Mossy rocks in a stream. Moss has its own scent, a bit musty. Moss, by its nature, must grow where there is plenty of moisture, and that usually means a rainy area or where a stream splashes onto rocks. Moss on rocks, moss on trees, moss on fences, moss on logs. Dark, green, cushioned, moist, […]
This April is being spent at home, mostly indoors, away from loved ones, away from strangers. 2 meters apart indoors, 1 meter apart outdoors. Riding in cars and buses is limited or not doable at all. So, I invite you to Aprils past. The following photos are from various earlier years. Kvarven On the point […]
This year I seem to be more aware of budding trees. At this point in the season, where nights are still cold, although days are warmer, growth is slow, careful. I woke up to frost this morning, but now, as we approach sunset, my balcony is baking at a whole 26C/78F in the sun! Won’t […]
Of all the seasonal transitions, the one between winter and spring seems to be the most violent. I’ve tried to predict weather using astrology (astrometeorology). The starting point are the seasonal ingress charts, i.e. the charts for the equinoxes and the solstices or the cardinal signs. For the spring equinox the chart is made for […]
A little musing and sharing via eleven questions thought up by Lisa and found via Paula. 1) Socks? Love them or hate them? Handknitted socks a co-worker made for Secret Santa. And I won them! They keep my feet toasty in rubber boots. — I have cold feet. Socks, please, and they have to cover […]
Here’s a blast from the past (September 13 2008). I love the play of shadows and the blue reflecting in the water. Somewhere-north-of-here fjord I actually did not recognize where the above was until I looked at some of the other photos from the same day: This was from an overnight trip with my then-department. […]
I read about this very bright object being shot up into orbit around Earth earlier this year, just to twinkle in natural sunlight as an artificial star for a few months. And I noted that it would be visible from Norway on April 24-25 2018. I’ve had this date marked on my calendar since I […]
Most folks think of migratory birds returning from their winter in Africa or some place as the sign of spring. For me it’s the screeching gulls. Gulls and April arrive at the same time. The moment April’s lawns are no longer covered in snow, the gulls return from whatever open water they’ve been hanging out […]
As a native Californian, I still feel a bit of worry when I let the water run, like I see so many Norwegians do. It’s standard: They let it run to get it nice and cold. They well afford to: The one place that never seems to run out of fresh water is Norway. The […]
As healthy and as long-lived as Norwegians are, they are plagued by one baffling disease: Osteoporosis. As a woman who has lived here for part of her childhood and all of her adulthood, this is something to be concerned about. Is it genetic? Is it dietary? We may have the answer, finally. Good dietary habits […]
Wordless Wednesday MS Bruvik On Saturday, I took a tour with the MS Bruvik, the same boat that once ferried me to summer camp when I was about 10 years old. Back then it was just a boat ride. Now it was a historical adventure in several ways. I live close to the city center […]
In school we learned that what makes a rain forest a huge and dense forest is, well, the rain. Alaska actually advertises its soggy and mossy pine forests as northern rain forests. I’ve wondered why Norway doesn’t do the same. In the summer, this wet country is as lush as a tropical rain forest. Anywhere […]
Gulls herald spring for me. They head for open sea during winter, and when the snow disappears from the land in April, they come back and start screeching at each other at 4 am in the morning. I’m one of the few people who can sleep through that racket, so I welcome the noise. Gulls, […]
Junior Gull has been spotted again, in good health and twice as big since last we saw the little one. An adolescent magpie was hanging out on the balcony outside my office window, and an adult gull was quite upset at the corvid’s presence. A behavior the gull would have only if it had babies. […]
“Somebody needs to go check.” “Janitor?” “He’s on vacation. I’ll do it.” I learned that one of my co-workers gets into take-charge mode when it’s about someone’s life; in this case, a gull chick. I took a picture of Junior just the other day from my side of the building. This afternoon, one of the […]
Of all the life advice I’ve ever been given or heard, the only one I’ve ever faithfully followed is the admonishment to stop and smell the roses. I did that last when I was visiting the museum garden at the university of Bergen earlier this month, even thinking to myself, “Roses. Stop and smell.” When […]
Lygra As Eddie and I carefully set our feet down between sheep droppings, we caught a whiff of fresh manure. Instantly, I was transported back to my childhood in Norway, spent in the country with a potato field in front of the house, a couple of steers grazing in a pasture next to the carport, […]
When I was a child, I hated autumn. I saw no colors, only leaden skies, naked ground and continuous rain. And the ugliest thing ever was to see the green fern leaves turning brown. Ferns are often called snake grass (“ormegras”) here in Norway, and are seen as similar to seaweed: A creepy plant that […]
Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
A Roll in the Universe 