A sea voyage along the Norwegian coast: part 2

Saturday, August 27


Felt a lot better today. We started the day, watching the approach to Harstad. Here we met the north-going Hurtigruten, which had docked before we arrived, and which left shortly after we docked.

Harstad

Grytøya

Today husband has had a headache, and also a lot of worry about mother-in-law, who has taken a turn for the worse.I was able to properly enjoy the breakfast buffet today, although, to my disapointment they didn't serve pancakes today. The rain had stopped, and the sun was almost breaking through a hazy sky. Spent the morning relaxing on deck until lunch.

Relaxing on deck. Not so warm now.

Vesterålen


Shortly after lunch, we arrived at Stockmarknes, where we visited the Hurtigruten Museum. We had just left and were idly remarking on the ambulance crossing the bridge with flashing blue lights, wondering where it was going, when the ship suddenly turned 180 degrees and hightailed it back to the dock. The ambulance arrived just as we laid to. One of the passengers had been taken ill.

Stockmarknes


But the high point of the day was the eagle safari. We crossed from our ship to a smaller boat mid fjord from the car hold. Then zoomed down a narrow pass between towering crags called raftsundet, in the middle of which is the entrance to the troll fjord. Two women began throwing pieces of bread and fish over the edge, while emitting sharp birdlike calls. At first nothing happened. Then gradually the seagulls started gathering, calling and chatterering, hovering in the air over the women, diving for the food, catching it in the air, and even landing on their arms to tear it out of their hands. It is the commotion from the gulls that attracts the eagles, and suddenly there they were, gliding over the boat in circles. The boat idled, the gulls suddenly gave way and fell silent. Then one woman filled a fish with a syringe full of air to make it float, and threw it as far aout as she could, and the eagle dived for the fish, catching it out of the water. I think, all in all we saw a dozen eagles. One huge eagle, with a wing span of 7or 8 feet is 45 years old we were told.

From here we went straight into a smaller vessel

Leaving MS Vesterålen behind

Trollfjorden

Attracting gulls

Two eagles

Lofoten

We rejoined our ship at Svolvær. Dinner tonight was a more social event than previously. We sat with an american couple, a young swiss nurse, and a swedish journalist, talked and got to know each other. It was later than usual before we went to our bunks to read before bed.

Svolvær

Bedtime on board

Sunday, August 28

Sailing along the Helgeland coast today brought back memories of the 6 years that I lived in Leirfjord. It had rained again last night, and was still somewhat cloudy when we docked at Ørnes.

Ørnes

Arctic Circle

Helgelands Coast


However as we sailed down the coast, passing the arctic circle, it cleared up and we experienced a calm, fairly sunny, mild day: rare weather for Helgeland as I remember it.The next stop was Nesna, where we bought my first horse. Sailing along Leirfjord I was surprised to see how wild and uninhabited it looks, seen from the sea. We reached Sandnessjøen, where both my sons we born, around noon, and took a walk around town. Here you could see how Leirfjord lies open to the southwest, which also explains how the southwestern winds that I rermember so well are able to tear up along the valley, driving rain (and snow) before them. In ourday, you had to take a ferry between Leirfjord and Sandnessjøen. Now there is a new bridge.

Leirfjord

Sandnessjøen

Petter Dass statue in Sandnessjøen


We have been flying the mail flag all day. In Sandnessjøen we loaded 4 pallets of mussels (blåskjell). The hurtigruten is not only a cruise ship, but carries mail and goods, as well as passengers going shorter distances.Between Sandnessjøen and Brønnøysund, watched the 7 sisters slowly pass by, and Alstadhaug church at the southern tip of Alsten Island. In Brønnøysund where we docked in the mid-afternoon, we took a walk again. A member of the crew had recommended the soft serve ice cream with stirred wild blueberries from the ice cream shop on the dock.

The Seven Sisters

Brønnøysund

Torghatten


Since many of the passengers will be leaving the ship in Trondheim tomorrow, there was a farewell dinner, wher we wwere introduced to the kitchen and serving staff and given the opportunity to applaud and thank them. It started raining during dinner, and when we got to Rørvik in the evening it was pouring rain and windy - typical Helgeland weather. In Rørvik there was a free museum with an exibit about life along the Norwegian coast from the stone age to the present. The church was open as well, withcandlelight and music, but we didn't have time to visit it all, as we were late arriving, thus cutting our hours stay down to about 35 minutes.

Farewell Dinner

Husband

The Museum in Rørvik

A sea voyage along the Norwegian coast: part 1

Finally I am posting about our vacation. The text is copied from entries I made in my diary during the trip.

First glimpse of M/S Vesterålen at dock in Kirkenes


Thursday, August 25.

Today, we are departing on a trip: a cruise along the Norwegian coastline, from Kirkenes to Bergen. We woke up to a grey and rainy day. Oldest daughter took us to the station, where we stood in the rain, along with all the commuters with their umbrellas waiting for the train. We are now on the plane, flying toward Kirkenes in the very north of Norway. Sun is shining above the cloud carpet as we enjoy a mostly organic breakfast, courtesy of SAS.

Kirkenes Airport, and the airplane that brought us here.


The second half of my vacation (I had 2 weeks in July as well) actually began 5 days ago. The first 2 days were spent orienteering, wading around in the bogs and across rain gorged streams. It's about time I did some exercising again, I've been very slack. It's just that I've been feeling low on energy for several weeks. It was no better this weekend. I can't say I ran much, but rather trudged through the course. The next 3 days were spent getting caught up on laundry, egg sales and picking berries from the garden. The gooseberries and black currants are done, the. Red currants at least half done. Also dug up all the onions and about a third of the potatoes. The harvest is unfortunatly somewhat limited because of the large crop of weeds this year.We also met with Mother-in-law, when she came to Hamar for an appointment with her oncologist. She is not looking good, has really gone downhill in the past 6 weeks, inspite of not having broken any more bones. She continues to require blood transfusions every few weeks, and has had some trouble breathing in the last few days. It is because of her state of health that we decided to take a cruise along the Norwegian coastline for our 10th aniversary trip, instead of taking a vacation abroad. It seemed sensible to stay closer to home.


Kirkenes is a mining town, dominated by the huge mining complex overlooking the town below. Or at least it used to be. The mine is closed now. Kirkenes claim to fame now, is it's proximity to Russia. The road signs are even in both russian and norwegian.

Seafood lunch: the first of many memorable lunch buffets


Once we embarked on our ship we had a delicious lunch. It was a buffet, with a variety of seafood among other things. After lunch we sat on deck, basking in the warm sunshine.

Husband basking in the sun. It is incredibly warm, sunny and calm for so far North.

Our first stop was Vardø, Norway's easternmost settlement. I hesitate to call it a town, it is more a small village: very cute, on a windswept island, with old houses (built in the 50's I'm guessing, and two churches. There was a small fort, a remnant from WWII, though it goes back to the 1500's. And out on the edge of the cliffs, There were a number of large spheres with some military purpose (intelligence?).

Entrance to the Fort at Vardø

In the fort at Vardø

The fort at Vardø

After dinner we were exhausted. We had, after all been up since 5am. We watched the landing at båtsfjord, where tomorrows seafood was loaded on board, and went to bed.

The coast of Finnmark, Day 1

Friday, August 26th

Slept wonderfully, and woke up early. Threw on some clothes and ran up on deck at 6:15 to see the docking at Honningsvåg, the northenmost settlement on the Norwegian mainland. We did not go on the breakfast excursion to Nordkapp. It is a misty day, with low cloud cover. The deck is wet from last nights rain. However, after breakfast the sun came out and it has remained fine until evening.I have been feeling a little under the weather all day: queasy, lightheaded, short of breath, leaden limbed. Tried napping for an hour after breakfast, which helped a little.

Honningsvåg

We had an hours stop in Hammerfest, where we got off to explore. There is a lovely modern church, built in '62. Both inside and out it seemed to reach upward. The whole wall behind the alter was a stained glass picture window. A little further was the catholic chuch of St Michael, with St michael and the dragon in mosaic on an outside, and stained glaws on the inside. Further there was the polar bear club, with a polar bear themed gift shop and an exhibit of polar wildlife.

We passed this house on our way up to the church.

Hammerfest Church inside and outside.

The catholic church with the mosaic of St Michael.

The park in Hammerfest.

We were to stop in Tromsø around midnight. I had really wanted to see this city, which is called the Paris of the North, and it's famous church. First we planned to stay up and take a walk, however dark clouds were rolling in so, so we ended up going to bed at our usual time. I got up again at 11:30, to stand at the forward bowand watch our aproach. It was raining, and dark, but the bridge and church were lighted up, so it was a beautiful sight.

Finnmark Coast, day 2

Passing the northbound Hurtigruten

Ishavs Cathedral lighted up as we approach Tromsø on a dark and rainy night.

Fjellhaug is Sold!

So, the deed is done. Today I signed the sales contract. The handover will be around christmas.

It's been a busy, stressfull time, which began when we emailed a realtor. That was on a friday in september. He got back to us the following monday and set up a meeting for the next day, where he explained to us about the whole process. After that things started rolling fast. Arrangements were made for the appraisor to come a week later, and two days after that the photographer came to take pictures of the house. Meanwhile we got busy taking down photographs, getting rid of clutter, and thoroughly cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms. The week after the photographer had been theeree, the first advertisements appeared on the internet, in the local newspapers, and on the realters webb site. Simultaneously a "for sale" sign appeared on the wall.

For the next two weeks a string of cars would drive slowly by, while their occupants peered down the driveway. A steady dribble of people came to look the place over, most by appointment, though the occasional one just dropped in unannouced. Meantime, we had to keep the house clean, and tidy. On the day of the official viewing husband took the dogs for a long walk for the hour that the showing lasted. It was total chaos: at least 15 cars came with people who were interested in looking at the property. Even some neighbors came under the pretence of looking for a place for their son, though I suspect curiosity was the chief motivator. 2 of the couples seemed genuinly interested. Of these one was a woman from California and her Norwegian husband. We hit it off very well. After the showing the suspence began. Altogether 20-some people had been to look at the property. Were any of them interested enough to make us an offer?

The appraiser had valued the property at 1.28 million NOK. The realtor had set the price at 1.3 mill. I worried that that would be a bit high. It is a lovely property, but the house is old and, though structurally sound, it is run down. I had decided to accept any offer of at least one million. A couple more people came to view the house in the next 2 days, and one of these gave us an offer. The woman from california topped this offer, and after about 36 hours of the two offering against each other, we closed at 1.45 million with the first person to put in the offer. He turns out to be a local vet. The same, in fact, who stitched up Lucy when Topsy tore up her leg 2 years ago.

How do I feel about selling, now that it is a done deal? A little scared. What if the new place doesn't work out? What will I do with all that money? What if it is not enouph for a vacation home...

Empty Nest, part 2

Going through all the stuff that the kids have stored in the attic brings back bittersweet memories. Youngest son went through all his things when he visited in June. Except for a couple of swords, he said I could get rid of the rest. Ah the memories: like the fantasy figures that he used to paint and repaint when he was 15. All the hats, each representing a different phase of adolescence. Paraphernalia from the years after he moved out, and before he went to America: the period when he volunteered for the mental health orgnisation and the student pub, when he studied media and game design at Hedmark College, from his jobs designing web sites, working as a computer science substitute at the high school, and as security at a couple of bars. Now he is enrolled in the US Air Force as a para-rescue apprentice. I had my last conversation with him on skype today. Tomorrow he is off to start basic training, and for the next 8 weeks (at least) will be unavvailable online, or by phone. All news will be transmitted by his cousin, my nephew-godchild. After living together for 3 years, these two are practically brothers. It is wierd, but I wish him success in the life he has chosen for himself.

Oldest son has moved on as well. He has left the town of his youth, and has moved to the beautiful city of Trondheim, to start a life together with his girlfriend, a lovely german girl, whom he met in Australia, and who has come to Norway to go to University here. I visited them at the end of September. More on that visit when things calm down here.

In October I visited the girls in England. Youngest Daughter is enjoying her new University, Roehampton, and is enthusiastic about her sociology studies. Oldest Daughter continues in Cornwall, and is pursuing her interest in nutrition as therapy next to her english & media studies. A report of my visit with them will also be forthcoming once things calm down.

We will be celebrating The Christmas holidays alone this year. The girls are staying together in Cornwall. Oldest Son is going to Germany with his girlfriend, and Youngest Son is in the Air Force.... The girls invited Husband and me to join them, but we cannot leave the dogs and cats so soon after moving.

RIP Fluffy

Today we had to have Fluffy put down.

Fluffy was originally Oldest Daughters cat. She aquired her as a kitten when she was living with her boyfriend. They lived in the middle of town, so Fluffy's first 2 years were as an indoor cat, playing with her foster sister, and skulking around looking like a bottle brush when I came to visit with the dog.

When daughter and the boyfriend split up, she couldn't have a cat in her new appartment, and so we adopted her. She was a strange animal, not fond of cuddling, especially of being picked up, and yet she quickly took to husband (he is a magnet for shy cats - we've seen it before, in Ithaca, when Katya came out of hiding to perch on his lap). After trying out various locations - the shelf over my desk , the top of the rerfrigerator - she settled on husbands vicinity as her favorite sleeping place: either a space in the bookshelf next to his desk, or on the desk itself, preferably, to husband's chagrin, on the computer. She even accepted being picked up and cuddled by him, sometimes seeming to be on theverge of purring.

Moving to our house gave Fluffy's life a new dimention. She was now able to go outside, and she revelled in it. She would go out in any weather,and we found her muddy pawprints all over. That thing about cats being so particular about keeping their paws clean? Well, it didn't apply to Fluffy! She was in the trees trying to reach the magpies nests, or on the veranda roof, where she could look down on the bird feeder, which was just out of reach. We could usually tell where she was, from the scolding of the magpies that followed her wherever she went.

She quickly got used to the dogs, and took no nonsense from them, standing her ground and just staring them down. She was always in competition with Puseline for the position of Top Cat. She was very curious,creaping into any enclosed space: a box, gym bag, open suitcase, closet. She even worked on opening closet doors herself, and then we'd find her dirty paw prints and hair on the clean sheets or husbands running clothes...

About 6 weeks ago, she suddenly dissapeared. A few weeks later, on a walk with the dogs, husband got into a conversation with a neighbor when Lucy showed an unusual interest in a storehouse. Apparently a badgerr had made his home there. She mentioned having seen a dead cat a few weeks previously, which had fallen victim to the badger. On further inquiry, she said the cat was white, with grey and black. So we wrote Fluffy off as dead. Imagine our surprise when she suddenly showed up on the doorstep, hungry and lonely 2 days ago. We were so pleased to see her again! Then last night husband was woken up by a terrible caterwauling at 2 am. On coming down to investigate, he found Fluffy crying with an open wound on her leg, ,pieces of bone sticking out. He made her comfortable in the cat bed, and took her to the vet this morning. But there was nothing they could do. The whole hind leg was shattererd, from the hocks to the hip. The vet said that most likely she'd been hit by a car, and had dragged herself home. So we put her out of her misery.

We will miss Fluffy, rubbing against our legs, purring and growling at the same time. I think she had a good life though, and is certainly chasing magpies in cat heaven now. RIP

Pulling up roots

When looking forward to the direction my life would be taking in the last few years, I never anticipated selling my home, to move to some place else in Norway. Yet that is what is happening.

Since I started commuting 3 hours to and from work, Husband has periodically brought up the idea of moving. Each time however the high price of real estate, the closer you get to the capital, and the uncertain job prospects for Husband in the event of a move, caused us to ditch the idea.

When it came up again in August, I asked whether Husband would consider renting rather than owning. It is a typical Norwegian opinion that renting is equivalent to throwing away money, while paying on a mortgage is putting money in your pocket. I have never quite bought this argument.

Anyway, Husband was not against the idea, and when he started looking for rentals on the internet, he found a house for rent on a farm, about 45 minutes from my work. The rent was reasonable, even though the house sounded a little smaller than we would have liked, and there was a mention of the possibility for a rent reduction in exchange for help on the farm. Upon inquiring what sort of help was meant, it turned out that their herdsmann had recently resigned. When they heard that husband had 6 years experience from just such a dairy operation: with loafing barn and milking robot, they immediatly offered him a job.

So we went to look at the place. It is a 300 year old house, that used to be the baking and brewing house on the farm. Now, nicely renovated for living in. It is about half the size of the one we have, and the outdoor area is not clearly devided from the farm family's. However the impression we got of the dairy operation was that it very well organised. There was not a piece of junk visible anywhere. Regarding the use of the yard, it sounded like nothing would be impossible, such as growing a vegetable garden, setting up a clothes drying rack, getting the use of a storehouse to store skis, bicycles, garden tools etc. Pets were no problem; the previous tenant had had 5 dobermans. The family also has a dog (we could have cats at our own risk - apparently he likes to chase them, but this dog is only marginally larger than our cats), and 3 children, aged 7, 12, and 14. The farmer is incredibly nice. His wife, who is an ICU nurse, more reserved. She seemed to make a point of keeping our households and space somewhat seperate, so as not to live in each others pockets. I think that is a good thing, as I am used to having my own space...

Originally we thought of renting our property, on further reflection however we have decided to put it on the market. It is less hassle in the long run. I was a bit of two minds at first. After all, in 8 years the mortgage will be paid off, and it will only cost me the taxes and insurance. However, as Husband pointed out, it would need a lot of work by then, so it would still cost more than is comfortable. The whole advantage of renting over owning is not having responsibility for the upkeep, and not being tied down. If there is any money left over by the time the bank, the realtors and the state have had their share, I plan to sink it into a savings bank, and either buy a vacation home in Norway, or a home in a warmer country at a later time.

Mother in Law - NEW VERSION

Death is a strange and holy event. It seems to me that there are 2 times in our lives, when we as human beings present ourselves to the world, stripped of the clutter of personality, with only our essential being: this is birth and death.

Mother-in-law was not an easy person to relate to, and yet, as she approached the end of her life, her most essential need: to have her family around her was percieved and responded to, without her having to exert any direct pressure. Her sons and husband sat continually by her bedside during the last days of her life. All 3 were present, during the 2 hours that she was lucid and awake on the last afternoon. To have her family close by was always her deepest need, even though in life she could express this need in ways, more suited to repell than attract.

She died in Tynset hospital on September 6th in the late evening. Only 5 days earlier the family had gathered to celebrate her 68th birthday with cake and gifts at her hospital bed. Many people gathered for the funeral. Some travelled from quite far away, and the church was full.

I find to my surprise, that the feelings of resentment that I harbored toward mother-in-law for many years, have dissipated entirely. And I wish for her that she may find clarity and purpose as she finds her way into the spiritual world, and looks back on the life that she has left behind.

Below is her final resting place, within the walls of the Folldal Church yard, with a view of the distant mountains, and the sound of sheep bleating in the pasture nearby. The church was full at the funeral and an abundance of flowers cover the grave, which for now is marked with a simple wooden cross.

Skinny Bitch - NEW VERSION

For my birthday my girls gave me a book called "Skinny Bitch" challenging me to take a hard look at my diet and make some changes. Both of them have embraced a vegan diet. So I spent the month of July reading up on the subject. Besides "skinny bitch" by Freedman and Barnouin, I am taking inspiration from "Anti Cancer" by Servan-Schreiber and "SuperFoods Healthstyle" by Pratt and Matthews.

It seems to me, though, that there are several points of view from which to look at the question of diet, besides weight loss:

One is, of course, health: How can diet help protect us from the lifestyle diseases that beset our western culture: diabetes, heart disease, obesity and of course, cancer. Seeing as several of my closest family members have had cancer (grandfather, father, mother, sister), I would not say that I am being overly hysterical in feeling myself to be at some risk as well.
Secondly there is the question of environment: How can our diet choices contribute to protecting the environment.
Thirdly there are the ethical questions regarding the exploitation of animals, and farm workers.
And finaly there is the question of weight loss, which after all, has been one of my new years resolutions for a couple of years.
Is there a diet that can be called natural for a human being?

Many of these concerns are intertwined: chemical polutants from industry and conventional farming practices negatively affect health. Factory farming, especially the raising of animals for the sole purpose of meat production seems questionable to me from an ethical point of view, and also has a negative impact on the environment, as well as the quality of life for populations in developing countries. These farming practices serve to further the destruction of rain forests, and increase the expansion of desserts, thus causing drought and famine. They also tend to exploit farm workers, and expose them to dangerous concentrations of chemicals. However some form of animal husbandry is integrated in most forms of organic farming, both for the manure and the utilization of grass and brush, so that a diet that includes animal products seems to me to be part of an ecologically balanced society.

Anyway I have decided as of this month to make some changes in my diet, and add some consistency to my consumer habits. Taking the advice of the authors of "Skinny Bitch ", I will make the changes gradually, making one change per week or per month, trying them out for a period to see how things go. I an taking one week at a time during this month of August.

Week 1: eliminate refined and artificial sweeteners and replace with honey, maple sirup, evaporated cane sugar, plus agave sirup and stevia if I can get them.

Week 2: eliminate refined starches and replace with whole grains and legumes. Limit consumption of potatoes. Eat lots of nuts and seeds. Add non-GMO soy to diet (beneficial for menopaus)

Week 3: eliminate hydrogenated and transfats, and replace with butter, olive oil, and pure organic vegetable oils. Also start taking a cod liver oil supplement.

Week 4: eliminate non organic meat, except for game and poultry. Limit meat to 2x/week. Eat plenty of fat fish and shellfish. Prefer organic or grass fed dairy products and eggs (for higher omega 3 content).

Week 5: Eliminate GMO foods, artificial colors, aromas, flavors, and preservatives. Read up on Superfoods for the Autumn and start incorporating them into my diet in September.