Blue and windy church

I`ve never quite liked the church in Vadsø. It`s so grey and huge.
But lately it has become quite nice.
Because some people are fixing it. And dressing it up in a scaffolding and a blue tarpaulin.
And when it also blows up to a nice storm, the church gets quite elegant.

Las Vegas in town

Vadsø might be a bit grey and dull right now.
But we don`t have to despair.
Cause Las Vegas has now moved over here. At least for a while.
Yeah, that`ll do it...

Blowin in the wind

We were 14 guys who decided to take a trip to Bugøynes this weekend. To experience Russian jazz.
Getting transported by the small smack of Geir.

Crossing the fjord was not so joyful. Because the wind and sea got heavy.
But we made it. To Bugøynes. A small fishing village with an interesting story. With lots of descendants after Finnish immigrants. In Finnish called Pykeijä. In English joyfully called "Bogeynose".

When we came into the harbour, we had to discuss what to do. Cause the wind and rough sea got even worse.
Quickly we decided to stay at the place until next day.

Then we experienced the Russian jazz in the house of the fishermen. Lots of people.
The group came from Moscow, I think. They called themselves Rabarbra Jam. Very good. The guys from the small smack, from Vadsø made a lot of good atmosphere with dancing and enthusiasm.

The rest of the night went by in the small smack and on small benches and coaches lent to us, since we could not go home.
It was an interesting, funny but excausting night.

The next day the weather was excactly the same. The rain was pouring down. The wind was blowing.
The group gathered for a new meeting. And decided to make a full evacuation. A big taxi was sent for to bring us home. Driving 15 miles around the fjord.
The only guy that was left behind, was the poor fisherman, the owner of the small smack.
I hope he makes it home. One day.

Art in Ekkerøy

In this small house in Ekkerøy, "Galleri B-dehuset", meaning something like "The Gallery of the chapel", there is an art exhibition by local painters and photographers.

Great art can be seen and bought. The house was once a chapel and now a gallery.
Ekkerøy is anyway a very nice place to drop by. It has a huge, beautiful, Arctic beach, a museum and the worlds most delicious fishsoup on the summer restaurant "Havhesten" ("The Sea Horse").
But don`t forget the art.

1000 years of celebration

The town Vardø was celebrating the fact that they were pointed out to be one of the 1000 years places in Norway.
There were exhibitions. Market. And a wandering performance.

The audience were walking from place to place in the town. Being entertained by russian singers. Indegionous Saami joik. Dance. A Local choir. And the excellent, Norwegian percusionist Terje Isungset.

Having an outdoor performance in this Arctic coastal town can be quite risky.
But the people had been praying for several weeks to achieve good weather.
And so they did.
The sky and the quiet ocean was coloured in purple.
At the end of the performance, balloons and the beautiful joik was floating up to the sky.

The audience were crying. Being so proud of their town.
Some of them had to express their enthusiasm in a lot of swearing afterwards. As only coastal people can do.
And they showed themselves in their unique hospitality and warm behaviour during the whole weekend.
I felt I would like to live there.

Thunder, bathing and the planet Mars

We watched the movie "The Passion of the Christ" on DVD around midnight last night, and got interrupted by flash of lightning and rolling thunder.
It just has to be a sign!

The rain was pounding down and the thunder was hammering across the sky.
It was mighty...

Just as sudden as it came, it disappeared again later at night.
The sun came through, making me open the window trying to let all the weather changes come inside.
And the sun made this lovely and warm day at the local beach, just a hundred meters from my house.

With happy children, bathing in the cold, fresh, Arctic ocean.

Around midnight there is a new light to be seen. We could belive we have landed on the planet Mars. When we see the mountains on the other side of the fjord in the low , red light of the midnight sun.

Actually, the summer in Arctic Norway is always exciting.
Not one day is the same.

Garden pavillion, for love and work

I`ve bought myself a garden pavillion!
Actually quite cheap. But now I can sit outside with my pc both when it`s raining and windy. And since the weather has been quite changing lately, it will used a lot.

So here I sit. Enjoying the view. And the fresh air. And working with my pc. And inviting people for dinner.
Friday night Yngve And Geir came. Eating reindeer steak.

The garden pavillion seen from the outside. With hungry dinner guests

The garden pavillion seen from the inside.

The wood and fire made us warm late at night. The guests were eating and drinking. And smoking as much as they wanted.
Then they went home. Sometimes early in the morning.

Garden pavillion without walls

Next day there were coffee guests. At first Louise. The sun was shining.
and the walls could be lifted up, letting the sun inside!
My dear!
Later Odd came for a short visit. Then Geir with his son. Eating salmon for dinner. Later at night Boel came.
Oh, God, my life has turned upside down after this Garden pavillion!

Good combinations

In the neighbour municipal Tana, there have been, and still are some peculiar combinations in the business life.
I remember one store that sold lamps and rubber boots. Or something like that.

And there`s one guy who run a business, called Tana Music and Machine. He then has the most famous business name in all of Arctic Norway.
But the combination is really no so strange. He is working with machines. And he`s also an excellent musician, having travelled around, playing for a long time.
So then why not put together his two interests into one business; To Tana Music and Machine?
A good combination, if you ask me.

Salmon, fire, music and market

It was one of those weekends again. One of those good, ones.
It started in the valley, Jakobselvdalen.
The one guy with good ideas, Geir invited some people to join him to the river. He wanted to fish salmon. And be together.

At the top of the river there was a signboard that said "No Camping".
We didn`t pay much attention to the signboard, and carried on with our tent.
Then one of the cabin owners came towards us and shouted;
-No camping, no camping!
In English.
But the right was ours. According to Norwegian law, you can put up tents in Gods and the States free nature.
And so we did.

Down at the river there was a lonely salmon fisherman. He got quite surprised when he saw four guys coming, carrying good food, drink, a guitar, a harmonica and a drum.
But soon he was part of it.

Geir put up the guitar.

People around the fire joined in the singing and playing. Someone were fishing inbetween.

And everyone was happy.

The next day some of us went to the outdoor market in Langnes, Tana.
This is an old, traditional market held once a year.
The Globeblogger Ragnhild sold her special caps.

Grilled salmon was served.

There was music and dance.

And someone was swimming in the biggest salmon river in Northern Europe, Tanaelva.

Or went barefooted in the soft sand.

At the end we went back to Geir to see if he finally had caugt a salmon.
He told he had a big one hooked, but lost it.
So we were sitting there, outside the tent, chatting.
The wind whistled in the threes. The mosquitos tried to reach us.
And far, far away, we thought we could hear a dense shout;
-No camping, no camping!

Magazine for homeless

Inbetween shopping and restaurants in Oslo, I did something good.
I bought the magazine "=Oslo" from a homeless.
This is a new project similar to "the big issue" in England.
The homeless buy the magazines for 20 kroner and sell them for 40.
The guy who sold it to me, didn`t want to sell too many magazines. He was afraid it might lead to a too large consume of heroine.
And he hoped I didnt buy the magazine only out of kindness.
I didn`t know what to answer.

But the main reason is that I know one of the guys who has worked very hard to make this project come true.
Per Kristian has for a long period been working to raise money og make people realize the necessity of the project.
Now, after a big interest from the media, the magazines are nearly sold out.
You can understand that he is proud.
And it feels good that such persons still excists in our world.

City of Tigers

The capitol of Norway is sometimes called "The city of Tigers".
Strange name. Cause theres no tiger to see in the town.

To me, living far away, up north with few people, it`s nice to experience the capitol. All the people. So many, that I get tired from looking at everyone.

We were a few guys that wanted to experience the town one night.
It was then we discovered the contrasts.
Walking down to the harbour, we discovered some strange activity. Two guys jumped into the water. The police came.
We understood they all tried to rescue a person, floating in the water.
Not far away, a lot of people was sitting at outdoor restaurants, enjoying beer and food. Without noticing the drama.

When walking back, we met African prostitutes on every corner. And drug addicts asking for small money.

It`s all a lot of things we normally don`t experience.
And it made us tired.
So we left the city.
The city of Tigers.
That has no tigers...

The ferry

Living on the west coast of Norway means that you`ll meet a lot of ferries.
It also means a lot of stress. Driving your car, trying to reach the ferry before it leaves, hoping it has space enough for your car as well.

But now these ferries get replaced by bridges and undersea tunnels.
Local politicians has for a long time been fighting for such a connection to their own local place.
And now they come.

Meaning that a ferry like the one on the picture will soon be history...

Alone on the plane

My son is used to travel alone by plane.
He has done it since he was very little. Visiting relatives and grandparents from the south of the country.

I felt my heart was ripped apart each time I saw his small body wander alone into the airplane.
To him, it was just fine.

Yesterday we said goodbye to eachother on an airport again. Like many times before.
He was going to visit his uncle and aunt.
I managed it without getting too soft.
I think I have become quiet tough, lately.

Home of my childhood

I`m home on the island Halsnøy. This is where I was raised as a child.
It`s so different from where I live now, in Arctic Norway. Being at this latitude, in south, western Norway, you see how different it is. The island is all green. Everything grows. All the time.
It`s a small island. With no police. When the police comes over on a seldom occasion on the ferry, there`s a big alarm.
A note might hang on a wall, saying;
-Cops on the island. Park your car!

This is the farm where I grew up. Where I could run inbetween the threes, playing cowboy and indian. Or working at the farm. Or run down to the beach to swim.
I was the oldest son on the farm. Had the right to inherit it all. But I didnt want to.
Maybe it was because all the grass gave me hay-fever.
Maybe I wanted to do something else than cutting grass and feeding cows for the rest of my life.

Now it feels strange to be here. I start to sneeze at once. And I meet old friends. Who pronounce my name in a way that only people here do.
I feel like a stranger. And I feel like a stranger wherever I am. Having moved around, I don`t belong anywhere.

I brought with me some children on this trip. And they are very happy. They run around in the high grass. Between the threes. Down to the beach. They jump out in the water, which feels warm for Arctic kids.
Their joy reaches me; A melancholic and sneezy adult.

The town is Bergen...

The title of this article is a translated title of an old, tradional soccer song. "The town is Bergen, and the team is Brann ("Brann" means "Fire").
Compared to other European towns it`s quiet small. In Norway, it`s the second largest.
And it concist of people who put a lot of pride in their town.

When I was a kid, I thought it was the most fantastic town to visit. Being from a small island, the town felt very big. And you drive in a kind of train up the mountain. And visit an aquarium. To see seals, penguins og fishes.
Being a kid living in the suburb, it was just great.

Now me and some friends have travelled south for holliday, to visit the town again.
In a way it feels a bit smaller than before. But in many ways it stays exactly as before. With the old, traditional houses. The "mountain-train". And the Aquarium.
And I feel like a small kid again...