The Passing of Time

We woke up at six this morning to sixty degrees outside! There was some tropical storm in the Caribbean that blew this way and brought with it incredibly warm air, and a bit of rain as well, but apparently tonight we’re in for the worst of the wind. Both Kaleb and I left the house in total darkness this morning at 7:30am and I realized he doesn’t have nearly the amount of reflective gear that he needs. All the kids here wear “dingal-dangels” hanging from their coats, backpacks and bikes (they are reflectors on a string that move around so oncoming cars can see them.) I went to the store after school and bought reflective arm bands and vests. I guess the reflectors come free from any bank if you ask for them, so that’s tomorrow’s task.

Today my pal, Vestina, had her turn at poking fun of English. She asked me what I did over the weekend and I told her “We had company.” “Company? Why use that word, ‘company’?” she asked. “Before you use ‘company’ for two people coming… now you use it for just one person?” And I realized it is kind of a funny word to use – since the other use for it has to do with a business. She was quite confused by it and when I started thinking about it, I was too. Maybe because I was up past midnight doing my homework and then couldn’t sleep because of the coffee I drank too late in the day. Everything seemed to confuse me today.

Our good teacher Inga tried to explain the use of sub junctions today and how they don’t follow normal grammatical rules in Norwegian. (I’m still not even sure I know what a sub junction is.) Before she finished the entire explanation she turned and looked at me and said, “And I don’t know WHY that is Mickey!” I guess I ask “why” too much. But I did ask her “how” we would ever know when a quote was over in written text if we use a colon at the start of the quote when there is nothing at the end (Friday’s lesson). She stood like a deer in headlights, scratched her head and said she didn’t know, but it would be best if we used quotation marks, or the double karat like the newspapers use to show a <>. And then she also said it is customary for authors to show dialog in a book with a dash before each direct quote without any other marks so that it looks like this:
– So when are you going to ask me? inquired Kaleb.
– Ask you what? said Mickey.
– How it went with Morton today?
– How did it go with Morton today?
– Well, he starting hitting a friend of mine and she started crying so I went over to help her and then Morton and two of his friends turned on me and started hitting me instead!

And that’s how Kaleb’s day went. I was pretty proud of him for helping out his friend at school, and he claims that even though he received several blows by Morton and his cronies- he is developing “thick skin” and it didn’t hurt too much. (I think he was a little pumped up about coming to someone’s rescue, too.) At least he is finally at peace with Morton and understands it’s nothing personal. We prayed again for Morton today as that may be his only hope in changing the situation.

Kaleb’s foot is getting better but he decided to just drop out of soccer all together. (I had him soak his foot in vinegar a few times a day and I bought some tea tree oil to put on it – as suggested by a friend – and all the swelling and blisters have disappeared!) Kaleb decided he doesn’t like being gone from home so much and with the after school program lasting 2-3 hours, then rushing home twice a week for a 90 minute soccer practice, it was just too much. I totally agree, as the weeks are just flying by and it seems like we hardly see him. I’m so thankful as I couldn’t bear the thought of him out in this horrible weather all winter playing soccer! (We’re lightweights, I know.) He also needs additional time to do his homework as they are beefing things up a bit and he was up until 9:30 tonight and still didn’t get it all done. Uff da. Most of the hours were just bad time management on his part (daydreaming) so I’m threatening him with no trick-or-treating this year if that happens again. (I’m no lightweight when it comes to school work, however.)

Kory had a wet day at work and came home just a tad bit crabby. As winter sets in I’m sure he’ll be dreaming of “retirement” again real soon. But the dollar is getting stronger every day so maybe in the dead of winter he won’t have to work at all… poor thing. His bones are old and tired and his joints are very painful, and even though he likes to see how Norwegians build houses and he enjoys the mental process of carpentry, I’m sure he’d just as soon stay at home as well.

As difficult as the Norwegian language is for me to learn, I really LIKE going to school and NOT being home all day. Not only am I learning the language, but it gives me something to write about. I heard a quote in college once that went something like this: “Those who can do, do. Those who can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach teachers.” So I guess I’ll add one more little snippet to that soliloquy and say, “Those who can’t do any of that, write.”

Good-bye to Bent-Jarle

Today we had to say goodbye to Bent-Jarle as he flew back to Oslo after attending Agape Kirke with us this morning (Sabina and her mom came also). The sun finally came out so he could see the majestic mountains surrounding our town and he was mightily impressed, as well he should be (the photo today though was taken yesterday in Aandalsnes). It was so nice to have him here and spend more time with him. (He was surprised to see someone he knew at church today - Norway is such a small country.) After we dropped him off at the airport we drove around the outer islands a little since we’d already paid the $40 tunnel toll to get out there - and there was no rush in returning to the city. Aalesund’s airport is located on a fairly flat island just northwest of the city center and you have to take two under-the-sea tunnels to get out there. One of them didn’t have enough space in which to engineer a dip down under the bottom of the fjord and back up again in a safe enough incline, so they had to corkscrew the tunnel down one side and back up the other. It’s somewhat like going into the parking garage at Sea-Tac so that you enter the tunnel and go around and around until you are at the level that is low enough to have a tunnel that cuts through the rock under the water overhead and then corkscrew back up the other side. It’s a bit disconcerting to go in that tunnel when there is so much water leaking down on the windshield we must use the wipers (maybe that’s why they are doing repairs to it now?) And when I start to think about what is over the top of us, and one little crack in the earth or one decent sized tsunami, and we’re done for… well, let’s just say going through tunnels isn’t as bad as going on Trollstigen, but it’s a close second for me. Normal tunnels through mountains are just fine, but the ones that go under the water freak me out a bit, and we were in plenty of them today as all the outer islands here now connect with undersea tunnels. (Uffa meg – “poor me”). But I got to go out to the island of Giske and see Kory’s job site so it was nice to be able to visualize where he’s working. And the fall colors just don’t stop! My teacher told me that this year the colors are more spectacular than usual because there was such good weather all summer and the storms didn’t come and blow the leaves off the trees while they were still green, so between the good weather and the crisp fall we are having, it truly rivals the northeast coast in terms of fall foliage and fantastic colors everywhere we look.

We stopped by a flea market today in downtown Aalesund and got several more treasures. I love what people think is junk – old wooden carved spoons and bowls, little candy baskets, trays and vases all hand made from pewter, crystal candle holders and very Norsk Christmas linens. We bought an entire apple box full of little trinkets and it only set us back fifty bucks, and that included some ice skates for Kory and a Christmas tree stand that wouldn’t fit in the box. Woo hoo. I also got a white table cloth we’ll cut up for Kaleb for a Halloween costume so he can go as a “holy ghost.” I got caught off guard there as I didn’t realize they have Halloween here or I most certainly would have packed him a costume. Halloween is fairly new to Norway and it’s a total rip-off from America, but the kids love it and they go trick-or-treating just the same and dress up in costumes. Older Norwegians hate it as they feel it’s just the stores trying to copy America so they can sell things no one needs, and anything that comes from America is not looked upon too kindly here anyway, so it’s a bit touchy of a subject. I’m not even sure which day it is, but it’s coming soon. Sabina keeps saying it’s next Saturday, but I need to investigate this week so I’m sure to have some candy on hand. They don’t have much for decorations in the stores but I did see one real pumpkin in Trondheim for $30 and decided I didn’t need a Jack-o-Lantern that badly. I haven’t seen any pumpkins here in Aalesund, but I was able to buy a few gourds so that’s the extent of my fall decorations this year.

We went for a walk around the neighborhood after dinner tonight and just as I came in and sat down to do my massive amount of homework, Kaleb came running in and told us Sabina’s mom had coffee made and she was expecting us for dessert. First I heard of it, and not wanting to be un-neighborly, we went over for a few hours to visit. I guess it was as good as doing homework as she only spoke in Norwegian and I had to work hard to understand her as she spoke so fast. She talked a lot about her frustration with the school system not doing anything about bullying. She finally decided to put Sabina in another school after several girls repeatedly beat her up. Sabina had a friend over tonight playing with her who spoke incredibly good English and was quite talkative. All the adults are constantly telling me how well I’m doing in speaking Norwegian but the little friend told me the letter sounds I was making that “need a little work.” As they say here in Norway – “You only get the truth out of drunks and little children.”

Trollstigen

We had another wonderful day here in Norway - driving Bent-Jarle around to see the mountains and fjords and all the color this time of year brings. We took the scenic route out to Åndalsnes (oh, wait, all the roads around here are the scenic route….) and we stopped for coffee (imagine that) before heading back via Trollstigen (the crazy zig-zag road up the side of a cliff face). I have to say I have jelly legs the entire time we are on that road as it just goes against everything that nature is about. I tend to worry a bit too much about my painful demise should anything go wrong. Fortunately today there weren’t many other cars on the road as it’s usually closed because of snow by this time of year. Wouldn’t you know we had another beautiful day and not even a drop of rain hit our windshield until we were just minutes from home. God is so good. The photo today was taken by Bent-Jarle because it required getting just a snitch closer to the edge of a cliff than I was capable of getting due to my jelly legs and queezy stomach. The glacial cut valley is visible in the distance – the road from whence we came. On the way up, we passed two guys on roller-skis and darned if they didn’t make it to the top. Those are some buff guys.

We had just gorgeous fall colors all the way home and it was at least a one hundred “click” day. I have no idea what to do with all the photos I’m taking, but somehow it helps my soul to feel OK about leaving these places behind if I can take a picture of them with me. Otherwise, I would just stand in awe in one spot and want to keep absorbing in all the beauty until I either got hungry or had to go pee (I’m not sure which would be the strongest motivator for me to move.) But the camera provides an easy out as I can always look at the photos again and again and even bore my friends and family with something that loses a lot when seen in two dimensions (but it’s the best I can do.)

We had a cozy evening at home tonight. Kory built a fire and I made a yummy dinner. Turid and Hege came over to eat with us (Odd was in Oslo). After they left, we played cards again with Bent-Jarle and talked about the pros and cons of having a TV. Kory wants to hook up an outdoor antenna so he can watch the news, but I think ignorance is bliss and why ruin this happy little oblivious world we have created for ourselves here? He gets bits of news on the Norwegian radio and I get the headlines via the internet. It’s enough. I know the winter will be long and dark (we only have light now from 7:30am-6:30pm) but life without TV is a fine life for me. Besides, I have a few thousand photos that need revisiting.

A Visit

We have a visitor for the weekend! Kory’s cousin’s grandson, Bent-Jarle Brenne, flew up from Oslo to spend the weekend with us. He has been to our house in America a few times and we stayed with him in Oslo two years ago so we are thrilled he is here with us now. We love that guy. He just turned 30 and is engaged to be married next summer and he loves to travel. He showed us pictures from his recent month-long trip to Thailand and surrounding countries and has many stories to tell of his adventures there. He also loves kids and is a good climbing wall for Kaleb, as he’s nearly a head taller than Kory and quite burly. Kaleb so needs someone to wrestle with. Bent-Jarle flew in this morning so Kory showed him around town while I was in school then we all picked Kaleb up from school and headed down to the beach – Norwegian style- in the pouring rain. (Bent-Jarle was prepared and brought along his rain pants and coat.) The beach is surprisingly wonderful in a downpour. I guess I need to get out more.

Sabina was here within minutes of our return so she and Kaleb used Bent-Jarle as an entertainment center. She stayed for dinner (no surprise there - see photo) and then we all had a rousing game of cards (we played “Golf” - our favorite.) It’s nearly midnight and all is finally quite in the house now but earlier I was sure we might lose the roof or a few windows for all the whooping and hollering that was going on. Uff da. Maybe I AM getting old…

Today in my Norsk class we had a different teacher. I so miss Inga when she’s not there. We continued yet one more day on words for weather. They are really putting an emphasis on this because it’s such a huge topic of conversation around here. They want to be sure we know all the possible ways to say just how horrible of a day we are having. Today we learned the expression to use when it’s raining about as bad as it can rain. In America we might say “It’s raining cats and dogs,” but here they say it’s raining “Trollkjerring” – which literally translated means it’s raining “female trolls.” Ok, then. And then we had to learn all the names for all the possible pieces of clothing you could use in all the different seasons. They even have “fall jackets” – which of course are much different than winter jackets or summer jackets, but I’m not yet convinced there is a huge difference between a fall jacket and a spring jacket – as they both seem to be rain jackets but they do have rain jackets identified as a separate piece of clothing so, I’m not sure. And I learned a new word for that piece of baby clothing that is all one outfit and snaps inside the legs for easy access… they call that a “sparkbukse” – meaning, “kicking pants.” I guess the babies at that age just lay there and kick all day and they had to call that thing something. I’m not sure we even have a name for it, so as silly as it sounds – at least they named it.

The worst part of class today was when the teacher took thirty minutes to teach us that in the written word, to show a direction quotation, you don’t HAVE to use the quote marks, you just put a colon after Mary said: and then we know it’s a quote. But how you know when the quote is over, I have no idea. I guess that concept would have taken too long to explain.

Secrets

The party continued today for Tante Ruth as she felt so well, she invited her sisters over for coffee and leftover prune cake (she hasn’t done that in over five years). She was still feeling overwhelmed even today with all the good wishes and nice memories people wrote down for her on the pink hearts I cut out and she spent the day going over and over what people had written. The other two aunts thought my “heart” idea was “laughable” and they really didn’t do as I asked because they said, “we don’t do those kinds of things in Norway” – meaning “share feelings” – but when they saw how effective it was at getting Tante Ruth out of the dumps, they had second thoughts and now think I’m a genius. When I heard that Tante Ruth even went out and bought a scrapbook album in which to set the messages in, I got to work on my laptop and fired up Microsoft Publisher. I made five sheets of photos from her party in a sort of scapbooky style and printed them out on photo paper for her to put in the book. I took them over to her this afternoon and she was just downright giddy. Tante Kari thinks I should run for President as she is sure I am capable of doing just about anything. (Those ladies like to gush.) It does my heart good though to hear Tante Ruth is feeling so chipper as she’s been in a dark hole for several years now and her future isn’t too bright.

Kory spent his day at home poking around The Sinking Houses. When I missed my bus late this afternoon by two minutes and the next wasn’t coming for an hour, I called him to come get me. But, he had just taken a few sips of beer and wouldn’t drive. Norway has incredibly strict drunk driving laws and NO ONE would ever get in a vehicle even after one sip or they could lose their license for life, go to jail for at least a year and get a huge fine (thousands of dollars). There is no getting out of drunk driving charges and there is zero tolerance with NO breath limit. In fact, someone can just see you take a sip of alcohol and turn you in and you’re done for. So no one here ever gets behind the wheel after sipping anything alcoholic. We’ve even offered wine at the beginning of a meal, knowing people will stay several hours and it would wear off by the time they have to drive home, and they still won’t risk it. Even our neighbor – half a block away, wouldn’t have any wine when he came for dinner and an evening of playing cards, because he drove here. The law is incredibly effective at keeping the roads safe, and folks get real cozy with their immediate neighbors as they are the only ones they can really sit around and have a drink with. I so wish there was a way to have that whole scenario be part of the American culture, but it would only work if the entire country is full of people with the kind of strong will that the Norwegian people possess.

I had a pretty fun day at school today. We were back on the subject of weather and the seasons. Our teacher, Inga (see photo – the one on the right) told us there are usually just two seasons here in Norway – the white winter and the green winter. I thought that was pretty funny. She also spent a good deal of time being a cheerleader to half the class who are getting homesick and tired of how hard it is to learn Norwegian. She told us it’s hard to move to another country even if you know the language because she lived six years in Ireland and was fluent in English but still had a horrible time adjusting. She’s so good for us. She keeps cheering us on and telling us all we are doing great – even the ones that can’t speak a word of Norwegian. And then she mixed things up a bit and had us change our usual partners (see photo of Vestina, the one on the left – my usual partner). She put me with the little old Russian lady that doesn’t speak much of anything - what a hoot that woman is. You’d swear by looking at her, she is old enough to be my mother, but she’s only five years older than me. (Life must have been hard in Russia.) She told me today (through using her Russian/Norwegian dictionary – and me translating what she said using my Norwegian/English dictionary), that she used to live way up north on the Norwegian/Russian border. We were supposed to talk about the weather in our home countries so she said (also using a lot of hand motions and drawing pictures on paper for clarification) that in the winter, that far north, they would get up and turn on the radio and hear, “Today will be five minutes long,” and the next day, “Today will be ten minutes long,” for that’s how long the sun would barely rise above the horizon around noon. And for those two winter months the whole town would go outside and wait to see that little crack of light and they’d whoop and holler and have a great old time because the sun is still around. I asked what she did up there and she also told me that for seven years she was a General in the Russian army (I didn’t see that one coming). Then she made hand motions like little boys do when they shoot guns and she made all the sound effects that go with it. I got the sense she’s actually shot people. She then looked up the word that meant “secret” and I’m not sure if she meant I was supposed to keep that bit of news a secret, or if she worked for the secret service agency within the army. I guess her secret is out now. (So much for me being President.)

Happy Birthday Tante Ruth!

She’s 85 and she’s alive! The party we had for Tante Ruth was a HUGE success – and she was the last to leave after three hours of non-stop laughing. (We thought she would just stay ten minutes but she was having so much fun she just kept going and going.) Her sisters were in absolute shock over her behavior and how alive and happy she seemed. We had many bright pink paper hearts full of greetings, memories, and love and she was deeply touched by that gesture (Thank you Jesus!). She sat and told story after story about the pranks that Kory and his brothers pulled on her in the years she lived with them in America. She was quite comical in acting out the story of the time Kory hid in her closet until late in the evening when she came in from some meeting. When she opened the closet doors, Kory was standing there with a flashlight on his chin shining up in his face. He nearly scared her to death (and apparently he got in big trouble over that one.) It almost rivaled the time Kory’s brother Henry set a realistic looking toy rat on the top step, tied a string on its tail, hid the string under the carpet and waited for her to walk by, then pulled the string. She has a strong heart or surely she wouldn’t have survived living all those years with those boys. She’s hard of hearing now so towards the end of the evening I yelled across the table and asked her (in Norwegian) if she thought it was a good day today (“fin dag i dag?”). She said “No.” Her sister yelled in her ear and repeated what I asked and then she corrected herself and said “Yes,” but she thought I had asked if she had a headache (which when spoken in Norwegian it does sound similar). We all had a good laugh over that one.

I feel quite satisfied that we had this party for her. And it wasn’t just good for her -- it was good for her sisters too – they got to see her having a good time and now they have this memory of her after she’s gone. I took a little video clip while she was telling some of the stories -- so that’s the Tante Ruth that will live on – not the one that sits alone in her apartment all day, curtains drawn, not answering her door bell or phone, wearing a frightful scowl on her face, and complaining constantly about every little thing wrong with herself and the world at large. We’ll just remember the good times and be thankful even the crabbiest of people can have a happy birthday every now and then – especially if it turns out to be her last one.

I’ve been off school nearly two weeks now so my head was a little fuzzy in deciphering Norwegian today, but I made it through class nonetheless. I had to read aloud the report I wrote about what we did on our vacation. I cheated and had Kory help translate, as I couldn’t say all the important things about the trip with my limited vocabulary. I wanted to be understood, without too much embarrassment. It worked. It was good to be back in class with my pal Vestina and the good teacher Inga. Today’s lesson was a lot about weather again – it’s such a huge part of life here in Norway that they want to be sure we are fluent in all the words to use when complaining about it. (We even learned the word for “complain.”) Today was an “oppholdsvær” day. They use that word to describe a day where nothing is falling from the sky – no rain or snow, but it looks like it might. It literally means “holding up weather” – like the clouds are holding in their moisture. It’s a step in the wrong direction from “overskyet” – which is just overcast skies with no real threat of precipitation. I feel like I’ve stepped into that zone where the Eskimos in Alaska have 26 words to describe snow. It’s something like that here – they are far more descriptive in their weather words than we are in America.

We started the day off singing a song about rain. We’ve already had to memorize a poem about playing in the rain, now we get to sing in the rain, too. They do everything in the rain here and even though they get a lot of rain, they take great consolation in the fact that Bergen always gets more. I was thinking the massive amount of foot and bike traffic going in front of our house was because it was so nice outside all summer, but when it was raining the last few days, there’s wasn’t much of a decrease – people were still out for family bike rides, just all dressed in their raingear and it was POURING down rain (“pøsender regn” in Norwegian). And women were still out doing their power walks – with rain pants and coats on. It’s amazing to me, as I use the rain as an excuse to get inside things done, but some years here I guess no one would ever go outside if they were sitting around waiting for a sunny day. In the Northwest we were raised that if the sun it out, we should be out in it. So when I moved to California to go to college, I didn’t clean my house for a whole year as I kept waiting for a rainy day so I could stay indoors and clean. And then it dawned on me that it wasn’t ever going to rain so I should probably get busy. It will be the opposite here - I may need to go buy some rain pants. But it didn’t rain today and by all accounts – it was a “fin dag i dag”.

No Complaints

I had another day off school today and I had a much better day than Kory or Kaleb, even though I had a lot of homework to do. We are now memorizing the names of items of clothing. Learning this language never ceases to tickle my funny bone. In Norway, a man wears a “dress” and “slips” (otherwise known as a “suit” and “tie”), and the word they use for a briefcase is a “stresskoffert” – literally translated means, “stress luggage” – how funny is that? I’d like to know who comes up with this stuff (probably someone who works in an office and carries a briefcase with his dress and slips).

Kaleb didn’t complain about riding his bike to school in the pouring rain, but he does complain about a lot of other things. He’s got some little blisters under his big toe that are making him miserable so he’s really complaining about that. Kory thinks it’s athlete’s foot but I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like it. I may have to take him to a doctor if it doesn’t get better. Socialized medicine may be free, but you have to wait at least four weeks before you get an appointment for anything so I’ll just start praying for God to heal him as I’m not sure I can tolerate four weeks of constant complaining (plus, I’m sure it really does irritate him and who needs that?). He stayed home from soccer practice today because it hurts so much. At least it gave him time to get his homework done. Sabina came over and helped him a little, which was nice.

Kory came home cold to the bone again. He had to work out in the pouring rain all day. He wasn’t complaining though. He said he’s trying to stop that habit. He also said the guy they are building a house for brought them all a hot lunch – steak and potatoes – the whole nine yards. Apparently every Tuesday that guy does that. I’m not sure if it’s in his contract, or if he’s just a nice, appreciative guy, but this was the first time Kory was on that jobsite on a Tuesday so he was bummed he got up so early this morning and made himself lunch. Oh well, at least he didn’t complain about it.

I did a little baking today for Aunt Ruth’s birthday party tomorrow. I made some killer lemon bars and I once again pondered a question that’s been going over and over in my head for years: since lemon is used as a cleaning agent, do I really need to wash the knife after I’ve cut through one? I also made a prune cake. I’ve never made one before but I figure if I can’t make it for someone who’s 85, who can I make it for? (Kory thinks anyone over 50 would appreciate one. Ha ha.) I also baked two loaves of bread. This is what happens when it rains all day, I don’t have a car or TV and no one is home. I guess I could have read a good book, but baking was much more fun. I also did a little writing today that got published on a few websites, so that was a thrill. One was a letter to the editor of a newspaper, and another was a comment on Rosie O’Donnell’s blog. She posed the question, “What is God?” and I wrote, “Creator of all things. Lover of my soul.” And she posted it - with my name even. I thought it was a better response than the person who wrote, “Dog spelled backwards,” but they got on there too, so I guess her standards aren’t all that high.

(Today’s photo was taken last week on Lofoten – standing under a fishing shack at low tide, looking out.)

A Break

I got a break today (and tomorrow) from school! The instructors are having a conference for two days so all the Norsk language students get two extra days added to their fall vacation – woo hoo. It was nice to have a day home alone, as Kory went to work today (in the pouring rain) and Kaleb was back to school. I used the time to clean and organize. It’s amazing how quickly a house can get out of whack. I also took the bus over to Moa to buy a few groceries and to visit the aunts. I needed to talk to Tante Kari about the plans for Tante Ruth’s birthday on Wednesday. I got the idea today to just give Tante Ruth “love” for her birthday. Yesterday when we stopped by for a visit, Kory told her how much she influenced him in the area of gift wrapping. Kory’s gifts always look like works of art, and he gives all the credit to Aunt Ruth (she used to live with his family when he was growing up). He said she taught him the finer points of how to make a package look pretty. When he told her that, she not only looked surprised, but I could see on her face how good she felt hearing something nice about herself. So I had the idea today that all the nieces and nephews (she has no children of her own) should write on a big heart what they love about Aunt Ruth. I cut out dozens of bright pink hearts today and delivered them over to the other two aunts to have them call their children and grandchildren that can’t come to the party, and say what they love about Aunt Ruth and then each heart can say what each person feels. All those who can come to the party can write on their own heart and hold it up when she walks in, then later I’ll go tape them all over her condo. That’s the plan anyway, and I do hope, even in my limited Norwegian, I was able to communicate to the other aunts just what this plan entails. It feels right. There’s a good chance this is her last birthday and everyone will be saying nice things about her at her funeral, so it would be nice if she could hear some of it before she dies.

Kaleb had a fine day at school – which I’m so thankful for. He came home laughing at the level of math they are doing now, and thinks they are way behind in teaching kids what they are capable of. Today they learned how to borrow from another column when subtracting. He said he was bored but I noticed he didn’t do any of the algebra I put in his backpack for just such occasions, and I also noticed there’s a lot of doodling art work in his book, so at least he found a way to entertain himself.

Kory came home and jumped in a warm tub to soak his tired and very cold bones. I made him a cup of tea and he was soon back to normal. He had to work outside all day in the pouring rain, poor thing. There were spurts of sunshine through the clouds today though which made for many rainbows. If I didn’t know better, I’d think Norway was the Promised Land, as I’ve seen more rainbows in this country than anywhere else. I heard once that rainbows are only visible in the morning or afternoon in America, but they show up here at all hours – even high noon. It must be because Norway is so far north it can get the right angle of light no matter what… and they are always spectacular. The rainbows continue to be a good reminder of God’s promises to us – which we so need to concentrate on when our finances or government may fail…. but God never will.

Tonight we finally got to SKYPE Janet – our beloved “Grammy J.” We bought her a web camera before we left as she said she couldn’t bear to go a year without seeing our smiling faces. To tell the truth, it’s the other way around, as we love her smile and her laugh and we’d suffer far more to not see her. It was good to be half way around the world and have her face pop up on my laptop screen. Modern technology is somethin’ else. And the best part it – it’s free! She asked us how the current financial crisis in America is affecting us, and as sad as the whole situation is for so many people we know, it’s actually been really good for us because the dollar is finally making a comeback and we can now buy 6.3 kroner with a dollar instead of the 4.6 kroner we bought it for when we first got here (a 37% increase). Strange economics if you ask me, but that’s one computation that has me laughing all the way to the bank.

(The photo today is one I took from the ferry last week – I love those little fishing boats.)

A Rainy Day

We’ve had heavy rains all day. It’s been so nice to have a fire in the fireplace and a comfy home in which to escape it all. It was the kind of day it would have been nice to just stay indoors, but we ventured out to go to church at Filadelfia – Kory’s choice. Kaleb was distraught over that decision as he much prefers Agape Church, but we all can’t have our own way all the time, now can we? Filadefia had the teenagers running the show today so there was a lot heavy metal sounds during the worship. I noted a lot of the old people chose to stay home today. (I’m sure the rain was a good excuse.) Actually, the service was quite inspiring. During this past week’s vacation from school, Filadelfia sponsored a youth convention and had in special speakers and musicians targeting the teenagers in the area. It was quite a success by all measures and several kids shared their testimony. There is a very young man from Oslo that lead the conference and he gave the sermon this morning. He’s the leader of the “New Generation” Christian movement in Norway and he was quite dynamic, even if I didn’t understand all that he said. And so young… for some reason I don’t feel like I’m the least bit old until I see someone so accomplished, that’s so much younger than I. Uff da. I kept having thoughts like, “he was Kaleb’s age just a few years ago… I sure hope Kaleb is this influential in a few years…” stuff like that. And when I didn’t understand what he was saying, I just tuned into the sing-songy nature of his speech, as I always find the way Norwegian is spoken almost as interesting as the words that are said.

We stopped by Tante Ruth’s after church (Kory’s aunt that lives in our condo) to see how she is doing. She felt some new lumps in her back so she had some tests done before we left on our trip and she got the results back while we were gone. She seemed rather chipper considering her prognosis. She said she is full of cancer – that it’s back with a vengeance and her lungs are completely consumed by it, plus it has spread to many other areas. She will be 85 on Wednesday and the doctors told her if they do anything, it will kill her, so she should just enjoy her life and it may yet be a long one. Apparently cancer grows slowly in old people, but she told us today she thinks she’ll be lucky to make it to Christmas. She is pretty much a loner, but she always seems glad to see us. We tried to talk her into having some kind of celebration for her birthday, but she doesn’t want to be around too many people. She has never liked parties, but it’s a strong possibility this will be her last chance for one. We finally got her to agree that we would all go to her sister’s condo next door and she could just come over for ten minutes to greet everyone. She agreed, but whether she shows up or not is yet to be seen. I hope she does.

Kaleb spent all afternoon playing with Sabina. The Pokemon cards he got from his cousin Tobias seemed to be a common love for the two of them and kept them entertained for hours. I was surprised, in listening to them talk about each card, just how much Norwegian Kaleb can speak. Kaleb was talking to her in Norwegian, and she was answering in English. They were both trying to expand their foreign language skills so it was very fun to listen to. Kory and I just spent the day cleaning up, doing laundry and putting things away. I helped Kaleb and Sabina make “High Five” soup for dinner (see photo) with all the organic vegetables we bought yesterday. That was some good soup. I so want to encourage Kaleb’s culinary skills so I get a big thrill out of him wanting to be in the kitchen (he is SO not like his father in that area.) I think part of his love for cooking is having me around to be his assistant. He takes great pleasure in running the show and telling me exactly what to do (he is SO like his mother in THAT area.) Uff da. (It's good to be home.)

Back Home

We started the day off having a luxurious breakfast at the SAS Radisson hotel in Trondheim. The room and food were even better than the last time we were there because we got the “friends and family rate” from Turid’s daughter, Sarah, who works for SAS, so it was less than half the cost we should have paid. Bargains always make me happy…. We woke up to blue skies and sunshine too so we walked around the heart of downtown and bought some organic produce from the farmer’s market in the main square and went into a few second hand stores just to see what treasures might be waiting for us. It was good to get some fresh autumn air and to watch the leaves falling off the trees before getting back in the car for the last stretch home. I love this time of year. We made it home safely, and this time, I won the competition as to the exact moment we’d arrive: 6:02pm (I was off by seven minutes, but it beat Kory and Kaleb’s estimate). We had more incredible sights to see on the way home with the colors of autumn all around (the photo is of a cabin we passed along the way – double click on it to see the amazing detail). When we got within an hour of home the skies were black and the rain came down something fierce. It was almost comical as we had such a perfect trip in so many ways and never had to drive in the rain, and then when the trip was over, the skies opened up. Odd says we were “lucky” to have good weather that far north this time of year. I told him luck didn’t have anything to do with it – God loves us that much and wanted to bless us. He nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, maybe.” He was quick to point out also that the weather report says now that winter was right on our tails and that we were very lucky to make it back home without ice or snow on the roads. He was worried about us, I guess, but we managed to stay ahead of the elements. God is good.

Turid was so kind to have us over for dinner tonight. We had to unload the van and start putting things away and making dinner wasn’t something I was looking forward to, but Turid saved the day. I had even commented to Kory on the way home about how spoiled we were back in Mount Vernon as my neighbor Wendy would always put a meal in the refrigerator for us after we’d been gone for a few days so we had something to eat the minute we walked in the door. I was lamenting the fact she wasn’t here now, and then Turid called and invited us over, so we felt lucky, and blessed. We had a great time visiting with Odd and Turid as we went over some of our impressions of the trip with them. Turid’s mom is from the Lofoten Islands and her dad is from just as far north. We talked about how life must be for people living up there and she said their life “may not be wide, but it’s very deep.” Meaning, they don’t spread themselves around in doing many things or going many places, but they have deep thoughts and spend a lot of time contemplating life. I imagine they would, as there isn’t much else to do. I’m thankful we don’t live that far north or Kaleb might drive us all nuts, as he thinks enough as it is. He had a bit of a breakdown in the car on the way home, saying how homesick he is and how he just wants to have a friend that can understand him. (But I’m not sure he even has that back in America, even if they do speak English….) I reminded him that Hege can understand him and they play well together and he countered with, “She’s not my age” (she’s soon 14). He so wants a friend his age to play with, and while Sabina almost fits the bill, she’s close to where we live, she’s his age, she does well in English – she also drives him nuts and has a lot of hard-to-live with social skills. Poor Kaleb. I feel his pain and I’ll just pray he overcomes the desperation. But we do hope the experience of living in Norway serves him well in developing his character and helping him to become the person God wants him to be. Otherwise, we’re in big trouble.

Heading Home

It was a long day in the car today to make it to Trondheim. We’re only five hours now from home and at this point, considering how much we’ve traveled, it feels like we’re in our own backyard. We have been on more ferries and through more tunnels and over more bridges these past ten days than I’m sure I’ve been in a lifetime. We took the “scenic” route down the coast today, which added a lot of time to the journey but it was worth it. The fall colors are really at their peak and everywhere we drove was just gorgeous with all the contrasting evergreens and bright yellow birch leaves. We had very little rain today too, but even with overcast skies and it was still jaw dropping gorgeous. I love this country.

I feel like Norway is similar to that elephant in the old story about the six men that each felt a different part of the elephant’s body. The one that felt his tail was sure he was like a snake, the one that felt his legs was sure he was like a tree, etc. We have seen so many sides to Norway that it’s hard to wrap up all our impressions in just one description of the place as there are so many different facets to this country - not just in landscape, but in lifestyle and “feel” (the food is all pretty much the same though.) Each city is special in its own way too and I could easily live in many of them but we’re glad we live where we do, not just because it’s a beautiful place, but because all our family is here – and I guess that’s why many people live where they do. It’s been such a great opportunity to get out and see so much of the land, and now it feels great that we are going home.

We had a big night out tonight in Trondheim – we went to the Ikea store. We bought (hopefully) a year’s supply of napkins and candles, as they are so much a part of the ambiance of life here and they are not at all cheap to buy in Ålesund. Our van has room for much more, but I’m afraid our house is maxed out and at this point, so anything I buy has to go in the garage. I’m so thankful our van held up during this trip – it is such a great vehicle and it’s gotten incredible gas mileage. Kory held up well too – driving the entire 2,300+ kilometers (about 1,400 miles in total), and Kaleb did well to keep us all entertained. We so love road trips. I’m positive that’s the American in us, because I’m pretty sure that Norwegians would take a road trip somewhere and then sit for hours or days drinking coffee and eating a bit before they would get back in their car again. Unlike us where we just drive and drive day in and day out and eat in the car on the way. Kory thought today was a good mix of both cultures though as we hurried up and arrived at the end of the road, then had to sit and wait for the ferry, then we sat on the ferry for 20-60 minutes while we crossed a fjord and he could have a cup of coffee while someone else was at the wheel, then we hurried up and got to our next destination and did the same thing – over and over. So it was the perfect way to be an American (in a hurry to get everywhere), yet enjoying the Norwegian style of travel wherein a stop for a cup of coffee is necessary every hour or so (and taking that essential time to relax). Kory got lots of coffee today, but it took over ten hours of traveling to get it.

Kaleb kept asking today how many “clicks” until we are in Trondheim. Since the measurement for distance here is in kilometers, some Europeans use the word “click” to refer to the same. Kory has decided that “We’ll be there in 46 clicks,” is more appropriately used when referring to the number of photos he expects I’ll be taking between any two given points. (Some we stop for, others we don’t – see photo.) But I must say, if we’ve now traveled over 2,000 kilometers, I’m pretty sure I haven’t taken that many photos… but when doing the conversions to miles, well, I might be pretty close.

Molvika

Today was a very special day for me. I finally got to visit the Molvika farm (see photo), where our friend Halton Molvik was born and raised. I wrote a book about his life on that farm in the 1920s and 30s and it was just as I had pictured it, only with details I couldn’t have imagined. It was almost like walking in the steps of my own ancestors as I got to relive several of the moments he had in his early years in each of the locations they happened.

Molvika is just like many of the farms in Northern Norway – only accessible by boat(or on foot.) It sits just a few hundred feet south of the Arctic Circle and it’s a long way from anywhere. We had to walk over a mountain to get there and it was pouring down rain the entire forty minutes we walked. I thought it was a far better representation of his life on that farm, having the rain as part of the experience. When we arrived, there was no porch in which to seek shelter, so we found the cellar door open and we huddled under the house to escape the downpour (see other photo of the view looking out toward the grayed out sea.) I brought along a copy of the book and read excerpts to Kory and Kaleb about life on that farm while we waited out the squall. It was almost surreal.

No one lives at the farm today – it’s only used as a summer place by Halton’s nephew and his family. The house and all the outbuildings are still frozen in time. The fields and rocks surrounding the house were just as Halton described them. The feeling of absolute calm and isolation were every bit as real today as they were for him growing up there – only the children were missing – all 17 that his mother gave birth to. I found a few of their graves at the cemetery along the path back into town.

Halton had many memories of the walk he made over the mountain to get to town. We stopped at the only store and met the owner – a cousin to Halton. We left a few copies of the book with him to sit on the tables of the little café he has added to the back of his store. We also left a copy for the local school library and we went to the old folk’s home nearby and left a copy there as well. (Several of the residents we met there were related to Halton, including his sister-in-law.) I also spoke on the phone with the “mayor” of that area as he helped me write parts of the book and he was quite distressed he couldn’t meet me in person, but the ferry schedules didn’t work out as he lives on an outer island and was unable to get to the mainland.

It was such a blessing for me to visit Molvika and to connect personally with its history. We all picked up rocks from the water’s edge as mementos of our journey north, as the title to the book I wrote is, “Built on Solid Rock.” It had a double meaning – that the farm where Halton was from was built on the solid rock of the Norwegian coastline, but also, the life he built for himself was built on the Solid Rock of Jesus Christ. It’s good to have reminders of that (especially when you live on sinking sand!) The visit today was the main reason we took this road trip north, to see the farm up close and personal and it was every bit as exciting as I hoped it to be. We can go home now.

We had a two hour drive to get to the nearest hotel and we got into Sandnessjoen just after sunset. We managed to see two moose nibbling grass on the side of the road as we were entering town. That was another thrill for the day as grazing moose are not the norm in our world. The life on this north coast is so different from anything I can relate to. I keep wondering what it is that keeps people here and why they don’t all move to a place more convenient. I got my answer today in talking with Halton’s cousin -- he said, “We have everything we need here,” and he’s quite content with his life. He either doesn’t know any better, or it doesn’t get any better, I’m not sure which.

By Land and by Sea

We’re heading south quickly now as our big Norsk road trip is coming to an end and it feels like winter is fast approaching this northern part of the country. We were driving awfully close to the snow line today and it made me a bit nervous. Everywhere is so remote here if the car broke down it feels like we would freeze or starve to death or both. There is only one main road going north and south throughout this part of Norway and we only saw a handful of cars or trucks all day. We changed our plans and decided not to go to Bodø afterall, but rather continue on the inland route to Mo I Rana, which is closer to tomorrow’s destination. I didn’t want to be stressed for time tomorrow so we put in a few extra hours of driving today. Poor Kory – he’s done all the driving. I’m not comfortable yet with all the Norsk traffic signs so I haven’t taken up the charge – and I don’t think Kory’s heart could handle me behind the wheel anyway as many stretches of road are just one lane with no center line and rarely a guard rail. Uff da.

We saw herds and herds of caribou today up in the mountain passes – more of them than cars, that’s for sure. We also saw a lot of beautiful scenery again as we had blue sky and bright sunshine most of the day. I did a lot of “drive by shootings” rather than make Kory stop the car to take a picture and even in a moving vehicle I got some incredible shots. And I’m just kicking myself that I recently discovered the “foliage” setting on my camera that makes the fall colors really pop out. Had I known about that while on the Lofoten Islands my photos would have been more like what we saw – rather than a bit washed out. Oh well, live and learn.

Kaleb kept us entertained most of the day reading us “interesting facts” from one of his science books. He likes to take a fact, blank out some detail in it and then form a question so that we have to fill in the missing piece. For some reason, this is great fun to him. Kory and I usually pick extreme opposite possible answers to these weird questions just to let him do the math and figure out who wins. He also likes to just read us interesting facts and I got almost as good as him in saying “WOW!” without even tuning in to what he was saying. Oh the joys of a road trip. He won the competition we set up as to what moment we would cross the Arctic Circle too – he got within one minute of the time and won a cookie for a prize (he was negotiating for something more substantial but I wouldn’t cave.) Last week we crossed the Arctic Circle while heading north on a ferry boat – today we did it going south by car (see photos – the small marker over Kaleb’s head is the “line” in the ocean). Kory and Kaleb both had to pee while we were pulled over to take photos of the Arctic markers. They each picked one side of the line to pee on. I think they were looking for which way it would flow. It’s not like it is the Continental Divide or anything, but Kaleb is always looking for experiments to perform. He then had immediate regrets he didn’t “save it” to try and melt some of the frozen puddles he discovered in the parking lot. He was quickly pacified with “skipping stones” on a frozen pond, however.

We arrived in this cute little town of Mo I Rana right at dinnertime, but we delayed eating so Kaleb could go swimming (we accidentally discovered they had a pool as we were driving around looking for a hotel.) It was super nice but not as decadent as swimming in a cave but it sure helped him to burn off some energy after sitting in the car all day. This town reminds me of a New England coastal town – nicely kept wooden salt box style houses with picket fences and little lamps burning in all the window sills. It has a wonderful downtown area, too. There is a lot of new construction here so I’m not sure what the big income source is but they tout themselves as being the jumping off point for the Arctic Circle. Considering half the hotels in town are shut down right now, they must do a lot of tourism at one time of the year or another. We passed dozens of ski lifts and camping grounds today so I’m sure there is a lot happening around here in winter and summer. I guess we are in the “shoulder” season. I like that feeling of not being around in the heat of things, and it especially works well for me now being in Norway with all that’s brewing in the U.S. God’s timing is perfect.

The Road to Narvik

We managed to buy a few treasures today before we left Harstad, some “antiques” (probably not older than Kory however), as reminders of the trip. The prices are so high if we were to buy anything in a regular store it almost takes the joy out of owning it, so we go for bargain prices at second hand stores and then like it all the better. Besides, they don’t make things like they used to. I’m trying not to think much about money on this trip as it would certainly pull the plug on all the fun we are having, but tonight Kory wanted to stay in a bed and breakfast rather than a nice hotel. It only saved us about $50 but somehow that made him happy. Kaleb on the other hand, was devastated as there is no bathroom in the room – we have to walk down a hall to use the toilet. He cried and pitched a fit about it and even offered to pay the difference on the room rate himself, but Kory wouldn’t budge. I’m not sure the logic in it all, but Kory thinks he’s teaching Kaleb a thing or two about being flexible and being responsible with financial choices. I think Kory has reached the “life shouldn’t be this good” limit and now wants to feel a little less decadent… I’m not sure. I’m steering clear of them both by typing this in the sitting room of the B&B waiting for them to go to sleep. Life is good no matter how you slice it if you ask me.

We had a lot of grey clouds today but not much rain so the drive from Harstad to Narvik was a piece of cake (easy for me to say, as Kory did all the driving.) The scenery changed significantly as we were up IN the mountains, not down below looking up AT them. We saw a lot of rainbows today – even at high noon! It was only about a two hour drive, so we decided to take a side road and go check out Sweden. The width of Norway this far north is surprisingly narrow, so we wanted to add a little novelty to the day and let Kaleb cross the border into another country. At first he wasn’t that thrilled about the idea, but once we got there, he thought it was cool – literally. We were in a high mountain pass, close to the snow line, in a topography unlike anything we have encountered before (see photo on left). There was bare rock everywhere with little shrubs at best, growing in the cracks. On the Sweden side of the border is a big ski resort so there were many unoccupied cabins up in the mountains. I guess the snow up there lasts until mid-summer so we hit it at its deadest time but were thankful a little store was open so we had some destination point. In all of Norway, no matter what store you go into, you find the exact same products. There aren’t too many variations on the Norsk palate theme, so it was a huge thrill for Kaleb when all the products were different. He’s tried every kind of ice cream cone Norway has to offer, but he was faced with a freezer full of choices he’s never encountered and that threw him for a loop and made the day quite exciting for him. As we left the store and headed back to Norway, we got a lick by lick account of just exactly what that ice cream tasted like as it had flavors Kaleb wasn’t familiar with and he was trying to tell us what it was “kind of like.” The fact we could carry on a conversation for twenty minutes about the flavors in an ice cream cone is some indication of the kind of day we had – not much else going on. I think the highlight of the day for all of us was seeing reindeer in the wild on the road to Sweden (look for the white speck in the center of the other photo and if you double click on it, you’ll see it better.) There was an entire herd of them just off the road – huge antlers and all. It was just like watching a National Geographic special on Arctic wildlife. Very cool indeed to see them up close and personal.

Once we got to Narvik, our destination for the day, we walked around this somewhat dreary town. In some ways it reminds me of Astoria, Oregon because it’s old, on a hill, has water at the bottom, has a lot of potentially cool old buildings but not well maintained and it looks like it might have seen its better days. The next city with a hotel is a five hour drive so we had to stay put for the night here and make the best of it. Luckily, they have a bowling alley so we went bowling, which made Kaleb happy even though he lost. Afterwards we took him to a climbing wall place and let him climb the walls and ceiling until he was good and tired. He had great fun there as he had the place all to himself and it was only ten bucks for as long as he wanted to stay. What a blessing that was. We were just thankful we found some places open, as many places we’ve encountered this trip are either closed for the winter or they close at three o’clock and we arrive five minutes after that. Today we found a nice restaurant for dinner but they stopped serving food at 5:30pm. What’s up with that? Even the store in Sweden closed at two in the afternoon – and most places don’t open until eleven in the morning. I know the days get shorter here in the winter, but I find it odd that opening hours would also be that short. What else is there to do? We’ve yet to figure that one out.

Way Up North

Kory was complaining about the stop and go traffic this morning, yet there wasn’t another car in sight. Every time we rounded a corner I’d yell “STOP!” as the picture in front of us was begging to be forever captured on film. Stunning. (Actually, I’ve been doing that for days, but today he finally decided to complain a little.) The storm brought snow to the highest peaks, yet the fall colors in the lower elevations remained. Bodies of water interweave with vast landscapes at the base of all the mountains with just the perfect building or two added for effect (see photo). It’s an absolute dreamland and I hesitate to even add photos because they are so lame at representing the majesty of it all. Kaleb has kept his nose down and head in a book throughout this trip and we are constantly pointing out things of beauty and asking him to look up at them so he’ll have memories of this place. I saw him in the car window reflection today and he didn’t even turn his eyes from the page he was reading, yet he yelled out, “Wow!” without even knowing what he was commenting on. Anything to pacify the parents, I guess. Smart boy, however, frustrating. One mountain must look like all the others to him.

We left our cushy hotel this morning after several cups of coffee and a relaxed breakfast and drove even further north – as far north as we will be on this trip – to Harstad. Tomorrow we start the journey south. Rain came and went today but the scenery was still beautiful in every way as the waters were so calm I took many photos of mirror images. The clouds just added dimension and the rain made us glad we were warm and dry in the car.

We officially left the Lofoten Islands today and we’re back on the mainland of Norway. On the first ferry we parked next to a fish truck (big business up here). It smelled nearly as bad as Kory smelled after he ate some dried fish last night for a snack. I almost made him sleep in the lobby. They hang all the fish to dry on outdoor racks here in the winter and then they eat the darn stuff. I can’t imagine being that hungry. And based on all the racks I’ve seen and how many fish they each must hold, I find it hard to believe there are still any fish left in the sea.

Kaleb made it well known today that he’s come to realize this trip is more for me than him, as there hasn’t been a thing we’ve done that would qualify as a “vacation” to him. He’s been such a trooper in the car, no complaints, just reading the same books over and over. I told him when we get to Harstad we’ll find something special to do just for him. Little did I know that Harstad has the best swimming facility in all of Scandinavia! How lucky was that? We even found out about it by chance at a second hand store we stopped at – the guy there told us about it (thank you, Jesus!). Then when we went to check into the hotel, I asked for directions to the pool, and I found out there was a package deal for the hotel and pool so that we got 30 kroners knocked off the hotel price (about $6) and free entry to the pool (which would have cost about $60), so that was an unexpected thrill. Then as we left the hotel to walk in the direction of the pool I was looking around this quaint little town and wondering just where oh where could that little pool be, since all the buildings were old wooden things with a lot of charm and I couldn’t imagine a pool in any of them. And then we saw the entry doors, went through them, and walked down, down, down into a deep tunnel, only to discover the pool hall was completely carved out of the base of a rock that made up the hillside here in town. It was the coolest thing, as they sprayed the entire cavity they made with some kind of white stucco so it seemed we were entering into an ice cave (and I’m sure in the wintertime this town is rather icy being so far north.) The pool facility has every feature imaginable, from the river current pool, hot tubs, wet and dry saunas, spraying water features, wave tank, water slide, kiddy wading area, and a separate huge Olympic size lap pool with all the high dives. It was quite the sight (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb raising their hands in praise to God.) We stayed for two and a half hours and Kaleb was so exhausted when we left he nearly fell asleep on the walk back to the hotel. He needed some exercise, and it sure got me off the hook for entertaining him. I told him not many kids have gone swimming in a cave north of the Arctic Circle before. But then again, probably not many adults have either.

Drivin' Around

Our goal today was to get to the next city north, but we took the long way there so instead of the normal forty minute trip, it took us seven hours. That’s what I call dawdling. We took every dirt road we could find and stopped at every view point. We walked the beach and picked up rocks, we climbed around an old fortress used in World War II and we sank ankle deep in moss that’s surely older than Kory (although he claims he’s never allowed to sit still long enough to have moss grow anywhere on him.) The boulders have been tumbling down these hills for thousands of years and there the huge rocks sit, waiting for something to be brave enough to grow on them. The moss is so thick you’d never even know there was a rock under it all, and it’s an awesome sight to come across a hillside with a blanket of green literally sprayed across the boulders. And now with the fall colors, the scenes were just downright “eye candy.” (see photo) We even managed to find some blueberries just waiting to be eaten.

We drove around the middle of the Lofoten Islands today – between Stamsund and Svolvær. We discovered the middle of one of the islands to have a lot of fresh water lakes and beautiful farmland (see other photo with Kaleb running) that once was a huge Viking village (discovered to be so in 1982 when a farmer was ploughing his field and came across some artifacts.) They rebuilt a Viking longhouse near one of the original sights and there is a lot of Viking pride in this neck of the woods. We ate another tail-gate picnic lunch in a deserted whaling village. Sheep were everywhere up in the hills. (I saw a weasel this morning and a few sea eagles, a harbor seal, and some blue herons, but other than crows and seagulls, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of wild life around here.)

The big difference between the towns today and yesterday is that there were actually a few people in them. It wasn’t so desolate and some of the roads even had two lanes! There are a lot of art studios so I’m sure they have their share of artists as the nature here would inspire anyone to want to replicate it in some form or another. Kory and I spent a good deal of time talking about WHY people would still be living here. Yes, it’s beautiful beyond words, but it’s a three hour ferry ride to the mainland, it’s north of the Arctic Circle and far removed from the rest of the world and there is absolutely nothing going on anywhere. Life is at its most basic element. I’m sure it’s totally different in the summer months, but there are still ten months out of the year it’s NOT summer here. There must be a lot of loners that live here or something. We even saw a little tiny island in the middle of a good sized lake and someone had built a cabin on it. An island on an island… how isolated should one be? It was Sunday today and we saw lots of churches, but not a single one that was open or had a service. What do people do with their lives here? It’s gotta be a tough existence, but then Norwegians aren’t exactly known for taking things easy.

We managed to keep ahead of the rain today, as we saw it coming from the south and it didn’t hit until we were checked into our hotel for the night. Let it come, it’s dark outside now! I’m sitting in a hotel lobby and the windows are moving, as the wind is gusting outside. I think these islands should take a lesson or two from the Northeastern states and promote the fall foliage. It really is fantastic and yet there’s not a tourist in sight. We were the only ones at the hotel in Stamsund for two nights and tonight we are in a much larger city and there are only three cars in the parking lot. I guess there is no guarantee that the weather would cooperate for a fall foliage tour, but I’m sure many have come in the summer here and not seen the sun for days. We feel so blessed to have the weather cooperate which only adds to the great memories of this trip. I feel a bit guilty about how good we have it and I worry we might be “heaping lusts upon ourselves.” As Kory has been known to say from time to time, “Life shouldn’t be this good.” Oh wait, that answers my question as to why people live here!

Mickey's World Heritage Site

About thirty years ago I bought a poster of Norway and hung it over my bed and only dreamed of going there one day. The poster was of the town called Reine on the Lofoten Islands (see photo on left). Today, I got to enter the picture. But thirty years has added a lot more buildings to this quaint little fishing town on the southernmost tip of these incredible islands, so I included a photo of another town we passed along the way that hasn’t had quite so much construction – just for the feel of the area up close and personal. Fish drying racks fill every empty space here, as they dry fish the old fashioned way. In fact, most everything is done the old fashioned way – it’s part of the charm of the Lofoten Islands.

We drove around for eight hours today – all on a one lane road. Kory left the map I bought of this area on the ferry, so he stopped in to buy a new one and the man at the store asked him why he needed a map, as “there is only one road here.” We headed south to the end of the road, then turned around and drove back north to our hotel at Stamsund. It was nice to have the map as there were some off shoot little roads that lead to incredible places with amazing views. Oh wait, the whole area is like that. I guess that’s why I took over three hundred photos today. I don’t know what I will do with them all but I imagine someday I’ll want to relive this day. (I’m so thankful we have entered the digital age as I would have been in agony trying to not use up all my film. Everywhere is just stunning.) The things we saw were just like another world. Some of the landscape was like a George Lucas film – where the landscape is so wildly intense it can’t possibly be real – but it was. And God blessed us with no rain and some sunshine and the most amazing fall colors everywhere we looked – the hills were crawling in oranges, reds and yellows, all nicely contrasted against the grey rocks. Just mind boggling. (If you double click on the photos they will enlarge.) These islands are way north of the Arctic Circle and yet there is no snow because the Gulf Stream keeps the ocean warm so none of the ports freeze in the winter, but snow will come to the mountains. I’m just glad it didn’t come before today.

I’m not sure I would enjoy these islands as much in the summertime though when they swell in population – not only because of the one lane roads, but claustrophobia would surely set in as there are hardly any places to park a car and there are nothing but dead ends everywhere because of the steep mountains backing everything up. The bulk of the buildings here are “fishing cabins” that have been turned into tourist accommodations – but mostly they are just new cabins built for the tourists right at the edge of the sea like the fishermen used to use. Although tourism is huge in the summertime, fishing is still the main industry for the locals so there was an abundance of fishing charm in every village we passed (no commercial fishing boats in sight – it was all wooden bottomed little one-man boats). We rarely saw a car and we only saw a handful of people all day. The entire southern end of this chain of islands was completely deserted. I’m not sure if the locals left for fall vacation too, or if they are some kind of snow bird that leaves as soon as the summer is over, but it was a most desolate place and it only added to its charm. We couldn’t find a restaurant open so we had a tailgate picnic overlooking the harbor at Reine and enjoyed the view in the photo. A little chilly, but we had coats, hats, gloves and a million dollar view. No tip required.

We stopped a few times to get up close and personal with the terrain and to let Kaleb explore things a little. We saw how weathered the rocks are and how many plants find a way to survive in the cracks. We also walked along one of the many white sandy beaches around – which was such a shock to discover. We weren’t able to buy any souvenirs today because everything was closed, but nature provided. I got some rocks (no surprise there), sea urchin shells and white sand to take home. It was one of those days where I’ll think back upon in later years and wonder if it really happened.

Above the Arctic Circle

There was a contest on board the ferry to guess the exact moment the ship crossed The Arctic Circle. Kory kept teasing Kaleb and telling him to look for “the line in the water.” They informed us it would be between 6:30am and 8:00am so we all picked our times within that range. We were up at six o’clock so we wouldn’t miss the big moment. At exactly 7:37:40 we crossed it. Kaleb’s guess was 7:34:27, so he came in second place and was the winner of a Hurtigruten coffee mug. He couldn’t have been more proud. It was a much better way to start the day than yesterday’s series of events.

We woke to a spectacular sunrise this morning, bright red sky and dramatic mountainous peaks silhouetting it all (see photo). Overnight we left behind the rounded mountain tops that were all apparently covered in glaciers at one time, and moved into the zone where the peaks did not get touched by glacial action so they were as jagged and steep as could be (see other photo of Kory and Kaleb enjoying the view). Think Swiss Alps – only flooded, so a boat can move around between the peaks. It was more awesome than words could describe or pictures could ever depict as it was another three hundred and sixty degree view day. I spent the whole day running from one side of the boat to the next taking at least 300 pictures. Uff da.

After much prayer and a therapeutic Jacuzzi last night on the top deck of the ferry, my knee made some major improvements today, for which I am quite thankful. It was good that we had rain yesterday so I wasn’t tempted to walk around too much and it had a chance to heal. It was quite swollen and a little discolored, but today the pain has reduced significantly and I’m not limping nearly as much (stairs are still a challenge however.) Nothing worse than feeling like an extra piece of baggage just along for the ride.

Just as we passed the Arctic Circle this morning, we also passed the Molvika farm. It was a big thrill for me to be in “the neighborhood,” as I wrote a book about that area and I could finally visualize all the places our friend, Halton, had told me about as I was writing his memoires. Very cool. We plan to visit the farm itself on the drive south.

We got off the boat for a few hours in Bodø – got some lunch and looked for an internet signal so I could post my blog. I also was on the lookout for a clock tower that I remembered quite well from the last time I was there in 1983. I have some vivid memories of my time in Bodø and it was quite satisfying to find some familiar landmarks. The town has changed a lot in 25 years though….

On the last leg of our journey today – crossing from the mainland out to the Lofoten Islands, the boat was packed. I didn’t fully appreciate how few people were on board the last two days, but once we hit the Friday night rush traffic (and the Friday night before a holiday week), the boat was standing room only. There was also a little “convention” on board of about 300 knitting women. There is a chain of stores in Norway called “Husfliden” (house made – aka, made by hand), and they sell very fine hand made products. Well, I was wondering what the people must do that live in these incredibly remote areas and now I know, they knit. The store had a meeting with all their “suppliers” from up here to show them the latest in fashion, so the entire seating area up front was taken up by these very chatty, busy ladies, knitting as they sat there. It was quite the sight. And they just rode the ferry over for the three hour crossing, got off and waited an hour for the southbound boat to take them back. I’m sure there are very few places this far north of the Arctic Circle that could have held all these women, so it was a very clever idea to have the meeting on board a ship.

We arrived safely in Stamsund, a small little town teetering on the water’s edge. There isn’t much “buildable space” here because of the incredibly steep mountainous rock surrounding it. It’s the opposite of where we live on sinking sand, as the houses here are all built on solid rock! There is one small hotel here, and no restaurants open on a Friday night – go figure. Fortunately we arrived ten minutes before the only grocery store closed so we were able to get some food and have a picnic in our room. We’re looking forward to the adventures that await us tomorrow and we feel blessed beyond measure. What a ride.

"Fin Tur" (Fine Tour)

I slept well last night as I love the rocking motion on boats. I woke up before we arrived in Trondheim at 6am and felt the boat go through all the motions of docking. Kory and I headed out for coffee at 7am when the dining hall opened. Kaleb was sound asleep in the room. I left him a note on the toilet seat that he should join us for breakfast, but I still kept coming back to the room every 20 minutes to check on him. At 8am I went back to the room again only to discover him sitting on the bed, crying. He saw out the window that we had docked and he was sure we had gotten off the boat as planned and left him behind. Where in the world he comes up with these “desertion” scenarios I’ll never know, but he was quite upset with me one more time. I showed him the note and he said, “Oh.” He didn’t need to use the bathroom, so he never saw it. He’d been sitting alone in the room crying for nearly 20 minutes. Okay, so I won’t ever get “Mother of the Year,” but I kind of already knew that - even before this happened.

We had a nice breakfast – a buffet – Kaleb’s favorite, and we stuffed ourselves but good. The boat wasn’t leaving Trondheim until noon so we had several hours available to go explore the city. As we were getting ready to leave, I turned too quickly in the room and slammed my kneecap against the door jam in the bathroom. I thought I may never walk again. It certainly ruined all plans to go “explore” as I was horizontal for quite some time, and even when I could stand up, I was in much pain (and still am.) Kaleb was a bit relieved (and probably felt there was some cosmic payback in it all, as well), because he didn’t want to go out exploring in the rain. It was a bit rainy and windy, but nothing serious and Kory and I were set to face the challenge – but not Kaleb. So we stayed on board the whole time and played Yahtzee and I beat them both on a six round game. That’ll show ‘em.

The rain washed away the “T” in “great” – so it was a very “grea” day today (get it?). I thought of that myself… that’s what happens when I spend all day on a boat – and look out at gray skies. The rain did stop after lunch though, so it was smooth sailing into the night. Kaleb read and played games on the computer when he got bored of the scenery. At one point he said, “You made me miss two days of school for THIS?” He really was upset about not going to school, and watching an endless stream of crumpled up rocks sticking out of the water wasn’t his idea of a good time. (I tried not to have him miss school but we could only get tickets if we left on the 1st – all the other dates were sold out as next week is the fall break from school in all of Norway.) I’ve been trying to think of what this coast line reminds me of and all I could come with is what the dining room table looked like after Kaleb got done playing with Play-Doh in his early years. There would always be some formed rounded things, a few almost flat pieces and lots of scattered bits everywhere – and that about sums it up here as well. There is no rhyme or reason for the shaping of things, it’s just all huge chunks of rock with no trees, all clumped together, mostly smooth topped from the glacial action, in a mish-mash of shapes and divots and erosion. It’s incredible, really (see photo and look closely for the farms on the green field below the behemoth mountain.) Kory thinks it looks like cold oatmeal that’s been dished out of a pan, or the many folds on the body of those Chinese dogs with all the wrinkles. My only complaint is that it goes by too fast, which Kaleb discovered when he had to go to the bathroom and he missed the only thing he was looking forward to all day – the boat going under a bridge.

The scenery today was amazing so I knew not to take a break to go pee because I didn’t want to miss a thing (I took 229 photos today!). Every once in a while some nook or cranny along this coastline has some cool building on it, whether it’s a cabin, boat house, farm or lighthouse – there was never a lack of things to photograph. And once the rain stopped, the fall colors just popped out. There are over 30,000 named islands along the coast of Norway, and over 100,000 smaller “rocks” that stick up out of the water – and even some of those have cabins or houses on them. How and why people live in such remote, primitive places, I have no idea. Maybe because they can. Norwegians are notorious for doing the impossible. There is a big poster on board the ferry showing the plans in place to build a tunnel along the coast – just for these huge ferry boats (think cruise ship). The world’s first boat tunnel – right through a mountain. Apparently they say, going around the mountain is too dangerous (although they have done it for decades and no boat has ever gone down), but I think they are doing it just because no one has ever done it before and they want the bragging rights. It’s so Norsk – find out something that seems impossible or has yet to be achieved, and go for it. (I guess that’s how Kory ended up with me.)

Sailing Into the Sunset

I am posting this blog from the ferry boat Hurtigruten. It's more like a cruise ship than a ferry, but then, Norwegians have a lot of class, so it's not surprising. We will be on it for the next two days traveling north, above the Arctic Circle. (Our cabin is larger than ones we've had on Royal Caribbean.) Friday nigth we arrive at the Lofoten Islands where we will hang out for three or four days, then we'll drive south along the coast and get home by next weekend. Our town, Ålesund, is the most beautiful city Norway, but the Lofoten Islands are suposed to be spectacular - the most beautiful area, by all accounts, and even Norwegians are impressed by them. I just pray we don't have rain the whole time. We couldn't have had a more beautiful day today to set "sail" though - it was warm and sunny all day and I've already taken over a hundred pictures. It's not like there is just one thing to look at, we are surrounded on all side by glorious sights as there are outer islands on the ocean side and the steep snow covered mountains along the coast ( see photo.) Kory said it's like that cineama that used to be at Disneyland where you stand in the center of a circular room and there is something to look at all around. It almost seems that fake as it feels so much like being in a storybook land.

At school this moring we got our tests back first thing and our teacher went over each section with us. They don't grade things here, which is so hard for my competitive self to get used to, but the teacher did note the highest points attained in each segment so we could all compare how we did to the top score in the class. I got the highest score in "vocabulary" but it was just by sheer chance. The test just said, "fill in many words here" and the sentences started with "In the living room you will find..." or "In the kitchen you will see..." and then we had to write down whatever words we knew that could fit the description. Well, my pal Vestina outscored me on every single segment of the test, EXCEPT vocabulary because we were never told you get one point for each word, so I smoked her. She was kicking herself all morning as she knew far more words than I did but I wrote smaller than her so I fit more words on the lines (and I've never been short on words, you know.) Overall, I got 125 out of 140 possible points on the test, which is a high B+ (I can't help myself, I have to put a grade letter on it.) One more point and it would have been an A-, so I didn't do too badly but I made some stupid mistakes. Oh well. I always seem to learn the most from my mistakes - and not just in Norwegian class.

Right after the test review we had a party (Høstfest) - a fall festival. Everyone brought food they made and we combined with another class to eat a little and play some games. Everyone was so excited to have others taste their special dish from their home country. (I liked the oatmeal cookies from the other American in the class the best as I'm not much of an "adventurer in eating" kind of gal.) I made a salmon spread for crackers and I must say, it got gobbled up rather quickly and everyone was asking for the recipe. No one had ever heard of some of the ingredients, so I had to explain which store to go to and exactly where in the store they woudl find things like horseradish and liquid smoke (I was shocked myself when I found them here!) It was fun to share good food. One woman, who speaks very little English and NO Norwegian as of yet, came over to me with her eyes wide open and mouth full of the stuff I made and just said, "Boom-ba!" Whatever that means in her language, I have no idea, but I think she really liked it. We were having some good laughs and then the Russian women got out the vodka, and things got a bit out of control at their end of the table. Our teacher about had heart failure over that one as there is a strict rule about no drinking at school, but she turned her head the other way and just let them have fun (I could tell she was more than a little nervous though.) Apparently in Russia, if there is a party, or if there is food, there is Vodka - even if it is ten o'clock in the morning.

I made a huge error in planning today, as I was so busy packing and worrying about other details that I messed up with Kaleb. I though he got out of school at two o'clock today so we told him we'd pick him up right after school and then drive straight to the ferry which was leaving at three. Well, his school got out at one o'clock (the dismissal times are always different) and he didn't have his bike with him because we were going to pick him up, so he had to walk over a mile home with a heavy backpack all the while wondering where in the heck we were. I felt so terrible, as just as we were leaving to go get him, he walks in, tears in his eyes, thinking that we had forgotten him. He was more than a little ticked. It was one of those gut wrenching mother moments that I hate, as he waited so long at school just standing there wondering what to do, then finally headed home... uff da. It was no way to start a vacation but I'm hoping the memory of it might fade quickly. (I only use the word "vacation" here becuase I don't really know what word to use to describe a trip taken when one is on a year long "holiday" from their already retired lives...).