Photos from the North - part 2

The in-laws live very close to the mountains.


This photo is taken from the in-laws garden. You see that smoke? That's the dust made by huge boulders, that have just come tumbling down the mountain side. When it's snow, I know it's called an "avalanche" in English. But what's the word when it's rocks? In Norwegian: "ras". Anyway, it was awesome! It sounded like distant thunder. I wasn't scared, because I could see that the rocks wouldn't land near us. And also because my father-in-law merely glanced up at the mountain and said "that's just a small one". Then he went back to working in the garden. I was a bit more excited, and took like 20 photos, hee hee:-)

This photo is taken at around 1 AM. In July, the sun doesn't set. Still the sunshine or light during the night is different from daylight. It's softer, not so bright. I really like it. The first time I experienced the midnight sun, I was 13. My father and I travelled around Finnmark (the northernmost county in Norway), visiting relatives. I remember waking up at 3 AM one night, because of laughter and noise outside my bedroom window. When I peaked out I saw a local family, parents and three small kids, on their way to the beach for a picnic! I thought it was wonderful, it seemed very holiday-ish and fun.

Hang on

One day, as I was lazing in the sunshine, huge and oddly Syd-shaped clouds appeared on the horizon. A few minutes later the rain was POURING down. As I hurriedly put sun lotion, crime paperback and sunglasses into my bag, I suddenly remembered something: "Hang on - didn't I have a blog?"

This is the view from our veranda, late in August. The sun has just set.

Resignation

I love you
because the earth turns round the sun
because the North wind blows north
sometimes
because the Pope is Catholic
and most Rabbis Jewish
because winters flow into springs
and the air clears after a storm
because only my love for you
despite the charms of gravity
keeps me from falling off this Earth
into another dimension
I love you
because it is the natural order of things

I love you
like the habit I picked up in college
of sleeping through lectures
or saying I'm sorry
when I get stopped for speeding
because I drink a glass of water
in the morning
and chain-smoke cigarettes
all through the day
because I take my coffee Black
and my milk with chocolate
because you keep my feet warm
though my life a mess
I love you
because I don't want it
any other way.

I am helpless
in my love for you
It makes me so happy
to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
locking me in an echo chamber
where your voice reverberates
through the four walls
sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
because it's been so good
for so long
that if I didn't love you
I'd have to be born again
and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you

The Dells tell me Love
is so simple
the thought though of you
sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
because no two snowflakes are alike
and it is possible
if you stand tippy-toe
to walk between the raindrops
I love you
because I am afraid of the dark
and can't sleep in the light
because I rub my eyes
when I wake up in the morning
and find you there
because you with all your magic powers were
determined that
I should love you
because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you

I love you
because you made me
want to love you
more than I love my privacy
my freedom my commitments
and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
to love you
because you saw me one friday
afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you

-- Nikki Giovanni

This poem is so deliciously over the top! Depending on my mood, I think it's either really annoying or really wonderful.

North of Norway -the ferry trips

Yes, it's raining in Trondheim again... 14 degrees and rain. It's nice, actually. It was getting a bit dry and dusty. Syd asked in a comment earlier what's considered to be warm in my part of the world. That depends on the time of year, of course. But for summer, june - august: everything warmer than 16 C is lovely. The last few weeks we have had many days with temperatures between 20 - 25 C, and that is wonderful! While this type of weather is shitty.

So, to the photos: From Trondheim we flew to Tromsø, and then we had to take a bus and two ferries to get to the place where my girlfriend's parents live. The weather was changing all the time while we travelled: sometimes rain, sometimes sunny. Here are some photos from the ferry trips. As you can see it sometimes looks like the mountains are holding up the sky! Or it looks like the clouds are eating the mountains:-) The mountains are different further north, they are sharper, more ragged maybe? The mountains we saw between Trondheim and Oslo are more rounded.



The camera isn't straight - just like me:-)




The clouds are swallowing the mountains




Not very crowded around here




The second ferry trip





Almost there. After the ferry it was just 20 minutes by car to our destination. I'll probably post some more photos one of these days... ;-)

Warm in Norway

I've been meaning to update for a long time now, but the thing is: the weather has been way too warm and nice to sit inside in front of a computer. It's wonderful today too! Since this happens so rarely in Trondheim, everyone who isn't working spend as much time outside as possible, and those who ARE working go outside during lunchbreak and work short days (if they can). I'm on my way out, I'm going to take a walk in the sunshine. When the next cold or rainy day comes along (it should happen soon), I will make a proper photo blog post about our trip to the north of Norway. In the meantime, here's a sneak peak from a ferry trip: