I've said earlier in my blog that I shouldn't really be living in a cold country at all. Something went wrong when God decided to put me on this earth in one of the coldest, darkest northernmost places on the planet. I can only think of a few colder places - the North and South Pole perhaps, and Siberia... I blossom, I thrive, I feel fantastic in the sun and the heat - whereas I wither and hang my head in those never ending Scandinavian winter nights. Well, I can hear my near and dear ones going "You're exaggerating again - as usual," but the honest truth is that in order to survive the Norwegian winter I have to make sure I do cosy uplifting fun things.
Winter at its most dreary - view from my window in Oslo
And those fun uplifting things for me do NOT include skiing. This time of year my friends wallpaper their Facebook pages with beautiful skiing photos, and frankly - it doesn't do it for me. In Norway you should never admit that you don't enjoy skiing - it's the equivalent to heresy - but I'll quote one of our most famous authors (whom even those who ski like reading) - Jens Bjørneboe: "One of the invaluable advantages one has achieved after becoming an adult, is that one doesn't have to ski." Or something to that extent.
In Norway all children HAVE to ski, there are compulsory skiing courses in kindergarten, there are skiing school days, there is the jolly Sunday skiing outing with the whole family - which, if you don't join, but insist on staying at home with a book - your parents will immediately call the psychoanalyst and book a session for you.
My bare footprints in the snow - at least it wakes me up on freezing mornings when I go to fetch the newspaper from the mailbox
I know that if I dug deeply in my photo albums of yesteryear, I'd find pictures of me skiing. Truth be told, I did enjoy downhill skiing for a while when I was young, but cross country?.... Hmmm....... well, no hill climbing, no scary slopes, sun shining, Easter temperatures... maybe.
Norway is the greatest skiing nation in the world - I think we can say that without being overly patriotic - and our girls and boys keep grabbing all the medals, in both cross country, downhill, biathlon and ski jumping. And I love watching them on TV! But then again, I love watching sports.
Street in Oslo that hasn't been visited by a snow plough
Nowegian motorway being ploughed and salted (taken last Sunday)
These are some nice things to do in winter:
Light log fires and candles
Dress up warmly and go for long walks with soulmate Grete
Have a jacuzzi on the terrace of a mountain cabin with good friends in minus 17
Go to France and watch snow at a safe distance
After totally dismissing winter in my blog today, I must admit that even I can see the beauty in a winter's day. Winter landscapes can also be sun kissed, and give me associations of pureness and untouched virginity, but also renewal and rebirth and the promise of a new spring. And that, after all, is the magic of the changing seasons.
I love being with my granddaughters all year round - no matter what the season is. They are born in Norway, they get a lot of fun out of skiing and skating and winter activities (still), but I'm afraid Mimmi is not the one to be expected to play with them on the slopes. That's up to someone else.
Winter sisters
Summer sisters
Winter Big Mama (making the most of it)
Summer Big Mama (happy and sun kissed)
So glad God decided to place you in Norway :-), how else would I have met you? He could have decided to drop us both down on that green, green island to the west, of course :-)
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