Some dog walks in July

The Klevfoss Industry Museum (used to be a paper mill)

On the bridge leading from the museum over the falls into the woods.

In Remarka, Lucy balances on a tree trunk that has fallen across the path.

The WWII memorial at Målervatn lake.

Målervatn with water lilies.

Beaver dam at Målervatn

Terror in Norway

I was in the kitchen - I guess I was cooking - when Husband said: there's been a big explosion in Oslo 3 minutes ago. It was just before 3:30 pm. Pretty soon information began to come on what had happened, and films and pictures of the devastation on the internet. A large bomb had exploded devastating the buildings that house the government offices. I was thinking: the timing was good, partly because a lot of people are on vacation in July, and of those who are not, many would have already gone home for the day by this time on a friday afternoon. Also it is just the time for shift change at most hospitals and urgent care facilities, so that they can easily get more staff by holding back the day shift... We were following developements. I contacted the boys, especially Tormod in the US. A couple of hours later came the news that there was shooting at utøya an island where a political youth camp w being held. It seemed like forever before we heard more about it in the news. When we went to bed the shooter had been arrested, and there was talk of several casualties. All the Oslo hospitals were in catastrophe readiness and I had been called in to work an extra day shift in the morning, so I went to bed early. At midnight I was messaged from work that the catastrophe readiness was reduced, andI didn't need to come after all.

What was our surprise and shock to wake up in the morning to the news that over 80 kids - the camp participants were from 14 to 25 years old - had been shot dead! How could one man kill so many? The massacre at utøya completely overshadowed the bombing, which, though destroying several government buildings, only killed 7 - 9, and severely wounded 10. Of course there we a lot of minor injuries. A colleague who also works at the Oslo urgent care said they treated 70 patients for injuries from the bombing. On the island 85 were killed outright, 20 are in critical condition, and altogether about 70 were more or less seriously injured. 2 are still missing in the ruins from the bomb, and 4-5 are missing on the island. I went orienteering with Lucy, listening to the radio on my mp3 player and crying. It was all so incredibly sad. The stories these kids told were heartbreaking. The shooter had dressed up in a police uniform, which made the kids uncertain and chased them all over the island, shooting as many as possible, even shooting at the boats that were rescuing swimmers from the water. It has been a day of mourning in Norway. All flags at half mast. This tragedy hit not only Oslo, but the whole country, as there were delegations at Utøya from every county in Norway. The guy they arrested, a right wing ethnic Norwegian, seems to be responsible for both attacks, and apparently did it alone.

Today I have been called to do a night shift, as the ER is still keeping more staff than usual. Because the trauma center is overloaded wih patients from the bombing and shooting, othere hospitals, such as the one where I work are taking some of their regular patients. I've been thinking about acts of terror and what they try to accomplish. What they arer attacking. This attack was typical in tht it constitutes an attack on Norway's social democratic values: on openness, tolerance and an inclusive society. Terrorist attacks typically aim for a polarisation of society, and are ofen carried out by fundamentalists of one persuasion or another. In the case of the islamist attacks on the United States The effect was unfortunatly that the amereican sosiety turned in the direction of a police state, due to the hate, fear and rage spawned by the attacks. I hope Norway will come through this with her commitment to her core values intact.

Kringsatt av fiender, gå inn i din tid
Under en blodig storm, vi deg til strid.
Kanskje du spør i angst, udekket, åpen.
Hva skal jeg kjempe med? Hva er mit våpen?

Her er din vern mot vold, her er dit sverd:
Troen på livet vårt, menneskets verd.
For all vår fremtids skyld, Søk det og dyrk det,
Dø om du må, men øk det og styrk det.
- Nordahl Grieg

A Simpler Life - July 6th to 12th

July 6th: On this warm and sunny day, we set off for Valdres and the cabin by Vinster lake, high in Norway's central mountain region, at the gateway to Jotunheimen. This little cabin, belonging to our good friend, MaryAnn and Nils, has neither electricity, nor running water, yet this is where we have been coming each year to gather strength in the simplicity of everyday living, and the beauty of nature. We come here, even though the weather forecast is for nothing but rain. Even though we have to pack wool underwear in the height of summer.

The mountain cabin on the far left. To the right and behind it is the barn containing the outhouse, and just in front of the car is the wood shed. The other cabins and barns were unoccupied. In the foreground is the fence that surrounds the 3 summer farms, giving Lucy a large area which she can run freely in.

Hot and sweaty after a long drive in the car I jumped into the Lake for a refreshing bath. It was the last time as far as I was concerned. The water is freezing, but Husband bathed in the Lake almost every day.

July 7th: Long relaxing day: reading, writing, sleeping, meditating, long walks, training the dog. Above is my thinking spot here, at the very tip of the tongue of land that sticks out into the lake, while below I am sitting on a rock near the end of the driveway on our morning walk.

Lucy watching the cows coming down the road to find pasture after morning milking.

The fence around the summer farms has been fortified with an electric band to keep grazing animals out, as the grass inside is to be made into hay. Below one of the cows has waded out into the lake, and gone round the fence. The water came way over her udder. Husband and Lucy chased her back before the others could follow her lead.

July 8th: 5 hour hike to skreddalsfjellet (1440 moh) and svarthamartinden (1471 moh) in bright sunshine today. Didn't expect the sun, so hadn't brought suntan lotion, and thus got burned.

Lucy carried a pack with mittens and hats, treats and our sandwiches.

Husband at our first resting place.

Lucy hunted lemmings the whole way.


On the top of Skreddalsfjellet.

Sheep. This is why we had to keep Lucy on a lead.



By the time we got to the second peak, where we stopped to have our sandwiches, Lucy had eaten so many Lemmings that she must have been full. At least she took the dried pigs ear we gave her and dissapeared into the rocks. She seemed to come back too quickly, so I went looking for it in all the nooks and crannies. Suddenly I discovererd a place wherre the moss was scraped away from the ground. Further investigation uncovered the pigs ear buried under moss and lichen. This time she ate it up however.

July 9th: Spent the day with MaryAnn and Sigrid, her elderly neighbor. We went to synkakudagen at Marit Anny's Vevstugu in Lomen, in Vestre Slidre. This weave workshop was hosting a cultural day. Local craftsmen were exibiting and selling their work: woodwork, ceramics, woven stuffs of course.


MaryAnn is in the middle. The woman on the left is Sigrid, while the gentleman on the right is Sigrids brother who was exhibiting and selling his woodwork.

In the cafe on the second floor you could buy coffee and kvikaku with sour cream and berry preserves as much as you could eat and drink for 75 kr. We ate at long tables, while the kvikaku were being baked on a "takke" in the middle of the room. There was entertainment as well: a tv weather man who spends his vacations in the area told weather stories, local musicians played on the langeleik and the accordion, and an old woman told stories of life on the summer farms in bygone days.

July 10th: Windy, with alternating periods of sun and violent downpour. Husband started talking of leaving a day or two early. He is getting restless. I however am nowhere near ready to leave. The very thought made me all stressed out. Spent a quiet day though, reading, playing games, writing letters. Got back into my routine of meditation and training sessions with Lucy 3X daily, pluss 2 long walks. On the second walk we passed a herd of cows both coming and going. A Jersey cow showed intense curiosity about Lucy, who got a little worried, but we made it through the herd okay. This afternoon, I took advantage of one of the spells of sunshine to fire up the barbeque. This evening there was a beautiful rainbow. One end of it came down by a rowboat beached just by the end of our fence. I could have gone there to look for the pot of gold.




July 11th: It is decided. We will be leaving tomorrow. Today dawned with lovely sunny weather, and absolutely calm. Though we could see clouds in the west, they were high in sky, promising a day of partly sunny, partly cloudy weather. Since we had to drive through the toll gate anyway to get water, we took the opportunity to hike along the Bygdin Lake.

To get water I called at the kitchen door at Bygdin Fjellkro. An unfriendly woman who manages the kitchen was less than gracious about the water, though she did fill our container part way. She may be a good cook, and is surely able to keep her staff in line, but her service mindedness was sadly absent.

Lucy seemed a bit footsore, though it might be that she is less inspired when on leash, carrying a pack, along a dirt road. She seems to much prefer the mountain paths. Below are pictures from the hike along Bygdin Lake.

Døla-uka, July 1st to 3rd: part 3

Cows at the summer farm where today's run was being held.

Before leaving for todays run in Alvdal, we had to pack and clean out the cabin. We got up at 6am, packed up our stuff, and then sat down to coffee and breakfast. At 8am husband took Lucy for a long walk, while I started cleaning out the cabin. By this time the others were up and in various stages of breakfasting and packing, so I started by sweeping the bedroom. As there were 2 bathrooms, I next went ahead and started cleaning one of them. By the time I was done, the clutter in the kitchen was pretty much gone, so I started on the first counter and stove. I was cleaning the second counter and sink, when one of the other ladies said I had done enough, and practically took the wash rag out of my hand. Husband was back from his walk with Lucy, so we left for the run.

Here you can see the summer farm with the tents of the orienteering arena behind.

Lucy waited for us tied to a fence while we are out running.

The arena was in a field behind an idyllic summer farm, with cows grazing in the adjoining pasture, and cowpiles between the tents. The 3.3 km C-level course was dissapointing: almost the entire course was laid along paths, with the controls directly on the paths. Of 2 stretches that left the path one was marked with plastic bands tied to the trees, for the other one could choose a detour by sticking to the path or take the more direct compass course. Husband and I chose the compass course, while the kid who won stayed on the path. Anyway, with the exception of that one stretch, the course was more like an N (novice) than a C-level course.

Målfrid and I running up the finish line. Målfrid beat me on every run.

Here is the course map. As you can see it follows paths all the time. The only real choices were from 6 to 7 where one could cut across by compass course or follow the path around (I cut across). The other choice was form 9 to 10 where one could either follow the stream or take the road, follow the fence and then cut down to the stream. I took the road and it was a killer: steep, boring, and you still had to wade through the brush along the fence. I regret not having followed the stream, which surely was a pleasanter route, if not faster.

Døla-uka, July 1st to 3rd: part 2

Peach (10 wks) and Lucy playing.

Second day of Døla uka. Lucy slept in her crate last night. Using a crate is the first thing I have successfully shaped. We got up long before most everyone else, had our coffee, and our breakfast and walked the dog. As everyone else was getting ready for a late breakfast we were leaving to visit my in-laws, who live near where todays run was being arranged. Mother-in-law has recovered nicely from the surgery after breaking her thigh bone 12 days ago. She seems to get along no worse than when we saw her a month ago. We had yummy waffles and Lucy showed off her tricks and played with Cathrine's irish setter puppy.

Event arena in Folldal. You can see the ski jumps behind the arena.

The run was in typical Folldal terrain: pine woods with a reindeer moss ground cover. To get to start you had to climb an incredibly steep hill where the ski lift goes in winter. By the time I got to the top, I was both hot and sweaty, in spite of the cool day. It was a fun course though. Husband won again. I placed 6th of 10.

When we all got back to the cabins, the grills were fired up, we made salads and set out tubs of potato salad, then all gathered again for a joint dinner. The party increased withour hostess' parents and her oldest son.

This is today's map. A fun course. Didn't have any trouble with it really. I especially enjoyed the bit from 2 to 3 where the path follows the course of a mountain stream. My only difficulty was coming down from 9 to 10, I couldn't find the path that hugs the hillside and ended up too far down, so that I had to run up the road to 10, before running back down to get 11.

Døla-uka 1st to 3rd July: part one

We stayed in the middle cabin. Our hosts lived in the cabin on the right. This is also where we had our common dinners after the run.

What possessed us to choose Døla-uka as our summer orienteering event, and travel 3 hours to a part of Norway where it has been known to snow in july? It was 13 degrees C and pouring rain when we left home, as we progressed north up the valley, the temperature dropped steadily to only 7 degrees C on arrival, though the rain had let up somewhat.

Husband relaxing in the spacious living room with Lucy at his feet.

One of the families in our orienteering club has 3 large cabins that they rent out. For this occasion club members were invited to live there for free. The cabin is spacious, with running hot and cold water, electricity, fully supplied kitchen, tv and fireplace. Staying in our cabin besides husband and myself and Lucy (our dog), are a single man, and two families with 2 children each. It is quite a challenge for our shy dog, not only to be in a strange house, but to share that house with so many strangers. We talked to all the childreen about ignoring her, and not trying to pet her, nevertheless one little boy did try to pet her and got snapped at for his trouble. No harm done, and hopefully he learned his lesson, but it shows that we have to supervise Lucy constantly. So I was glad that I had brought along the travel crate, so we could put her away occasionally.

The view over Savalen Lake from the cabin porch.

The event arena for the first run was in walking distance from the cabins. No sooner was the club tent up than a veritable downpour started. I ran a 2 km A-level course for the sprint. I had expected a much more difficult course. Really, I only had difficulty with the first controll, as it took awhile for me to get my bearings. When I compared mine with husband's C-level course, I really couldn't see the difference in difficulty. Husband won his run. I was last in my class (women 50-54), but second to last of all who ran that course. Ah well.

Husband won. His prize, appropriatly was a towel. It was pouring rain.

We all gathered at the cabin of our hosts to have tacos together after the run. There was candle light, plenty of good food. After dinner the adults continued talking around the long table, while the kids played cards and board games. There were altogether 9 kids and 11 adults. It was so pleasant, and our hosts are truly gracious people. I hadn't bothered to change before walking back to the cabin after the run, and I was the last to shower and only had barely lukewarm water. Maybe that was why I am feeling so cold this evening. My teeth are chattering after taking the dog for her evening potty walk, and I can't wait to get under the duvet

And here is the course map. I got all confused at the start. Didn't realize that the start controll was in the intersection of a ski path and a road, not the road intersection. Once I got my bearings I did ok. From control nr 10 I went back up and around the lake instead of continuing east which would have been shorter. I was worried that the marshy area at the east end would be hard to get through. Apparently, according to those who chose that route it was just fine.

DSSP and Stav Agility

This weekend was DSSP ("Den Store StyrkePrøven), the 540 km bike ride from Trondheim to Oslo. This is the final test of the winters cycling training. Both Husband and my friend Nils were participating. Friday, he met up with the other members of his team, they loaded their bikes, extra wheels, food, water bottles and overnight bags into the support vehicles and took off for Trondheim where they would spend the evening at a hotel, eating well, hopefully sleeping, doing last minute checks of the gear, and planning stategy for the ride. They were riding as a team, 17 strong, with a goal to finish in 18 hrs.

Meantime, Lucy and I were participating in our first big agility event. 4 clubs arranged a 3 day event with 4 rings going simultaneously. It was a qualifying event for the national team. I had only entered Lucy in 2 runs: a novice standard agility, and a novice jumpers. It was a warm, sunny day with a nice breeze. I found an out-of-the-way spot for Lucy's crate, in the shade - well I had to keep moving it to stay in the shade.

The standard agility run was first. I did some contact exercises before we started. Lucy seemed a little unconcentrated, but that was to be expected. Wel l no wonder: it was a huge open field, the 4 rings marked off with lime and plastic bands on the ground. The whole surrounded by the tents of the various participants. We got though the run: Lucy had a tendency to want to wander out of the ring, though I was able to call her back. It led however to her taking a jump from the wrong side, automatically disqualifying.
The jumpers run was a disaster. After a couple of jumps Lucy just shut down, and started sniffing the grass at the side of the ring. My initial thought wass that the whole thing was overwhelming for her, and that she had had enough. Later I was reading in an agility blogg (susangarrettdogagility.com) how performance dogs can get hypoglycemic, and that feeding them cookies throughout the day is recommended. So another possible explanation for Lucy shutting down, could be that she just didn't have the energy. I hadn't given her breakfast, because she always thows up in the car, and while she had had some cookies, ie pieces of sausage, it maybe wasn't enough, what with the stress, and the hot day.

Next time I will feed her at least half her ration on arrival, pluss take more time to aclimatize to the new surroundings.

At 9:30 pm I went to the Esso station in Ottestad to wait for the cyclists to pass on their way toward Oslo. They were to make a short stop there to fill up on food and drink, their boxes lined up, each with a cyclists name on it. A large crowd was gathered to cheer them on. Members of the cykling team had set up the finish gate across the road with Ottestad Cykling Club written on it. 5 teams had completed the shortere distance from Lillehammer to Oslo earlier in the afternoon, and were in full swing with a garden party accross the street. Several teams from other places passed while we waited, and all recieved applause, but when our boys (+ 1 girl) showed up in their yellow and black uniforms the crowd greeted them like heroes. I had brought coffee, and chocolate and water bottles for my man. Exchanged a few words with my friend 2 boxes down. Someone was passing out salt tablets. 2-3 minutes after arriving They mounted their bikes and were off.
I had subscribed to sms updates, which told me when the team passed various points along the way. For example since I had recieved an sms that they had passed Lillehammer at 8pm I knew approximatly when to expect them to the Esso station in Ottestad. So when my phone peeped in the middle of the night I had a look: they had just crossed the finish line at 17:47 hrs, without having lost a single rider along the 540 km stretch!

Our agility career - so far

It all started with an "introduction to agility" course in 8 sessions last year in May and June. At the end of it there were still 3 hurdles that Lucy wasn't doing: the chute, the see-saw and the tire jump. After a break for the summer, we started practicing fairly intensively for 60-90 minutes each thursday from August through January. Mostly it was one on one training with Julie Danbolt and her dog, Bajnok. It was Julie who introduced me to clicker training (leading me to take the e-course in clicker training from Canis), 2X2 weave training (she lent me Susan Garrett's DVD after which I have become a Susan Garrett convert), and shadow handling (the Greg Derrett system). She also showed me that Lucy can do it all with Julie handling her, thus proving that any problems we might be having lie in my giving wrong or unclear signals. After Lucy mastered the chute, see-saw and tire-jump, the main focus of training has been for me to learn how to guide her through the course. Since February the time I have had to train Agility has been limited, and I have mostly been forced to train alone. I almost prefer it as I feel I can train much more consistently when I'm alone.

First Trial

Our first trial was on April 12th. By this time Lucy was taking all the hurdles without trouble, but had started going under the highest jumps, instead of jumping over. Therefore, they let her run in the class for medium size dogs. It was just an informal club trial, but I was so nervous that I led Lucy over the wrong second jump on both runs, thus disqualifying. The lesson learned: I needed to learn effective briefing. Plus Lucy was surprised that there was a strange man (the judge) standing in the middle of the course, and had to go investigate. After training alone for so long, she was also a bit distracted by the other dogs whining, barking, and howling at the moon, but allowed herself to be refocused surprisingly well.

Second Trial

April 26 was our second trial. This was a club trial held by a neighboring club to which my club was invited. Lucy still competed in the medium class. This time I didn't lose my head. The beginners agility course was super easy. Much easier than anything we had trained on, so that went well. The open jump course was more of a challenge, and I had to hold up the chute, as it was heavier than she was used to, so we probably got disqualified there. It was great to see that Lucy seemed unphased by running in a new environment. We sat with Julie and Jan Eric, whom she knows, while waiting our turn. What we need to work more on: the chute, and high jumps.

Third Trial

June 16. Our third trial, was also a local club trial, this time hosted by my own club. This time we entered in class 1 for large dogs, as well as the open jump class. A step forward. The trial went very well. We had 2 chances on the agility course. It was a challenging course with several places where I had to think hard about how to approach the next hurdle. Then when we ran the course, I didn't do what I had decided on afer all, causing Lucy to miss the tunnel entry. On our second run through I placed myself properly at the tunnel. And indeed, Lucy went straight through it, only to make a mistake on the weave, which she had done perfectly the first time, even starting to get up some speed going through. The jump course was, by contrast, very straight forward. One of the jumps was very high, and several dogs knocked that bar, but I think Lucy got through the course without any faults. Any time we lost was me, suddenly uncertain of which is the next hurdle. We placed 6th of 6 in agility, and 8th of 10 in the jump course.

Lucy is a pleasure to run with. She was focused, in spite of being in heat, and obviously having fun.I think I too am making progress, though I need to work harder on memorising the course. I'm finding it hard encompassing 16 to 20 hurdles with my mind. I tried something new which i think improved both Lucy's focus and her start line. It was a few minutes of contact training (shadow handling and sit-down-stand's).

Flooding - part 4

It is 3 days since I last walked with the dogs at the lake. The water is rising more slowly now, and is supposed to reach it's peak in the middle of next week.

The above pictures were taken on the path leading to my thinking spot (now under water). The top picture from monday morning, the bottom picture from today. You can see that thin tree that on monday was only just getting it's feet wet, is now well out in the water.

My alternative thinking spot after the usual one became inaccessible. Top: sunday. Bottom today. You can still get to the stone from the back, but I sat in the fork of the tree overlooking the water instead.

Remember on monday, how I said the road was beginning to flood, and would only have been passable with rubber boots (top)? Today (bottom) you can't even see where the road goes after it dissapears into the water. You can also see how the water is spreading into the forest floor on either side.

We had to take a different road and I took these pictures of a spot where people come to picnic and where Ingvild used to camp with her friends in the summer. It is all under water now. Lucy is having fun splashing around, and you can see the "no camping" sign in the middle of the lake. (the sign refers to parking campers there; tent camping is allowed).