Homesick Day

I so want to be back in Aalesund right now.  The weather has been perfect here, but now we are covering ground I’ve already seen twice and I’m not much for repeating vacation locations.  Ugh.  At least Kaleb called just to chat, which helped, but may have hurt, too.  He’s sounding worn out and wanting us to be home.  Two more days until that happens.  Double ugh.

The weather today could not have been better.  It was warm and many people were in their bathing suits lying on the top deck.  It’s hard to believe we are still north of the Arctic Circle!  Incredible.  We were able to get off the ferry a few times and walk about some small towns, so that helped a little, but I’d still rather be walking around our town of Aalesund.  Kory and I took a few naps in the sun today so we are looking like we’ve been sailing in the Mediterranean rather than the North Sea.

This program on the Norwegian TV station that is doing the “Minute by Minute Hurtigruten” is a huge success.  Each and every port that boat arrives in has been welcomed by all kinds of people and marching bands and enthusiasm.  When I mentioned at breakfast this morning that Aalesund was the only stop that didn’t do a darn thing for the ferry’s arrival, Tante Aslaug piped up and said, “Yes, but all those other towns are not giving the viewers an accurate picture of what it’s like to take the Hurtigruten, because when we arrived, we never got a marching band.  But in Aalesund, they are letting everyone know how it really is.”  I thought that was funny.  Norwegians are proud of what they do – no matter what.

I’ve been torn between being outside and again wanting to be inside watching that darn program.  It’s so “Norwegian” in that there is no dialog, it’s just cameras all over the boat, showing what’s going on outside the boat.  In America, they certainly would break for commercials or have some kind of commentary, but here in Norway they just let the scenery speak for itself.  I also think they may be trying to set a record as it’s 163 hours of non-stop filming.  It’s also being broadcast over the internet so people can watch it around the world.  I’ve sent messages to a few people in America to watch it on-line and Kaleb will be watching it tomorrow morning when we will be meeting up with that boat.  Hopefully he’ll get to see a glimpse of us.

We were entertained briefly on board today by a marching band that was attending a competition in a nearby city.  That was kinda cool… sailing along with live music on the top deck.  We also re-entered the Trollfjord and took more photos up close and personal of this very narrow opening the ship is able to maneuver in and out of.  Quite the experience, for sure (see photo).

Kory just cracked me up today when we were lying on the top deck, sunning ourselves, and he made the comment that we have such an incredibly good life he doesn’t understand it.  I told him I’m often in shock over it myself and I get stumped when people ask what we “do” because I know they wonder how we can lead such a carefree non-working lifestyle.  I’m never sure what to say to them.  Kory said, “When people ask you that – just tell them we plan vacations and then go on them.”  I must have laughed for ten minutes over that one, because surely it’s the truth.  I still don’t understand God’s blessing us to this degree, but I do know that it’s like the Bible says, that He’s “poured out so much blessing on us we are not able to receive it all.”  I feel that daily in our lives, but especially now when we are standing at the buffet tables at lunch on board this ferry.  The food has been incredible.  My only regret is the limited amount of it I can get in my gut.

(fish drying racks in the Lofoten Islands)

Seven Days and a Wake Up...

I debated about whether to go to class today or not because My Pal Vestina wasn’t going to be there, but The Good Teacher Inga was. Since I had a prayer meeting to attend at ten o’clock, I thought I might as well go for the first two hours just because Inga was there. Turns out, I was the only student in the whole class for the first half an hour! The students are dropping like flies. When another student came (one from the class we combined with), I decided to leave as she needed some one-on-one help with writing a cover letter for a job. I expected to be late for the prayer meeting with The Praying Ladies but I was able to take an earlier bus so I was right on time, so that was good.

Oh, we had quite the time in prayer today. It was amazing – which I am especially thankful for since it’s the last meeting I can attend. I love the power of combined prayer. We all had a half hour of “soaking” time first, and after I had a few poignant visions and a “message” from God, I fell asleep! I have been so tired lately it’s only been coffee that keeps me awake. I needed the sleep and apparently I didn’t snore and disturb the rest of the group, so that was good, too. But I got the distinct message from God today that life is all about separations – we must separate from our parents, from our children when they are grown, from our friends when they move away and eventually our spouse if they die first. I’ve been grieving over the move from Norway and separating from all that I love here. I saw many images today of the process of separating. Then I thought about my nightly routine with Kaleb, how when I kiss him goodnight he wraps his arms tight around my neck and won’t let go. He clings to me with a passion and it’s only when I tickle him can I get him to release his grip. I saw that same vision, only it was me clinging to the cross. Then I saw a sword attach itself to the cross and since the Bible says God’s word is a sword, it is that which I must cling to during this transition back home. I can hang on as tight as I want to that and it will never leave me, nor will God, so I don’t have to fear the separation anymore because Norway is just Norway, but God is God and that’s a much better thing to be attached to. I know all that on some level, but it was good to be reminded of it today - so I feel much better now.

Kory was over at Odd’s again today doing some repairs to a wall Odd tore out and Kaleb had an all day bike ride with his class from school. After school Kaleb brought home a few friends to see what they could build with all the toilet paper and paper towel tubes I’ve been saving all year. Kaleb likes to create things with everyday objects and as fast as we go through toilet paper (they don’t put so many sheets on a roll as they do in America), I thought it would be fun to see if he could make a castle or something creative with a year’s worth of toilet paper tubes. All they made was a mess. They had great ideas but no way to properly execute it so I talked Kory into taking them to the local indoor playland for a few hours (it was raining) while I cleaned up and got dinner ready. I even had time to fold the napkins in a fancy way. These Norwegians know 101 ways to fold a paper napkin to make the table look nice. I’ve learned a few methods from friends, but I rarely have time to put it into practice. Colorful, patterned napkins are a MUST when having guests for dinner.

We invited our neighbors to come over tonight- Erling lives just across the street and Marit and her husband are two doors down from him (we see both their houses from our window). I ride the bus everyday with Marit and she’s very good for me because she doesn’t know a word of English so every morning I get to practice my listening and speaking skills on her. They are all old folks who have lived on this street for nearly forty years so they had a good time telling us the history of the piece of land where we now live (but not for long.) Marit’s husband (I can’t remember his name!) told us about the problem he had with moles at their cabin up in the mountains (they call them “earth rats” here -jordråter). He tried everything anyone told him to try to get rid of them, and finally he found the thing that worked – which got Kory’s attention since it’s his daily battle in Mount Vernon. So the secret is, equal parts of sugar, oatmeal and dry cement mix! He puts a handful in some wax paper and twists it shut, then shoves it down in the hole when the ground is good and dry. Apparently the moles chomp away at the mixture and die soon afterwards when the cement turns their gut to stone. It sounds like an awful way to die, but apparently it’s quite effective. He cautioned us to only make as much of the mixture as we will use at the time because all animals will eat that stuff – dogs and cats included – and it will kill them all. So now Kory is anxious to get home and give it a try. If it works, it will certainly free up a lot of his time every morning as he’s up at the crack of dawn each day assessing the damage and walking around the yard looking for a fight. Better the moles than me.