Reflections on Norway

I have so many half-formed posts from our trip and also from the return home. There's been so much action in the garden! I was gone for two weeks and 3 days but by the look of the garden, you'd think I was Rip Van Winkle and away for 20 years! I will try to intersperse Norway posts with current garden posts ...

Norway, Southern Norway anyway, had previously suffered from a dry spring with wildfires in the countryside. Our arrival seemed to invite a break from this -- it rained off and on almost the entire trip. And it was cold. Long sleeved shirt, polartech, rain jacket, wish-I-had-packed-mittens cold. But when the sun came out? Perfection!




However, we were prepared for anything and I have a deep soulful love and understanding of moody weather (could it be the Irish heritage?). We chose to go to Norway to honor Peter's family roots and to visit with relatives but also to be humbled. Humbled by magestic landscapes and the progressive, innovative Norwegian people. (And also to check out the incredible Norwegian knitting traditions, but that's a post for the other blog!)

I was amazed by the lupines, the lilacs, and the alpine wildflowers. The exquisite plants that thrive in the harshest conditions illustrates what I have witnessed from my counseling experience. What does not kill us makes us stronger and, if we let it, radiantly beautiful.