Mark & The Norwegians

My daughter reminded me just the other day of how long it has been since I've blogged . . . after I had insinuated it had been a while since she had done so. So, with proper motivation, I decided to write. In fairness I was in Oberammergau, Bydgoszcz, and then Istanbul for almost a month altogether.

My brother is dedicating an entire blog entry to my recently passed 44th birthday. Uncle MoMo indeed. And this coming from the notorious husband of Aunt Coffee. The birthday feast itself was memorable--bet no one else in our family has had reindeer for dinner? It was O.K. (tasted like chicken--actually roast beef), but Elizabeth had a hard time eating it, which of course was greeted with much joy by the kids--one might even say gleeful joy. I raked in much loot of course, including my Norwegian sweater (reverse-engineered from mis-placed Amazon.com orders of textiles from the States) and a watch which allegedly updates its time from Colorado (if within 2,000 miles) and is solar-powered. Interestingly, Amazon.com won't ship some things to Norway (or APO addresses anyway)--we can find little rhyme or reason--books and CD's and DVD's are O.K., but clothing and sporting equipment isn't? My watch is kind of funny--what with being more than 2,000 miles away from Colorado and being in the dark most of the day during the winter, the solar-powered aspect is not too useful. I picked it out myself, and it works so far, but we haven't seen the sun in a while.

The lack of daylight, and darkness, and continuous rain does produce a wearying gloom on a repetitive basis. This is actually much worse than Washington state--believe me, you guys in Washington are living in a sunny paradise in comparison. We are not at the "depressed" stage yet, but I can see how it could be a risk. I used to disparage the idea of being depressed due to winter lack of daylight, but now I see how it is possible.

We will stay local for Christmas. I have one trip to Latina, Italy next week, then the States in January. Will also try for London in late January, then a trip with family to Garmisch in February.

We're doing well, all things considered. Roof over heads, food in bellies (sometimes reindeer), and most of our health (persistent sinus, allergies for 3 of us, bad back for Elizabeth). But, we count ourselves blessed.

All for now.