Forgetting the Turkey

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas sneaks up on me every year. If you know me it should come as no surprise that I try to avoid shopping centers or just going shopping period. So, today when I went into town and saw the Christmas lights already in place, dangling in the wind and the rain, I felt a slap in the face and woke up. There is no avoiding the inevitable holiday stress of shopping for gifts. Americans have this tradition called “Black Friday,” the day after thanksgiving huge sales attract swarms of consumer hungry people to stand in endless lines looking for the best buy. Shop owners, which are comprised mostly now of large corporations, and credit card companies jump up and down rubbing their greedy little hands in glee. For one day the economy is fat and stuffed like the turkey that was eaten the day before. 

We have no Thanksgiving here in Norway and the turkeys in the frozen section are never bigger than 12 pounds. Still, as an American, I have carried the tradition of thanksgiving every year, until now. This year I am forgetting the turkey. My family is too busy to set aside the time to help me celebrate this part of my American heritage. Maybe I will make a turkey dinner later, but it would not be the same. Times like this are when I miss my family in the states the most. I miss having this part of my family around a large table, sharing a meal and celebrating what we are thankful for. So tomorrow when all of you give thanks, remember the most important thing to give thanks for, time spent with your family. Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and family and for those of you that are planning on standing in “Black Friday” lines, good luck! You can be sure that I am grateful there are no such lines here in Norway.

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year, and what do you think of “Black Friday?” Make sure you come back on Friday for some Minnie Gibberish Fun, as she goes shopping and invites you to come along. 

 

For the month of December I will be sharing my Christmas in Norway as each day I open my advent calendar. Hope you stop by! 

 

Treasures in a Box

The other day I went down in the basement with my daughter who was home from school for the week-end. The basement is a cold cement room with spider webs and copper pipes that fight for space on the ceiling. Unpacked damp boxes, junk and leftovers from my life are scattered and stacked there. Every once and awhile I end up having to go down there and search for something. This time it was an old book of fairytales that my mother had bought for my children when they were small. The particular fairytale I was looking for had the story about “Jack and the Beanstalk.”

You probably are asking yourself why I needed to find that story and I will tell you that in a minute. First I want to tell you about the treasure hunt. Oh yes, what started out as a quick trip to find a book, turned out to be an hour down memory lane with my daughter as we opened box after box containing her childhood treasures. Needless to say there were many boxes that escaped the basement that day. The Barbie dolls however, did not make it. I fear they will have to stay there until another little girl comes around to play. Do you have your children’s memories packed away in boxes somewhere because you lack space? I suggest you do as I did and introduce your children to them. It is a fun way to spend some time with these “grown-ups” of yours and to make more space for your own memories that need more storage as we get older.

Now back to the reason I needed to spend some time with “Jack and the Beanstalk.” Wayman Publishing is releasing Open Doors 2--an anthology where authors write their own hilarious, unique, or even tragic versions of fairy tales and nursery rhymes.  Submissions are FREE. This could be a great publication credit if your work is accepted.  If you want to find out more check out thislink!

If you do not see me around as much it is because I am trying to get my book finished and ready for self-publication. Yes, I have finally made the decision to get some help and publish it myself. Anyone have any comments or advice to give me on self-publication?  I would really appreciate it.

Minnie will be here on Friday with her monthly game of Gibberish so don’t forget to come back and play. Until then, have a great week!

The Gods of Norse Mythology

Yesterday I hung out by a fountain with the gods of Norse mythology. I bet you are wondering where I found them and why I decided to look for them in the first place. The answer is research, and what better place to go than the library. Now I confess that after the search engines started dominating the www my trips to the library have not been as frequent. What surprised me was the selection, or should I say lack thereof. You would think that a Norwegian library would have a large selection on the gods, on vikings and on the folklore surrounding them, but I only managed to find a few. It was a warm sunny day so I took the gods with me and sat outside in the beautiful park surrounding the library. I told them about the book I was writing and here is what the gods had to say:

“Nobody seems to read books about us anymore; they would rather go into a dark room that you humans call a movie, and watch these pretend gods making up stories of their own. How could it be that our own stories have so little interest to you humans?” Freya looked at me and waited for an answer but I was rudely interrupted by Loki.

 “I like these human stories on the wall of the movie temple! They make me handsome and even a bit loveable. Everyone knows who I am now and I am finally respected as a force to be dealt with.” Thor did not like Loki’s comment, slammed his hammer on the ground, and bellowed out in a voice that made the other Gods shutter. 

“You… IGNORANT little flea!  If it were not for your constant bag of tricks, no one would pay attention to you! I am the real hero. I only refrain from squashing you off the face of this earth because I find you at times amusing! You are not even my brother!”

Sif looked at the content smile on Thor’s face and sighed before she said, “These movie people would have you betray my love dear husband, and they seem to believe we all come from an alien planet. Not only do they think that, they also believe me to be a warrior. You know how I hate to fight, Freya is much better suited for weapons than I.”

Freya turned towards me and drew a large sword from her belt. “It is true; these humans have forgotten that I am a warrior, as well as a lover. I hope when you finish your book, you will have told the other humans that!” She then kissed her sword and disappeared into the pages beside me, along with the other gods.

These are some of the gods you will get to know better in my series of books called, Gods and Fairytales. A sneak preview from the first book, Secrets of the Ash Tree, is available in the anthology Open Doors which you can buy  HERE.

So have you been to the library lately? Which one of the gods is your favorite?

The Tree of Life

My short story Secrets of the Ash Tree is from the book I am writing which is based on Norse Mythology and Norwegian Fairy Tales. It is about a young woman who discovers her true nature through the unraveling of buried secrets. Her story starts when she digs up a chest that was buried by her father under the ash tree in her garden. In Norse mythology the ash tree is very sacred. It is known as the tree of life, so today I thought I would tell you a little about the mythology that surrounds it.

Yggdrasil is the name for the tree of life. It is an eternal green ash tree with branches that stretch out over the nine worlds, extending up and above the heavens. Yggdrasil is supported by three enormous roots.

The first root from Yggdrasil goes to Asgard, the home of the gods. This is where the gods hold daily meetings. The second root from Yggdrasil goes to Jotunheim, the land of the giants. The third root from Yggdrasil goes to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It is here the dragon Nidhug lives sucking on the blood of dead bodies and gnawing on one of Yggdrasils roots. 

At the very top of Yggdrasil lives an eagle. The eagle and the dragon Nidhug are bitter enemies. They truly despised each other. A squirrel named Ratatosk, spends a lot of time each day, running up and down the tree. Ratatosk enjoys keeping the hatred between the eagle and the dragon Nidhug alive. Every time Nidhug says a curse or an insult about the eagle, Ratatosk hastens up to the top of the tree, and informs the eagle what Nidhug had said. The eagle was equally rude in his comments about Nidhug. It is because of Ratatosk’s love for gossip that the eagle and the dragon remain constant foes.

The roots from the tree of life connect everything together, even the most bitter of enemies. As long as there is a squirrel that loves gossip there will always be a dragon gnawing on its own foot and an eagle without a nest.

Hope you enjoyed this bit of wisdom. Come back later today to hear what I have to say about chocolate! Have a great week and try to avoid squirrels that cause trouble.

Memories From a Tourist in Norway

Summer is quickly fading away. Nights are chilly and darkness creeps up a little earlier each day. It is time to pack away the midnight sun memories and prepare for candlelight evenings and a warm fireplace. My time spent as a summer tourist in Norway has been over for awhile now. Before I pack away the summer I thought I would share one last post with you about my trip around Norway with my children. I have told you about our camping experiances, how expensive yet beautiful the country is, and how driving the roads here can be a challenge.  (check out the links)

There is a lot of history here in Norway as well, and some of the major things my son wanted to see here on his first trip to Norway were the Stave Churches, viking graves and ships.

Viking grave

In Oslo their is a huge Viking Ship museum which holds several viking ships that have been excavated from different parts in Norway. Viking graves can be found all over the country, they pop up everywhere like weeds and are free to the public to walk among. The churches however,  cost money to go inside. The cost of admission goes towards the preservation of these churches.We started our trip counting the number of Stave Churches we came across, but to be honest I lost count. I think we saw 7 of them. Each one just as fascinating as the last. We were not allowed to take pictures from inside, but here you have an idea of what a Stave Church looks like. My son explains his fascination with them in the  video at the end of my post.

Stave Church

No trip to Norway is complete without a hiking trip in the mountains. My family has a cabin in Norefjeld, and although it was raining the whole time we were there, we still put on rain clothes and enjoyed a wet, but nice walk in the mountains. After a long day hiking, it was great to go back to the cabin and relax in the hot tub. The fog and the rain was not going to stop us from having a good time! Being prepared for all kinds of weather is important when you vacation in Norway. The weather changes very fast and in one day you can experiance every season, even in July.

View from the hottub

Hiking in the rain

Hope you have enjoyed being a tourist in Norway with me. My son took a part of Norway home with him to Denver. I can not speak for him, but I believe his memory box has been enriched. I do not know when I will see him again. For now, all I have to do is close my eyes and remember, and if that does not work well enough, there is always film.

Have you ever been a tourist in your own home town or country? What do you have stored in your memory box?

Tourist in Norway (Part 3)

Water falls…Yes it does, especially here in Norway. After a while we were all saying, “Oh look, another waterfall.” On our road trip through Norway we started counting the waterfalls and after 47 we forgot we were aiming for 50. There were just too many to count. The farther we got up into the mountains, the more of them there were. Imagine that every time you turned your head there was a waterfall or two, even three or four. I love the sound of running water, whether it is a creek, a river, the waves on an ocean or even just a fountain or rain. It is in our nature I believe.  We came from water, we are as water. Constantly changing and flowing through life we seek and eventually pour ourselves into something greater. If we are lucky we find peace in that. Take a drive with me. More stories soon.

Tourist in Norway (Part 2)

My daughter was the trusty bug smacker on our trip. She loved swinging the electric racket and popping any unwanted intruders that dared to disturb our campsite. It was entertaining to watch her dance around and swing at the Viking Mosquitos. They never had a chance against her expertise.

My son had purchased a powerful flashlight for our entertainment. Who needs TV, with such talented shadow puppeteers and a good campfire! 

Being a tourist in Norway, it is important to find cheap entertainment after a long day of driving. Luckily it was not me who had to do the driving because the roads here in Norway over the mountains can be treacherous! My youngest son is a professional driver and even he had certain roads that gave him cause for worry. Trollstigen (Troll steps) is a good example. More stories to come. Hope you are all having a great week-end!

Tourist in Norway (Part One)

Camping In Norway

Troll Valley In Norefjell

My children and I took off on a 5 day road trip to explore some of Norway. My son who was visiting us from Denver Colorado wanted to see more Viking History, old Stave Churches and the Fjords. We packed up the car and the 4 of us headed up into the mountains. We called ourselves the Stave Church Hunters. In our pockets were plenty of coins, we had cooking equipment, our cooler was full of food and we had warm clothes…lots of warm clothes. If you are a tourist in Norway; coins, cooking equipment, cooler and warm clothes are important. That is if you are not rich, and have a gold card that lets you into hotels and eating establishments. 

Norway is one of the most expensive countries in the world to be a tourist in. For 60 dollars you get a little cabin with electricity, 2 bunk beds, a cooking plate and a fridge. You can walk to the shower and share it with others for 2 dollars of five minutes warm water. While you are on the road do not stop at the rest stops! They are free, but you might as well put your butt in a whole in the ground. Coins come once again handy because it costs around a dollar to use public restrooms. If you stop to eat a simple meal with a soda it will cost you around 30 dollars. I am talking hamburger and fries here. Museums, ferries, even churches have a large entrance fee. You got the point, so enough money talk. 

The scenery in Norway is beautiful, the history of Norwegian landscape breathtaking. Here is some of what saw, more of our adventures later. It was not always easy being a mom on a road trip, but it was a lot of fun! Have a great week-end!

 

Stave Church from 1100