You realize it has been a long time since you have blogged when your computer doesn't recognize your blog address. Ha. Well, I am back computer. Get it? Consider the address saved.It snowed today. Yes, today, April 18, SNOW! But hey, it is Norway for Pete's sake. In 2007 it snowed in June in Raufoss. The sun is shining right now and the wicked and wild wind that has been blowing for a few days stopped. Yesterday I had to keep my mouth shut when I was outside. Okay, stop your laughing. Yes, I am known for usually having my mouth open, so it was difficult to keep my mouth shut. Each time I opened it I had Iceland crunching between my teeth. A volcano erupts in Iceland, it grinds air-traffic in parts of Europe to a halt and it scratches my veneers. I read the ash is actually tiny, very tiny molecules of sharp glass. I could feel it and my teeth kept crunching the glass. JH and I thought it sounded like a licked a beach.
We saw the Northern Lights the other night. After returning last weekend from the US we were still awake at 2 a.m. when NK made a great discovery of a beautiful green ribbon winding around the sky. We watched it on and off until 4:30 a.m. Needless to say it was a l-o-n-g day at work on Wednesday. Zombie. I will post some photos.
I need to upload the photos of our US trip. It was so nice to be back in the Midwest. We had a great trip. I will type some stories when I post the photos. We left mid-spring and returned to late winter/early spring in Norway. Although, in the last week a lot of snow has melted in our yard. The snow earlier today has already melted for the most part and we still have the mounds of drifts which are hard as ice and covered with dirt (maybe ash) and they have been slow to melt.
I will say one thing about our trip to the US. We came back heavier. I am not just talking about the suitcases, although we shopped 'til we dropped. We each gained pounds in America. Fast food combined with fattier food, combined with Mt. Dew, combined with the kindness of family and friends cooking festive dinners resulted in us eating, and eating and eating. Nearly every night in the US I went to bed with a stomach ache. I guess I really did forget how our diet has evolved. We simply don't eat fast food, or the abundance of fatty foods in Norway as we did in the US. More grains, more fish, less soda pop, less red meat and less fried food. I kind of felt like the guy from that move about eating every day at McDonald's, and I am convinced I would have had to seek medical attention for my stomach ache had we stayed longer in the US. I just couldn't stop myself from brownies, McDonalds, fries, steaks, yellow cheese, and the heavy sauces and dressings I LOVE in America.
Forrest the cat is so happy with spring. He has been out and fighting his way through the neighborhood to reestablish his prominence as king cat.
We are returning to longer days. I love it. For most of my life I was a night owl and to some extent I still am, so it is nice to live in Norway during the warm months. Lots and lots of daylight. I miss the dark nights and starry, starry skies, but I don't miss the long dark days of darkness that is winter in Norway.
Tonight I will figure out how to work with my two new (yes 2) cameras to upload photos and after some photo shopping I will post annotated albums of photos. So I guess, coming soon....
