Kory was feeling so good today he walked around a bit more than he should have. It’s not that his back was bothering him so much, but the weight he put on his wrists as he was holding the crutches, about did him in. It’s tough to get old. If it’s not his back, it’s the arthritis in his wrists that make life challenging. He watched TV most of the day while the rest of us ran around and did normal life stuff. He’s already getting tired of the view of the ceiling, but not complaining too much. He knows I’m on thin ice.
I felt better today than I have in a week, so that’s something. I had spurts of energy and used them to get the stuff cleaned out of the back of the van and take a load over to our storage unit. I sorted through things to decide what will be left here and what to bring home. I’m never really sure I make the right decisions, but I do the best I can.
Kaleb and I walked over to our old street this morning so we could visit Tobias and his parents. Tobias has been calling and anxious to see Kaleb, and today we found out why – he had bought Kaleb a pack of Pokemon cards when he was in Turkey last month and he was anxious to give them to him. Kaleb couldn’t have been more pleased. He stayed on and played with Tobias for several hours after I visited with his parents and filled them in on the details of our “disasters.” They own a condo in Turkey (many Norwegians do) and their three weeks there were pretty uneventful so it was a lopsided story time. They bought a boat last week so we all took a walk down to the water to see it. I told Bjørn the two happiest days in a man’s life are the day he gets a boat and the day he gets rid of it. He just laughed.
This afternoon I also visited Lizbet, one of my old neighbors. We used to take the same bus into the city every morning. She said the bus rides are so boring now because there is no one to tell her stories. Her vacation had a little spice to it so we swapped vacation stories. It’s only the things out of the ordinary that make a good story and she had a good one, but I still topped hers. (They also just got a new boat and went on a long boat tour for vacation. While they were in Bergen one night, one guy tied right next to their boat, stabbed another guy. They heard the whole thing and saw all the blood the next morning.)
Kaleb went up to Skothaugen this afternoon and got to his friend Toben’s house just as they were about to paint a fence. He got in on the work party and Toben’s dad paid all four painters. They each made sixty kroner today ($10) so Kaleb was more than pleased with how fast he worked and how much he made. Toben is soon moving into a new house in the neighborhood so apparently his parents are getting their current house ready to sell. There was talk of more work tomorrow so Kaleb is anxious to get up there and make more money. I like his work ethic and only wish I could harness that enthusiasm.
We had a beautiful summer day today, for which I was thankful but I didn’t take a single picture. I think that’s a first. I’m also thankful I haven’t forgotten how to speak Norwegian as I’m having to do it an awful lot. I love this neighborhood and how the culture here emphasizes being outside and going for walks. Neighbors stop and talk to each other in the street, people drop in on each other all the time just to say “Hi,” and life involves less driving and more socializing. I’m so going to miss that.
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