Smøla, an island far out at sea – Norway

My mother was born and raised on this small island off the coast of Norway. Because the island is so flat and so far out into the North Sea, it is very windy and quite a harsh environment for anyone to endure.  Traditionally people lived off the sea. My grandfather spent his whole life as a fisherman, starting very young in a boat powered by oars and a small sail. Later he was able to purchase a motorized fishing boat. He lived and died here, he seemed happy but he was also very, very tired from the hard life.

This is what's left of my grandfathers boat house

In July/August of 2009 I revisited my childhood paradise bringing my eldest son, Kenneth and his partner Eva and the children with me. My granddaughter Hanna is 4 and my grandson Howard is 2. We had a wonderful day of exploring and reconnecting with the past.

The island has now become the place for the largest windmillpark in Europe. They dominated the landscape on the south side of the island. I have not researched the power output or the implications of having so many windmills in one place, but I was told that it’s devestating for the eagle population who get killed by the large blades.

Somehow, coming back to this place of so many happy memories at this stage of my life was very helpful to me. I feel peaceful when I think of this island and the summers spent there. There was a small rowboat that us kids could use and we would row out to a very small bird island and look at their nests and harvest eggs. My brother who was older than I would be at the oars. We had many cousins and all in all we were a “gang” of about 8 or 9 kids running around. We’d help with the hay, getting it into the small barn or we’d be given the string and tackle needed to fish. Sometimes it was even warm enough to swim in the sea, although we’d have goose bumps all over and shivering, it still felt good. Once, probably at the age of 8 or so, I fell into the sea between two islands and the current was very strong as the tide was coming in or going out, I don’t remember which. I was carried away at a very rapid speed and I truly thought I would drown, I saw my brother and some cousins running along on shore shouting and yelling for me to swim. I couldn’t, the current was too strong so I just lay there are I’m carried off. Suddenly I feel something splashing next to me and when I look I can see that my brother Kjell has gotten hold of a very long bamboo pole that he was yelling for me to grab on to. I did, and here I still am.  : )

Above you can see my grandparents house from the north side, that is the reason for there being no windows. The weather is harsh and most of it comes from the noth. The shot above this one shows a newer red boathouse in front of my grandfathers old rusting and falling down boathouse. I guess he built it in the 1920’s so no wonder it’s ready to give up – no one is using it, no one is fishing for a living the way it was done in his time with the big nets.

Kenneth and Howard in grandmas kitchen

Kenneth and Howard in grandpa's boathose

A really big, bad ,dried fish at Veidholmen

Further up the road from where my grandparents lived is the very tight little community called Veidholmen. The houses are built very close to each other and very tightly because of the harsh conditions and the closeness of the sea. This is today a popular place to visit because it’s so quaint and cute. I especially like the statue they have put up to remember all the fishermens wives and their hard lives. So here are some images from Veidholmen.

Faro, Portugal – a place to come back to

When the Lady Siv had been brought to Lisbon, my work was done. Merethe (another crew member) and I decided to take a small detour and visit Faro on the coast of Algarve tothe very south in Portugal. We were both longing for warmer weather, beach and som rest and relaxation.  We headed into town and found the railroad station, bought tickets and and enjoyed a four hour ride southward. The changing landscape was the backdrop to our getting to know each other better. Merethe and I had met only a year or so ago and when I left for the US in December of 2008, we really didn’t know much of each other, except that we knew we would be keeping contact. So I leave you with some images from Faro.

Modern art within the walls of the old city. This is a spiders web made of wool thread. There was more art, but let’s move on.  I didn’t photograph a whole lot, mostly we walked the streets, had nice meals and visited the local beach by bus.  We did notice that the locals were very good natured and happy. Middel aged women on the bus were smiling and talking and it seemed like these people were very content with their life. I often notice the bitterness and sadness in faces of older people, but not in this town.

A secret garden

Flint stone tiles in beautiful designs here as in Lisbon

On a local ferry taking us from Desert Island and back to Faro

The boardwalk to the restaurant and only building on Desert Island

Our favorite restaurant for dinner

Another favorite, Sol & Jardim restaurant

We found what we called grafitti alley, impressive art

Faro from the sea

Bergen, Norway a very old city

Bergen is the place where I was born and lived the first few years of my life. The city is known for its beautiful harbor and surrounding mountains. Some of the old buildings on the docks are from as far back as the dark ages. Staying with my younger brother and his family I had the opportunity to spend som time here both before and after my sailing experience.  I just wanted to leave you with some images from this town that I have learned to appreciate more as the years have gone by. Normally when staying in Norway, I’m situated in Oslo – so I had the feeling of seeing Bergen with my travel eyes – photographing the way I do while visiting new places.

The old wharf buildings as they look today, smoking is not allowed near these buildings for obvious reasons

A gutter-lid !

Not two-faced, three-faced decoration over the doorway

Stairway to a fish restaurant upstairs

Sunset over Bergen from my brothers house

Sol in Bergen with grandaughter, Hanna

Bergen fish market

Sailing the Lady Siv

By now I’ve told everyone that I was heading for an adveture on the Northern Atlantic. To me, this opportunity arose more or less suddenly and seemed like a good idea when I signed up for it. Sometimes it pays to just jump on opportunities, or you don’t experience anything exciting. This adventure was exciting, chalanging, chilling, wet and fantastic. It, the adventure that is, started on a very small island on the coast of Norway called Karmøy. From here we sailed in a convoy that was headed for the Shetlands, but we broke off and aimed for Inverness, Scotland where we found the Caledonian Canal.

Here's the Lady

Sol at the wheel crossing the North Sea

Heading up towards the Scottish highlands and moors seems a little surreal from the viewpoint of an oceangoing vessel. Nonetheless, I got to see the landscape of many a classic novel, the moors are absolutely beautiful and I’m very fortunate to have been able to experience Scotland from the deck of Lady Siv. When we got to the Loch Ness after a number of lock, we all hoped that Nessie would honor us with an appearance. We called and coaxed, but alas, no Nessie. What we did  experience was the breathtaking views of many a castle and mansion along the shores of this mysterious body of water. Each town along the canal had its own charm and there were flowers everywhere. Here are a small selection of pictures from our four days within the Caledonian Canal.

Within the locks of the canal

Is this where Walt Disney was inspired?

After the Loch Ness there were more locks to pass before reaching the summit of the system

When we again reached salt water we came to the beautiful Scottish town of Oban. Aside from a coloseum the town boasted a whiskey distillery, two major hotels and many small shops. A very nice place to wait for favourable winds before entering the Irish Sea.  Some images from Oban follow below.

Oban by night from ship at anchor

Ok, so we get ready to leave Oban, we head out the sound and …………….. hit rocks. We’re all more or less in shock, we check out the situation, check for holes, check for unexpected amounts of water gushing in through gaping holes, when we are satisfied that no such nightmarish things are happening we take a breath and call the coast guard, because we are stuck. They advise us to waite for high tide and then let ourselves float off the rocks. Which is presicely what we did, and yes, we got off the rocks, turned around and went straight back into the harbor of Oban to check the old girl out. The owner/captain was the lucky one who got to strip down and dive into the cold water to take a closer look at the bottom of …………… well, you get the picture. Turns out everything was ok, there was no hole, not even a crack so we decide to continue our adventure and again head out towards the dreaded Irish Sea. On my first watch the waters were as calm and beautiful as I’ve ever seen the sea, and to our surprise we had a band of dolphins come to play with the bow of the boat. What a treat, these lovely animals are so happy to play – again and again they kept coming to race our ship.

Dolphins at play

Sailing the Irish Sea

How long was Eve in Paradise?

The Irish Sea is no joke. Because it’s so shallow it doesn’t take much to rock the boat. Again, we had a bumpy ride and for the most part, just sailed, slept and ate the two and a half days this crossing lasted (unless my memory fails me). The picture above is of my friend Merethe who is an avid sailor and she enjoyed the trip immensley, learning all she could on the art of sailing.

We made it to Dublin, Ireland and rested in their very modern marina for almost 24 hours. It was nice to have a meal on land and to walk around. The Bay of Biscay is our next crossing and by now I’ve learned not to expect smooth sailing. Also, I got wise and purchased some warm long-johns and super-underwear as I had been cold a lot on this trip so far. I knew by now that I had to wait for Portugal to expect warm weather. How right I was. The Bay of Biscay was every bit as difficult as it’s reputation. We were expecting the wind to be at our back, but alas it changed and came at us from the west. A lot of difficult weather, again the waves came over the side and cleaned our decks. I think we spent 5 days on this crossing, or was it more. Hard to follow when you’re clinging on to even stand up and all you can do is work, eat and sleep. But we did get to Portugal, and what a beautiful first experience we had. The port of Porto, Portugal is lovely. Small, quaint streets, good food, very good natured people and warm, dry weather. More photos follow.

At the colosseum in Oban, Scotland

Bagpiper awaiting the bridal procession, weddings are often held at the colosseum

Leaving Oban

Night watch, this is Sebjorn - the captain

ok, it's starting to get rough and wet

At the wheel, a smoother moment

The bridge and Jesus at Lisbon harbor

Monument to Marco Polo, Lisbon harbor

The crew ashore in Lisbon for the first time

We had a nice dinner, bacalao the connection between our two countries

The gateway from the harbor in beautiful Lisbon, Portugal

Humphries Peak (12,800 feet high)

On June 19 I decided to do some serious hiking. Little did I know that by the end of the day I would have gone to the top of one of the San Francisco peaks.  It seems unreal now because so much time has passed and I’ve already had new adventures to write about. But I do want to record this climb of mine, so I’ll be posting some photos. It was fun at the top, the first time in my life when I’ve seen crows flying below me.  Also had other wild life to deal with.  Ok, I will admit that I took my time about getting to the top, it was still hard and the air is kind of thin at that altitude.

A nice vista on my way up

The local wild life, looking for a nice view

I'm at the peak, happy, tired and wondering how to get back down

Well, I did make it back down, and faster than I went up, at that.  Can’t hide from the fact that I was hurting, though. My hike started at about 7:30 am and I was back down at my car at about 6:30 pm. Two days later I was on a direct flight from Phoenix to London, 14 hours in one go! My body did not like sitting still for 14 hours after that climb. When I finally arrived in Oslo a very bad back ache set in and it kept me miserable for about a week when I finally got to a chiropractor. After three treatments I was ready to go sailing.

Orbs in Mexico, Norway and the US

While we were in Mexico Janis, Greg and I experienced the orbs you see on this image. A lot of people have asked me what orbs are, and the answer is ‘I don’t know’. I do know that I can feel them when they are around. I can photograph them, and I recognize them in other peoples photos. Some say they are specks of dust on the camera, others say they are drops of water, and still other say they are enteties. Why don’t you Google or in some other way try to find out for yourself. In the mean time, look at some of the orbs I’ve been photographing all over the world. The large orb directly in front of Janis in the photo above is very clear and easy to study.

Orbs in the town square at Rocky Point, Mexico

These are orbs dancing around in a thunderstorm somewhere on I 70 in Oklahoma, USA

The image above seems to be full of orbs, but a lot of the little light circles are actually raindrops being reflected by the flash of my camera. The orbs are the ones with texture and they are much larger than raindrops.

Town Hall in Molde, Norway with my grandchildren. The orb is to the left of us in the window

Orbs surrounding my 3 sons in the eldest boys unfinished home in Molde, Norway

That’s all for this post. Have fun looking for orbs. They are most easily caught on camera if it’s not too bright where you are. In complete darkness, use a flash. My theory is that the orbs like happy people, rain and celebration.

Pictures of the Arizona sky

The San Francisco peaks on a beautiful day

Sunset last friday in Winona

The moon over Maria and Charlies house (those are my windows)

The Sweat is done and we're watching the sky

Hiking in the beautiful red rocks of Sedona

Janis and I started out relatively early, as we wanted to make the most of the day. The weather forecast was for warm weather, but as is true in many places, they lied. We were not prepared for the chill of the wind and covered ourselves with what was on hand. This was my first trip in the red rocks, and I loved it. The energies of the place are wonderful, as is the landscape and vegetation. Lots of pics of cacti, rocks and vistas.

Up we go

At this point we’ve become aware of the fact that this site is no good for a project that Janis is working on. Too steep to carry equipment. But as a hike for two ladies for a day, it’s a perfect site.

Up she goes!

At the end of the day when we had come back down, we were starving and decided to eat at the grocery store to save time and money. We headed for New Frontiers and the salad bar, which is great and had a good meal. We also got our food shopping done.  On our way back up to Flagstaff, we decided to kick around a bit and visited a couple of really good shops in Sedona. I bought gifts for family and friends. All in all we had a great day. Upon our return to Flagstaff, the moon was showing itself from a very nice side and of course I got a shot of it as well. Ok, no more words, only pics.

posing next to a prickly pear cactus in bloom

Century plant in bloom

Tree trunk (don't remember the name)

Century plant, red rocks and Sedona in background

Janis and a Juniper tree

On top of the mesa and then some more, what a pose!

Another good shot

This landscape is something else!

There was a fire that went through this area last year, so many of the trees are gone and the sad remnants make the landscape look a little eerie.

looks like spring in Norway with birch trees, but actually these are the burned trees from last year.

This vegetation is on top of the mesa, the climb is mostly in red rocks, with scattered vegetation.

Still here

Here are some pictures to remind me of what I’ve been doing since Easter at the Grand Canyon.  Actually,  a lot has happened.  Let me start by sharing a shot or two from my first meeting with Janis, a week or so before Easter.

Sol, Janis, and Dharm at Grand Falls on the Navajo Reservation in April 2009

Janis and Greg showed up at Sky Harbor in Phoenix two weeks ago on my return from Washington DC and then they whisked me off to Mexico.  I don’t think I’ve ever been whisked off anywhere before, and certainly not to such a warm and wonderful place as the innermost spot on the Sea of Cortez. Here are some beach shots.

Self portrait on the beach at Rocky Point

Two and a half days of this works wonders

Greg and Janis in a quiet moment on the beach

Having dinner at a wonderful restaurant on the beach

Did I mention the beautiful sunsets?

On my trip to Washington I visited with wonderful friends and I also had the opportunity to speak with a new Waldorf School in Virginia (this school is located in an area that I know well from my childhood).

My dear friend Ann and myself in Bethesda, Maryland

My dear friend Ruthann in Arlington, posing by her car outside her home

Actually the photo of Ann and myself was taken outside of the Library of Congress where we had been to have lunch with Patricia who works there.

When i first arrived in Washington, Russ and Sherry picked me up at the airport and the next day we drove to Lusby, Maryland where the ‘lake house’ is.  We had a good day together (May 17th) and we remembered to send love to Kristian back in Oslo on his 20th birthday. How did my baby boy manage to turn 2o?

I have more to write and more pictures, but it will have to be another day.

Easter weekend at the Grand Canyon

At the ripe age of 55 I was, for the first time in my life, a roadie this Easter weekend. My new, but already pretty close friends Janis and Greg are sound people. Their business is setting up sound systems (among other services) for events, indoor or outdoors. Anyhow, since I’m sort of new in the area they bravely invited me along to experience the Sunrise Service on the rim of the canyon at 5:50 am Easter Sunday. Oh boy, what a trip. We drove up Friday and arrived after sundown, had an early night and were (more or less) shocked to see all the snow that was coming out of the sky. All day Saturday it snowed. Look!

Sol and Janis enjoying the picture of what we were supposed to see in the background.

The canyon was filled with clouds all day long. So we got into the car and drove around. Luckily the mules were safely tucked in the Grand Canyon Village and I had fun photographing them. One was chasing the others, chasing birds, and just making a nuicance of himself – to our enjoyment.

"I'm gonna bite your butt!"

Some more snowy scenery in the Village.

Winter wonderland in April in Arizona! Remember, we are very high up on the mountain plateau.

Ok, so my weather was probably the same or worse as the weather that you (family and friends in Norway) were experiencing. I tell you, I’m waiting for spring now too – just as you are. But again, I was spared the long dark nights that went far into the day – this winter. Anyway, evening came and the clouds parted and we were given the gift of a beautiful Grand Canyon sunset. Just look at these images……

"Grand Canyon Soria Moria Slott"

It was amazing to see the clouds lift just as the sun set, one of those moments that you never forget. We, again needed to get to bed early as the next morning would be extremely busy, starting at 3:00 am!! On site on the rim by 4:00 am we started unloading the equipment from the van and carrying it down the stairs to the point where the service was to be held. This is a long standing Grand Canyon tradition (the preacher mentioned 100 years!) and I couldn’t believe I was to be part of it, and up close too as I was part of the “crew”. Well, I learned to sep up microphones and to “build” the wireless system for them. I actually did some good and was useful, or so they told me – and I believe them! A few more images for you.

Greg and Janis looking fabulous (they've been married some 30 + years!!)

This roadside chapel is where they married, a very special place. I should have used my flash, sorry about that.

On our way to the Canyon on Friday we stopped at this beautiful chapel. While we were enjoying it Greg started a conversation with a young couple who were there. It turned out they too had married in this chapel and that Greg had been this mans professor at university. How’s that for syncronicity.

Ok, now for some images of the Easter Sunday sunrise. By the way, this event usually bring 1000 to 1500 people to the rim. A little less this year because of the snow I think. But a lot of people none the less.

Ok, this is sunset on Saturday at the spot where the preacher will stand Sunday morning for the Service.

Here it is, sun is coming and the Service is about to start.