More Good-byes

No one here wants to say “hadet” (good-bye). They all insist on saying “paa gensyn” (see you later). It works for me. The eight months we will be gone from Norway will go so fast everyone will even wonder if we’ve left. But Kaleb was pretty low today – very solemn and trying to figure out if he should be sad he is leaving, or glad he’ll be going home to a house full of books, dogs in the neighborhood and all the cool toys Kory has made him over the years. He likes where we live in Skagit County, and I do, too. I keep thinking about my nice soft bed, but that I need to buy a pillow before I sleep in it because I am leaving my pillow here, knowing we shall return. Such are the things that occupy my mind.

We had a nice long visit with the Tantes today over at Tante Ruth’s apartment (our condo). It was good to see them all and tell them a little about our road trip. Kory hasn’t been able to get out much so they were glad he made it over for one last good-bye. Tante Aslaug made us lunch and it was easy to see none of them wanted us to leave. So many of their kids and grandkids have left the area, I think we are a good substitute. They are comforted by the thought we will be back. So are we.

Kory’s cousin Linda just got back yesterday from three weeks at her condo in Turkey so we dropped by there to say good-bye to her and her family as well. Then Kaleb dropped by all his friend’s house for one last hug and to leave them with his contact information in case any of them want to write to him (see photo). He stayed for a few hours at one of his friend’s house before I picked him up so we could go to church tonight where we said our last good-byes and got lots of hugs. Kory went to church with us, but could only sit in the chair for a few minutes before he had to go to the back and lay on the floor. It didn’t stop him from shouting HALLELUJAH now and then, so I think he was glad to be back in the House of God. I do hope he makes it okay tomorrow with all the moving around and sitting. I can’t think about it, or it will stress me out.

I got an e-mail tonight that a good friend of Kory’s (Kjell Harjo) was killed in a car accident yesterday near Bellingham. What a shocker! We had just been talking to him as he was here in Norway last month visiting family and we tried to find a time to meet up, but it didn’t work out. His wife was also in the car at the time of the accident and should recover from her injuries, but I can’t imagine her life without him. Kjell was a pastor of a church up in Ferndale and an incredibly nice guy. I know life is fragile and our world can turn upside down at the drop of a dime so it makes me all the more thankful that our problems are so manageable and not anything life altering. We are so blessed.

Kaleb had a hard time getting to sleep tonight. He was pretty wound up and said he couldn’t relax. I finally had to lie down with him and have a contest on who could hold still the longest with their eyes closed. I think I fell asleep first, but at least it worked to get him to sleep, too. But then I had to wake up to finish my blog. I guess I am a blog-a-holic, but the addiction may soon end. As long as there is something to write about, I’ll write, as many in Norway want to know about our adjustment back to life in the U.S., but this late night writing just has to stop.

We leave for the airport in seven hours. We had challenges getting to Norway, and we’ve had challenges getting home, but everything in between has been beyond our expectations and blessed by God. Hallelujah! Life is good.

The View From On High

We climbed a mountain this morning! I made sure we took it slow – told Kory I was out of shape (tee hee) – but really, I was making sure he wasn’t over doing it. He hasn’t climbed a mountain for a long time and I wanted to be sure we made it to the top. And we did – HALLELUJAH!

It was the perfect day for such a thing as you can see from the video below (sorry about the wind noise). Kaleb was rewarded with several dog sightings along the way. My heart broke for the poor pups – all of them on leash. It’s illegal to have dogs off leash – even in the mountains. They are concerned the dogs will scare the birds and deer away, so they must be contained. It just doesn’t seem right to be on a trail in the woods with a dog on a leash. Oh well, such is the logic of the Norske people.

We sat at the top of Emblemfjell quite a while and took in the view. It was fun to see our house from on high. We were above the tree line and could see well into the fjords. It was breathtaking. I can see why there is a deep love for this country by people who have left it. There is no other place on earth like it. And a day like today isn’t the norm – it was warm and crystal clear.

This afternoon we were invited to a birthday party. One of the cousins (Linda and Leif-Eric) have a daughter, Nina, that is 13 today. She looks 18, sweet as pie. Hard to believe she was 12 yesterday and now she’s a teenager. We had dinner outside on a lovely Saturday evening overlooking the fjords. Lots of cakes and coffee followed.

These Norwegians love their cakes. Every kind you can imagine. It’s not like us where we serve one cake, big or small, depending on the number of people expected – they serve several cakes, chocolate cake, cheese cake, cream cake (nut cake is my favorite). They also had bowls of candy, cookies, cheese doodles (considered dessert here?) and jello of every flavor, oh, and lots of ice cream… all with Vanilla Sauce at the ready. Cousin Kari says, “We don’t leave until all the cakes are gone.” And they aren’t kidding. The only weird thing I noted about the cakes is that they don’t cut them symmetrically. If it’s a round cake, we might cut things in nice pie shaped slices… but not them, any old mis-shapen hunk out of it will do. Same thing with the rectangle cakes – no square cuts for them – you just slice of any old which way and eat as much as you want. Considering how many ways these people are orderly and precise, it surprises me they are so sloppy with their cake cutting. I guess it’s gotta come out somewhere.