it doesn’t.