Limbo

It is now 6 months since I last actually worked at the office and not from home. All these months of different routines, of exception, of waiting, have lead to a sort of lethargy. Perhaps some other things, too, have played a part, like it simply being winter. The lengthening days and warmer sun do matter to the psyche, even to couch potatoes like me.

So that’s what’s been going on behind the scenes and why nothing’s been going on here. Thank you for nevertheless showing up.

Here’s a reward from a sunshine walk in Bergen just last weekend:

This house is somewhere in the neighborhood of Nordnes in Bergen, Norway. An old, small house with a fence made of colored glass, which is not common in Norway. It surrounds a nice, sheltered patio and the whole place looks incredibly cozy.

Now, when I downloaded my photos and had another look, I realized I had been staring at this house for a while—and so had my coworkers. You see, I have an older photo of this very same house, from 2017. And it has been my background photo on Teams meetings this spring.

They repainted the house, and added a fence. The yellow version looks a bit cozier, but I understand the need for privacy and therefore the fence. This neighborhood is a huge tourist magnet, for locals and foreigners alike, because of all the little wooden houses.

Anyway, here’s the other side. Adorable, right? I’m 161 cm tall and taller than their front door!

The accidental time travel, the reminder of what once was, and the wait for it to be once again, has me both restless and listless at the same time because there is no actual normalcy yet. And yet there are bright moments. We really need to be aware of those, to keep making nice memories for ourselves.

PS: An erudite friend told me the word I want is “languishing” rather than “limbo”. Yes, I am languishing. Now you can have this word, too.