Getting Ready!

Kaelen and I are busy today getting ready for our trip to Norway which will begin tomorrow. I hope this Blog will help keep our friends and families interested in our adventure and what we learn together.

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Details of Travel

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The process of traveling always seems to me to reveal a tedious layer of details that includes a hyper awareness of What time is it? Where are we supposed to be? Where’s that document? What number is my seat? And on and on. Those details obscure the wonderful adventure of travel, the delight, the possibilities, the fun. So the “travel day” of Wednesday for Kaelen and me with all its details and rushing to wait and sit morphed into Thursday and vanished when we arrived at Gardemon airport in Oslo and saw   Vivi and Erik waiting for us in the crowd outside the Customs and Baggage Claim. The process of traveling then becomes   the warmest hugs that dissolve the years and the details of  living separate lives. Twenty years after I first arrived in Oslo to meet my Norwegian “family”     I have returned and I am delighted to share the experience with the latest generation of my/our “family" with my grand-daughter Kaelen. The only detail that seems to matte...
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Returning Home: Reflections and Hopes

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The last night that we were in Norway was the eve of Vivi’s birthday. We very much wanted to celebrate that event with her. We planned a dinner at the restaurant at the Akerhus, a special location for celebrating special days among Oslo’s residents. Vivi called her elder sister, Randi, to join us. Randi was delighted. Randi spent a few years in upstate New York starting a retail business for fishing and other outdoor pursuits. She came to visit my parents with her mother when she was in New York. Ken and I were living in Melrose; Kurt was just 3 and Steven was 6 months old. Randi is the first Norwegian cousin I had met so she was the first cousin who helped me understand and appreciate the Norwegian heritage we share. Randi now   lives near her daughter Tanya and grandchildren in a flat about 30 minutes outside Oslo.   We arranged to meet her near the entrance to the Akerhus park. Kaelen was so interested to meet Randi. They had such an easy conversation as w...
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Saturday Stroll in Norway

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Saturday appeared as a bright blue day, just right for a “stroll” (read hike) along the community paths. These paths lead into the wooded areas for hiking in the spring, summer and fall and for cross country skiing in the winter. When we saw Erik bringing out the walking sticks from the hall cupboard, Kaelen and I knew we were going to be tested for stamina! According to my Activity App, we walked a total of 4.5 miles. Our destination was a 17 th century farm which had also been the home of the first prime minister of Norway after Danish rule. The farmhouse is a stately manse with a view of a lake; the grounds are a lovely swath of green, with small wooden playhouses for children and picnic benches. It is so good to see a community that enjoys being outside and that creates spaces that welcome all ages and stages to participate. Plenty of active “seniors” were along the hiking trails. Families with children stopped along the route to swim, pick wildflowers, read and ha...
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