Returned home from Crete yesterday, to trees fiery with gold, yellow, and red; and a black velvet night sky, studded with stars. Not too cold either: temps are 50's.
Topsy was all excited to see us again. A happy surprise was that Puseline, who has been gone since May 1 has come back, lonely and skrawny, but bossy as ever. She and Fluffy seem to tolerate each other, occasionally hissing at each other, but otherwise ignoring each other. Fluffy was Irene's cat whom we adopted when she and her boyfriend split up. I'm sure Puseline was not pleased to see that we had taken in a strange cat, and Fluffy must have wondered at this impudent stranger just walking in and making herself at home.
My wallet got stolen at the airport. All the years travelling in Italy, Egypt, Greece, London, Paris I've escaped thieves only to have it happen in what is practically my home town! It is outrageous! I had purchased train tickets and then bought some juice and a couple of bananas, paying each time with my VISA card since I didn't have Norwegian currency. We sat for halv an hour, then 10 minutes before our train was due we went down to the track. "Do you have the tickets?" asked Tor. "They're in my wallet" I replied. That's when I noticed that the zipper to my bag was open and the wallet gone. I retraced my steps, hoping it had just fallen out and was still lying there. No such luck. Called the lost-and-found, introduced myself, and asked if anyone had turned in a wallet in the past half hour. "No," the girl said, "No wallet. What was your name again? Someone turned in two credit cards with your name!" It was my bank debit card and Master Card. The VISA card and wallet with my drivers licence and various insurance cards remained missing. What cinched it for me was that when I asked where the cards had been found it turned out to have been on an escalator in a part of the Arrivals Hall where I hadn't even been. My theory is that someone watched me use the card, made note of my PIN and then opened my bag and took the wallet out while I had my hands full of groceries.
Obviously we stopped all the cards as soon as we discovered that the wallet was gone. So now I have no credit cards and no access to my bank account, and the bank will be closed until monday. Ordered new insurance cards on the internet today, and went to the police station to get an interim drivers licence until I can order a new one from the dept of motor vehicles. Luckily I still had picture ID. My passport was in Husband's pocket, not in my wallet.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Crete - September 19 to 26th
Friday
Left at 4 o'clock this morning to go to the airport. Husband is sick with fever, chest congestion, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea. Great start to our vacation! Actually we were going to get up at 3:15 but overslept. Luckily we woke up when Irene came in. She took us to the airport and is borrowing the car. We made good time. The roads are deserted so early in the morning. Plenty of bustle at the airport, though. Seems that 5am is when things start taking off there (ha ha, no pun intended)
Wonderful arriving in Crete with 80 degrees and sun! The hills around the airport all dry and brown, dotted with the occasional tree. After retrieving our bags we sat on the buss for 45 minutes to Georgioupolis, once a sleepy little fishing village, now a pleasant tourist village. Our hotel is 50 yrds from the beach, and our room is on the 3rd floor overlooking the village and mountains behind.
Spent the afternoon exploring. Found Anna's market where I used to shop when I visited here 10 years ago. Now she sells olive oil and honey from her own farm and local sheeps cheese. We stocked up on basics for breakfast and lunch, like yogurt, honey, fruit (peaches, grapes and oranges seem to be in season and are incredibly sweet and juicy!). We also found a bakery that carries our favorite greek pastries: galactoburetico and baklava.
We walked along the beach and the harbor, looked into different shops selling gold and silver, leather, herbs, and clothes.
Had the best dinner of the whole week this first night: tuna salad with a tropical sauce, and a plate of broiled octopus pieces. A bunch of sweet golden grapes for desert.
Saturday
Varying weather today: partly cloudy, showers, gusts of wind that toppled the parasols by the pool right over the wall, and knocked down the stands outside of shops. This morning we walked the entire lenght of the beach, about 6 miles and back. Took us 2 hrs and 20 minutes. Finished off with a swim in the ocean which is nice and warm, about 80 degrees. Had to cross a couple of streams where they empty into the sea. The water was much colder there. Spent much of the day napping. Husband still has fever and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold now too.
It was raining when we went to have dinner so we ate at the hotel restaurant's buffet. Inexpensive, food ok.
Sunday
It was sunny this morning. We walked up to Kournas Lake, a 2 1/2 mile walk along the road. As soon as we crossed the highway the surroundings became quite rural. We passed olive groves and vineyards, saw chickens, sheep and goats in farmyards. The lake itself is surrounded by tavernas on the one side, and paddleboats to rent. On the other the wild hills rise straight up towards the mountains with brush and grazing sheep. We walked along the edge, as far as you can get (the guide books say that you can walk around the lake, which is blatently untrue. Possibly you could wade around but the bottom is very muddy. Not at all pleasant. Still we saw some of the turtles that live in the lake. Husband had a swim. He is almost well now, whereas I have a horrible cold with couph and runny nose, so am staying out of the water. Had our lunch of bread and cheese, sharing some with the geese who hang out on the taverna side of the lake hoping for handouts.
It was clouding over as we made ready to leave and the first drops of rain began falling as we walked back down toward the village. When we got back we napped while a veritable downpour was going on outside. Otherwise the afternoon was cloudy. I felt like shit. The bus trip we had signed up for tomorrow got cancelled due to more rain on the forecast. We went to eat at cheaper seafood place but it wasn't as good. The salad was drowned in a sharp mustard sauce that almost disguised the fact that the cucumbers tasted of nothing. The shrimp (boiled then grilled) were served with the shells on. Now what is the point of grilling boiled shrimp in the shell? Tried giving the restaurant cat the heads (every restaurant seems to have a cat, but she deserted us for another guest who had brought whiskas!
Monday
Rented a car, a little citroen. I was still feeling lousy, so we decided to drop visiting beaches and head up into the hills. Unfortunatly we got all the cloudy weather. I had the feeling that it was sunny on the coast. For some reason all the roads seem to run north-south. Even in the lowlands it is virtually impossible to go from east to west without zigzagging north and south, looking for the connecting roads that exist here and there. Even so you end up having to get onto the "New Road", and ugly highway that runs the length of the north coast from east to west, now and then. We had gotten a map with the car. In the hills, the roads are very curvy even where the map shows straight lines. Where the map shows sqiggles you have the most horrendous hairpin turns. We had a bit of a scare once when the brakes locked the wheels in the middle of one of these and we went skidding into the opposite lane. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic just then.
Anyway, we drove around in the hills for a while, through small villages with narrow streets between the houses, and with sheep, goats, donkeys, and vegetable patches in fenced terraces in between them. Ended up in Argiroupolis, where an elderly couple took us into their shop/home and explained how the present day village is superimposed upon the ancient Roman town of Lappa. Walking around the village you can find an ancient roman arch here, a doorway there, a mosaic, an excavation, and a church from the 13th century with some beautifull icons. The elderly couple spoke german, having lived in Germany for a number of years. They served us greek coffee, thick and sweet, with a plate of grapes, and showed us the cards and letters from German and Norwegian tourists that they had gotten over the years. We bought a piece of embroidery and a liter of olive oil from them.
Next we drove to the central mountains of Crete to visit a famous cave near the village of Zonania. The cave is 270 m long, and 150 m are open to the public, where you can see the most fantastic stalagtites and stalagmites that glitter. The cave is also home to several species of bat, though these live in the isolated part of the cave where it is dark.
Tuesday
Sunny this morning. Husband went running on the beach this morning, I sat reading, then watched the sunrise. It was fairly cool so that the water seemed deliciously warm when we took our sunrise swim. You can rent paddleboats or kayaks to take up the river that empties into Georgioupolis harbor. We took the kayaks and paddled up the river. Almost immediatly all sight and sound of civilization died away, and we were surrounded by tall reeds, and the branches of trees hanging low over the water and colored dragonflies flitting about. The stream was very clear and quite deep, but not too fast. We saw an egret or heron, I'm not sure which, and also a kingfisher and several turtles. It was one of the nicest things we did during this week. So peacefull and quiet!
Later in the day it clouded over. We went shopping. I had managed to lose my sunhat and had to but a new one. Husband bought me a silver necklace with a blue opal in it. I bought him a new wallet and a pair of shorts. We also bought presents for the kids and for Husband's niece and nephew.
In the evening we found a family restaurant where the food was delicious and relatively inexpensive, also they take VISA, which is important as we are running out of cash. The cucumbers and tomatoes in the salad were filled with flavor, and we were served a whole broiled octopus. Cool!
For desert we had a traditional cheese filled pancake with honey, something Husband had read about and wanted to try. The atmosphere was nice as well. It is fun to sit and watch the greek way of life. When there are lot's of customers they work hard, but when it is quiet, they don't go around doing make-work, but rather sit and pass the time of day over a beer. The take-out driver would get on his motorbike (no helmet of course) with the bag of food in one hand, and driving with the other. The waitress stood in the middle of the intersection to talk with a friend in a passing car. Cars behind did not get irritated and honk because of the conversation in the middle of the road. They just carefully edged past and around them.
Wednesday
Totally fantastic day, with clear sunny skies all day! We went hiking in Samaria Gorge today. The bus ride over the Lefka Ori Mountains was amazing. That a bus can even negotioate the switchbacks! It can become problematic when meeting an oncoming bus, but somehow they seem to coordinate and get past each other.
The hike is 16 km and can be described in 4 stages:
1. The path zig-zags down through pine, cypress, and cedar forest from 1200 m to the riverbed below. Through the trees the chalk cliffs gleam white.
2. The path follows the river bed, which was mostly dry. There are 2 major rest areas. At the first there is a little church built near the site of a Roman place of worship. The second is at the site of Samaria Village from which the inhabitants were forced to move when the area became a national park. You still see olive and fig trees, plots surrounded by stone walls. A few buildings are not ruined. The medical station is here. The gorge is entirely inaccessible to motor vehicles. We saw workmenn building restbuildings and around about stood several donkeys, some loaded with equipment, some saddled. Donkeys are the only mode of transportation in the gorge other than walking.
3. Entering the gorge itself. The walls are now perpendicular, hundreds of meters high, the path goes in the dry riverbed itself, which is why the gorge is closed during the rainy season. At the narrowest the cliffs are only 3m apart. The water that pours through the gorge in winter can be so violent that one year it swept away a village at it's end.
4. When you come out of the gorge you meet a few tavernas, rebuilt from the washed out village. There are still barns for sheep and goats here, but the people have moved a mile or so down to the coast and built the new village of Agia Roumeli.
In Agia Roumeli we treated ourselves to an ice-cream first, and then to a swim in the Lybian sea. The sand is black and course.
The village is tiny, but has a few hotels and tavernas. We had our dinner while waiting for the boat: tuna salad, and grilled rabbit. Agia Roumeli is landlocked, without any roads. There are boats from April 1 to Oct 31. A dozen or so people stay there over the winter. There is a helipad for emergencies. It would be really interesting to spend the winter there some time! Anyway, at 6pm we took the boat to another coastal town from which the bus took us back over the mountains to the northern shore. About riding the bus on the mountain roads of Crete all I can say is: who needs a roller coaster.
Thursday
Our last day in Crete. It was cloudy this morning. I had an appointment to get my hair cut (only 12 Euro, compared to 30 in Norway) at 9:30. At 9:20 the shop was still closed. At 9:25 a swedish woman came with her little boy and joined me on the front steps. She also had an appointment for 9:30. We talked while we waited. She has been living in Crete for 7 years. Works as a real estate agent. At 9:40 the owner of the store showed up. Still nothing happened until her assistant came at 10am. We talked while she cut my hair. She says the weather this week has been unusual for september, and told me about the time in february 2004 when it snowed for 24 hrs leaving 3' of snow lying on the beach followed by a 3 day power outage. No one could remember snow actually lying on the ground. I told her we had been to Samaria. She said she would never do that, because she has to be on her feet all day. She did once do a long walk though, she told me. She had promised the virgin Mary to walk 24 km up to a church if a friend of hers who had been in a car crash survived. The friend survived, and the lady did the walk. It took her 8 hrs, and she said the next day she wasn't at all tired. So maybe it is a question of motivation.
By the time I was done with my hair the sun was out, so we packed up our snorkling gear and found a sheltered cove by the rocks where we could float in the water watching the fish. We saw several different kinds, as well as sea urchins and snails.
Tired this afternoon. Legs aching from yesterday's hike. I can hardly walk down stairs. Took a hot bath, and a nap which helped tremendously.
Left at 4 o'clock this morning to go to the airport. Husband is sick with fever, chest congestion, sore throat, vomiting and diarrhea. Great start to our vacation! Actually we were going to get up at 3:15 but overslept. Luckily we woke up when Irene came in. She took us to the airport and is borrowing the car. We made good time. The roads are deserted so early in the morning. Plenty of bustle at the airport, though. Seems that 5am is when things start taking off there (ha ha, no pun intended)
Wonderful arriving in Crete with 80 degrees and sun! The hills around the airport all dry and brown, dotted with the occasional tree. After retrieving our bags we sat on the buss for 45 minutes to Georgioupolis, once a sleepy little fishing village, now a pleasant tourist village. Our hotel is 50 yrds from the beach, and our room is on the 3rd floor overlooking the village and mountains behind.
Spent the afternoon exploring. Found Anna's market where I used to shop when I visited here 10 years ago. Now she sells olive oil and honey from her own farm and local sheeps cheese. We stocked up on basics for breakfast and lunch, like yogurt, honey, fruit (peaches, grapes and oranges seem to be in season and are incredibly sweet and juicy!). We also found a bakery that carries our favorite greek pastries: galactoburetico and baklava.
We walked along the beach and the harbor, looked into different shops selling gold and silver, leather, herbs, and clothes.
Had the best dinner of the whole week this first night: tuna salad with a tropical sauce, and a plate of broiled octopus pieces. A bunch of sweet golden grapes for desert.
Saturday
Varying weather today: partly cloudy, showers, gusts of wind that toppled the parasols by the pool right over the wall, and knocked down the stands outside of shops. This morning we walked the entire lenght of the beach, about 6 miles and back. Took us 2 hrs and 20 minutes. Finished off with a swim in the ocean which is nice and warm, about 80 degrees. Had to cross a couple of streams where they empty into the sea. The water was much colder there. Spent much of the day napping. Husband still has fever and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold now too.
It was raining when we went to have dinner so we ate at the hotel restaurant's buffet. Inexpensive, food ok.
Sunday
It was sunny this morning. We walked up to Kournas Lake, a 2 1/2 mile walk along the road. As soon as we crossed the highway the surroundings became quite rural. We passed olive groves and vineyards, saw chickens, sheep and goats in farmyards. The lake itself is surrounded by tavernas on the one side, and paddleboats to rent. On the other the wild hills rise straight up towards the mountains with brush and grazing sheep. We walked along the edge, as far as you can get (the guide books say that you can walk around the lake, which is blatently untrue. Possibly you could wade around but the bottom is very muddy. Not at all pleasant. Still we saw some of the turtles that live in the lake. Husband had a swim. He is almost well now, whereas I have a horrible cold with couph and runny nose, so am staying out of the water. Had our lunch of bread and cheese, sharing some with the geese who hang out on the taverna side of the lake hoping for handouts.
It was clouding over as we made ready to leave and the first drops of rain began falling as we walked back down toward the village. When we got back we napped while a veritable downpour was going on outside. Otherwise the afternoon was cloudy. I felt like shit. The bus trip we had signed up for tomorrow got cancelled due to more rain on the forecast. We went to eat at cheaper seafood place but it wasn't as good. The salad was drowned in a sharp mustard sauce that almost disguised the fact that the cucumbers tasted of nothing. The shrimp (boiled then grilled) were served with the shells on. Now what is the point of grilling boiled shrimp in the shell? Tried giving the restaurant cat the heads (every restaurant seems to have a cat, but she deserted us for another guest who had brought whiskas!
Monday
Rented a car, a little citroen. I was still feeling lousy, so we decided to drop visiting beaches and head up into the hills. Unfortunatly we got all the cloudy weather. I had the feeling that it was sunny on the coast. For some reason all the roads seem to run north-south. Even in the lowlands it is virtually impossible to go from east to west without zigzagging north and south, looking for the connecting roads that exist here and there. Even so you end up having to get onto the "New Road", and ugly highway that runs the length of the north coast from east to west, now and then. We had gotten a map with the car. In the hills, the roads are very curvy even where the map shows straight lines. Where the map shows sqiggles you have the most horrendous hairpin turns. We had a bit of a scare once when the brakes locked the wheels in the middle of one of these and we went skidding into the opposite lane. Luckily there was no oncoming traffic just then.
Anyway, we drove around in the hills for a while, through small villages with narrow streets between the houses, and with sheep, goats, donkeys, and vegetable patches in fenced terraces in between them. Ended up in Argiroupolis, where an elderly couple took us into their shop/home and explained how the present day village is superimposed upon the ancient Roman town of Lappa. Walking around the village you can find an ancient roman arch here, a doorway there, a mosaic, an excavation, and a church from the 13th century with some beautifull icons. The elderly couple spoke german, having lived in Germany for a number of years. They served us greek coffee, thick and sweet, with a plate of grapes, and showed us the cards and letters from German and Norwegian tourists that they had gotten over the years. We bought a piece of embroidery and a liter of olive oil from them.
Next we drove to the central mountains of Crete to visit a famous cave near the village of Zonania. The cave is 270 m long, and 150 m are open to the public, where you can see the most fantastic stalagtites and stalagmites that glitter. The cave is also home to several species of bat, though these live in the isolated part of the cave where it is dark.
Tuesday
Sunny this morning. Husband went running on the beach this morning, I sat reading, then watched the sunrise. It was fairly cool so that the water seemed deliciously warm when we took our sunrise swim. You can rent paddleboats or kayaks to take up the river that empties into Georgioupolis harbor. We took the kayaks and paddled up the river. Almost immediatly all sight and sound of civilization died away, and we were surrounded by tall reeds, and the branches of trees hanging low over the water and colored dragonflies flitting about. The stream was very clear and quite deep, but not too fast. We saw an egret or heron, I'm not sure which, and also a kingfisher and several turtles. It was one of the nicest things we did during this week. So peacefull and quiet!
Later in the day it clouded over. We went shopping. I had managed to lose my sunhat and had to but a new one. Husband bought me a silver necklace with a blue opal in it. I bought him a new wallet and a pair of shorts. We also bought presents for the kids and for Husband's niece and nephew.
In the evening we found a family restaurant where the food was delicious and relatively inexpensive, also they take VISA, which is important as we are running out of cash. The cucumbers and tomatoes in the salad were filled with flavor, and we were served a whole broiled octopus. Cool!
For desert we had a traditional cheese filled pancake with honey, something Husband had read about and wanted to try. The atmosphere was nice as well. It is fun to sit and watch the greek way of life. When there are lot's of customers they work hard, but when it is quiet, they don't go around doing make-work, but rather sit and pass the time of day over a beer. The take-out driver would get on his motorbike (no helmet of course) with the bag of food in one hand, and driving with the other. The waitress stood in the middle of the intersection to talk with a friend in a passing car. Cars behind did not get irritated and honk because of the conversation in the middle of the road. They just carefully edged past and around them.Wednesday
Totally fantastic day, with clear sunny skies all day! We went hiking in Samaria Gorge today. The bus ride over the Lefka Ori Mountains was amazing. That a bus can even negotioate the switchbacks! It can become problematic when meeting an oncoming bus, but somehow they seem to coordinate and get past each other.
The hike is 16 km and can be described in 4 stages:
1. The path zig-zags down through pine, cypress, and cedar forest from 1200 m to the riverbed below. Through the trees the chalk cliffs gleam white.
2. The path follows the river bed, which was mostly dry. There are 2 major rest areas. At the first there is a little church built near the site of a Roman place of worship. The second is at the site of Samaria Village from which the inhabitants were forced to move when the area became a national park. You still see olive and fig trees, plots surrounded by stone walls. A few buildings are not ruined. The medical station is here. The gorge is entirely inaccessible to motor vehicles. We saw workmenn building restbuildings and around about stood several donkeys, some loaded with equipment, some saddled. Donkeys are the only mode of transportation in the gorge other than walking.
3. Entering the gorge itself. The walls are now perpendicular, hundreds of meters high, the path goes in the dry riverbed itself, which is why the gorge is closed during the rainy season. At the narrowest the cliffs are only 3m apart. The water that pours through the gorge in winter can be so violent that one year it swept away a village at it's end.
4. When you come out of the gorge you meet a few tavernas, rebuilt from the washed out village. There are still barns for sheep and goats here, but the people have moved a mile or so down to the coast and built the new village of Agia Roumeli.
In Agia Roumeli we treated ourselves to an ice-cream first, and then to a swim in the Lybian sea. The sand is black and course.
The village is tiny, but has a few hotels and tavernas. We had our dinner while waiting for the boat: tuna salad, and grilled rabbit. Agia Roumeli is landlocked, without any roads. There are boats from April 1 to Oct 31. A dozen or so people stay there over the winter. There is a helipad for emergencies. It would be really interesting to spend the winter there some time! Anyway, at 6pm we took the boat to another coastal town from which the bus took us back over the mountains to the northern shore. About riding the bus on the mountain roads of Crete all I can say is: who needs a roller coaster.Thursday
Our last day in Crete. It was cloudy this morning. I had an appointment to get my hair cut (only 12 Euro, compared to 30 in Norway) at 9:30. At 9:20 the shop was still closed. At 9:25 a swedish woman came with her little boy and joined me on the front steps. She also had an appointment for 9:30. We talked while we waited. She has been living in Crete for 7 years. Works as a real estate agent. At 9:40 the owner of the store showed up. Still nothing happened until her assistant came at 10am. We talked while she cut my hair. She says the weather this week has been unusual for september, and told me about the time in february 2004 when it snowed for 24 hrs leaving 3' of snow lying on the beach followed by a 3 day power outage. No one could remember snow actually lying on the ground. I told her we had been to Samaria. She said she would never do that, because she has to be on her feet all day. She did once do a long walk though, she told me. She had promised the virgin Mary to walk 24 km up to a church if a friend of hers who had been in a car crash survived. The friend survived, and the lady did the walk. It took her 8 hrs, and she said the next day she wasn't at all tired. So maybe it is a question of motivation.
By the time I was done with my hair the sun was out, so we packed up our snorkling gear and found a sheltered cove by the rocks where we could float in the water watching the fish. We saw several different kinds, as well as sea urchins and snails.
Tired this afternoon. Legs aching from yesterday's hike. I can hardly walk down stairs. Took a hot bath, and a nap which helped tremendously.
Monday, September 15, 2008
New Beginnings
In August the weather turned cool and rainy. There was suddenly a feeling of autumn in the air. Here and there the trees became tinged with yellow or red, the mountain ash hung heavy with red berries.
There are 3 major areas in which I feel the need for new beginnings: One is my career, one is preparation for old age and the third is finding an anchor in a larger reality than the physical which is inexorably winding down.
I enjoy following my childrens progress into adulthood:
Audun has embarked on a long distance relationship with a girl in Bosnia.
Tormod is in USA working to get a foothold in a career in Security.
Irene has spit up with her boyfriend and moved into her own place, and has gone back to High School to finish her High School Diploma, and her new interrest: hiking and camping.
Ingvild is learning to juggle school and a new job on weekends and afternoons at a cafe in Stange.
Cancer. It seems to be all around. Father is actually doing pretty well. Mother and Father have decided on staying at the farm. My mother-in-law however is experiencing a relapse of her breast cancer 10 years after she had her masectomy. There is new growth in the lymph nodes as well as metastases in the lungs. The good news is that it is a slow growing type of cancer. She has started hormone therapy which is supposed to keep it in check.
Tor is doing well with his pigs. The first lot were a handfull and quite rough, biting and charging him when he tried to clean their pens. Now, with the second lot he has learned organize their care around their character, feeding first so that they are busy eating when he is cleaning their pens, then they are satisfied and tired when he comes to give injections or tag their ears and so avoids the whole circus. But his mothers illness has been a source of some stress and worry. Hopefully a week in Crete will help him wind down.
In orienteering I have been practicing A-level courses. They are considerably harder than I am used to. In one 3.5 km course I spent 2hrs because I managed to turn the map upside down at the 3rd to last controll ending up at the opposite end of the map from where I should have been. As I made my way back and further toward the goal the sun shone lower and lower through the trees and I began to fantasize what I would do if I was still wandering about in the woods when it got dark...
At another training where I spent 90 minutes it was pouring rain so badly, and the clouds were so dark that I could hardly read the map, and ended up missing the last controll. However I signed up for the Veteran Championships in my age group. First time ever. The course was only 3.1 km so I thought I'd be ok, until I realized that I was one of the latest starters. About half way through I stopped seeing other orienteers in the woods, but still heard the loudspeaker system from the goal area. As I approached the goal (there were 3 controls right in the area around the goal) the loudspeakers became quiet. When I finally ran to the finish at 1hr and 40 min I was the absolute last person in. In fact Tor told me that they had asked him about 10 minutes earlier whether they should send a search party out to look for me!
There are 3 areas of my own life where I feel a need for new beginnings.
The first is my career:
I'm thinking of applying for further education. I will be 50 in the spring. It feels like now or never. Sept 1 is the deadline for Midwifery school, Oct 1 for nurse anesthesiology and intensive care. And possibly in November it will be possible to apply for emergency care nursing...
The second is health and fitness:
I continue to gain weight. Am now 20 lbs over my comfort weight of 20 years. I've been having problems with a muscle or tendon or something in my arm as well. The doctor said weight lifting would help as strenghthening the surrounding muscles would protect the hurting one. And again, I think of the fact that I am pushing 50, and menopause cannot be far away. So - I have started a regime of (nearly) daily resistance training and pilates, with handweights, resistance band, and excersize ball. Also since September first I am going to the gym a few times a week for spinning classes, as the orienteering season is winding down. I worry that worrying about weight, etc makes me superficial. However my body is the instrument I have for this life and if I don't take care of it especially now that the aging process can be expected to accellerate I would be limiting my possibilities for contributing in the world.
The third is spirituality:
I keep getting the feeling that life will be over in a few years, and I don't know if there is anything after, or if there has been any point to anything. Is my experience just subjective or is there some lasting meaning? Is life just a phase and death a threshhold to a different existance with new adventures and tasks or is it all nothing. I cannot live ignoring this need to get things into perspective any longer. To this end I have begun reading Emanuell, a book my godfather sent me many years ago. Also I have started going to First Class again after a 15 year break. I am trying to take 5-10 minutes 3 times a day for excersises in relaxation, visualization, meditation, concentration etc, using techniques from the Silva method, anthroposophy etc. Finally I have started rereading and reworking the 7 Habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey.
There are 3 major areas in which I feel the need for new beginnings: One is my career, one is preparation for old age and the third is finding an anchor in a larger reality than the physical which is inexorably winding down.
I enjoy following my childrens progress into adulthood:
Audun has embarked on a long distance relationship with a girl in Bosnia.
Tormod is in USA working to get a foothold in a career in Security.
Irene has spit up with her boyfriend and moved into her own place, and has gone back to High School to finish her High School Diploma, and her new interrest: hiking and camping.
Ingvild is learning to juggle school and a new job on weekends and afternoons at a cafe in Stange.
Cancer. It seems to be all around. Father is actually doing pretty well. Mother and Father have decided on staying at the farm. My mother-in-law however is experiencing a relapse of her breast cancer 10 years after she had her masectomy. There is new growth in the lymph nodes as well as metastases in the lungs. The good news is that it is a slow growing type of cancer. She has started hormone therapy which is supposed to keep it in check.
Tor is doing well with his pigs. The first lot were a handfull and quite rough, biting and charging him when he tried to clean their pens. Now, with the second lot he has learned organize their care around their character, feeding first so that they are busy eating when he is cleaning their pens, then they are satisfied and tired when he comes to give injections or tag their ears and so avoids the whole circus. But his mothers illness has been a source of some stress and worry. Hopefully a week in Crete will help him wind down.
In orienteering I have been practicing A-level courses. They are considerably harder than I am used to. In one 3.5 km course I spent 2hrs because I managed to turn the map upside down at the 3rd to last controll ending up at the opposite end of the map from where I should have been. As I made my way back and further toward the goal the sun shone lower and lower through the trees and I began to fantasize what I would do if I was still wandering about in the woods when it got dark...
At another training where I spent 90 minutes it was pouring rain so badly, and the clouds were so dark that I could hardly read the map, and ended up missing the last controll. However I signed up for the Veteran Championships in my age group. First time ever. The course was only 3.1 km so I thought I'd be ok, until I realized that I was one of the latest starters. About half way through I stopped seeing other orienteers in the woods, but still heard the loudspeaker system from the goal area. As I approached the goal (there were 3 controls right in the area around the goal) the loudspeakers became quiet. When I finally ran to the finish at 1hr and 40 min I was the absolute last person in. In fact Tor told me that they had asked him about 10 minutes earlier whether they should send a search party out to look for me!
There are 3 areas of my own life where I feel a need for new beginnings.
The first is my career:
I'm thinking of applying for further education. I will be 50 in the spring. It feels like now or never. Sept 1 is the deadline for Midwifery school, Oct 1 for nurse anesthesiology and intensive care. And possibly in November it will be possible to apply for emergency care nursing...
The second is health and fitness:
I continue to gain weight. Am now 20 lbs over my comfort weight of 20 years. I've been having problems with a muscle or tendon or something in my arm as well. The doctor said weight lifting would help as strenghthening the surrounding muscles would protect the hurting one. And again, I think of the fact that I am pushing 50, and menopause cannot be far away. So - I have started a regime of (nearly) daily resistance training and pilates, with handweights, resistance band, and excersize ball. Also since September first I am going to the gym a few times a week for spinning classes, as the orienteering season is winding down. I worry that worrying about weight, etc makes me superficial. However my body is the instrument I have for this life and if I don't take care of it especially now that the aging process can be expected to accellerate I would be limiting my possibilities for contributing in the world.
The third is spirituality:
I keep getting the feeling that life will be over in a few years, and I don't know if there is anything after, or if there has been any point to anything. Is my experience just subjective or is there some lasting meaning? Is life just a phase and death a threshhold to a different existance with new adventures and tasks or is it all nothing. I cannot live ignoring this need to get things into perspective any longer. To this end I have begun reading Emanuell, a book my godfather sent me many years ago. Also I have started going to First Class again after a 15 year break. I am trying to take 5-10 minutes 3 times a day for excersises in relaxation, visualization, meditation, concentration etc, using techniques from the Silva method, anthroposophy etc. Finally I have started rereading and reworking the 7 Habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey.
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