Wednesday 25 March 2015

Views in hindsight

Time floating through space. There is a version of the universe where that is not just an abstraction. Of course, one can't be sure about such things. But then again, what can one, in fact, be sure about?


Taylor Swift's all grown up, incidentally. At least some of the time, if the latest album is anything to go by. Although, once again, what would be a measure of growing up?
Say you'll remember me
Standing in a nice dress, staring at the sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your 
Wildest dreams
I'm in two minds about mentioning the World Cup that's winding up to throw its last few knock-out punches. I've been following it, sort of. From the corner of one eye. It's threatening to get properly interesting though. Hmm.

I twisted my foot last week. The first properly stupid injury I've managed to pick up in quite some time! Refer to the all grown up comment earlier. I understand that it might not be possible to infer a particularly direct line of sensible connection there. But hey.

Against all expectation, (well, certainly against all my expectations) it's started snowing again! Properly, with actual coverthewholeworldinwhite amounts of snow. Whether I will be able to do anything about it, that remains to be seen.

In the mean time, I am unbelievably (and quite possibly, entirely ridiculously) excited about the fact that I now own a pair of crepe bandages again. :D

Feeling: not all that grown up
Listening to: Taylor Swift - Wildest dreams

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Wonderful unknown

It's almost like days have their own lives. Some days are groggier than others. Some are happier. Up bright and early and ready to get on with itself. Others seem to have had a long night and just want to stay curled up in slumber a little bit longer.

Today's a bit like that last one. Unhappy to be awake, and seemingly rather looking forward to a good night's sleep.


On some level, unexpected beauty is so much more thrilling than the more anticipated kind. Just the pure chance of it adds to the wonder. We saw quite the surprising display of Northern Lights last night, right here in Asker! Well, I imagine very few people would actually have noticed :).

What with the street lights and everything, it was barely visible in the beginning. But suddenly the thin strands of clouds playing beneath a field of stars seemed to shimmer and turn into something altogether more mesmerising!

We watched waterfalls turn into vast swaying curtains. Then into stars bursting into giant fire birds trailing waves of light. Appearing, disappearing, morphing, and even the faintest green tinge of colour in the sky an absolute joy to behold :).

Feeling: sleepy :)
Listening to: Beyonce - 7/11

Friday 13 March 2015

Some snow, some sunshine

It would appear North America has stolen Norway's snow this year :). I keep getting complaints from Boston about too much snow, while here the white is disappearing fast. Not before I managed to make a bit of good use of what powder we did have though!


Given the lack of ice on the footpaths and only the leftover grit to be cleared, I think this is a good time to consider the snowboarding season over. This year I seem to have dealt exclusively in weekends, rather than single days or evenings on the slopes. Not a bad thing. The last month saw a bunch of us head off to Sälen in Sweden for a couple of days and then more recently to tried and tested Trysil for (what is for me) a super long 4 days of downhill!


The awesome thing with these last two trips was that a few friends had decided to learn how to snowboard, and had even attended a course before hand! So I now had snowboarding buddies down the slopes! This, somehow, helped me improve my own skills no end! So, short as it was, this snow season has been extremely enjoyable. :)



And in between all that, there was the trip to Barcelona! It was a rather last minute sort of thing. Friends I hadn't met in a while were visiting Spain, a weekend happened to be suitable, so I booked the flights, made no plans and on the appointed date just sort of appeared at the little bed and breakfast that I'd been booked into! :)



It's the first more or less brand new place I'd visited in a while and definitely not a bad location for it! The weather was beautiful and we meandered our way through the city looking for Gaudi's amazing creations! It was a lot of walking :). It was good to have some local guidance too!



There is a sense of oldness to Barcelona, especially around the Barri Gotic area and the Cathedral. The cloisters especially were like entering a different era. But as with a lot of European cities, the old and new jostle with each other. As do other contrasts. Narrow alleys criss-crossing massive multi lane avenues. Hole-in-the-wall food shops and expensive restaurants.



One of the more memorable experiences of the visit was a flamenco show in a tiny local jazz club! But there were many others. The rather protracted hunt for dinner at an 'authentic' Catalan place on one of the evenings, for instance :).



But if I were to skip what in many ways was the main event of the trip, that would just not do! The visit to La Sagrada Familia. We had to try a couple of times, but we managed to actually go inside and even climb part way up one of the completed towers. The most impressive part of the experience for me were the stained glass windows, bathing the interior in a multitude of colours at the slightest sign of sunshine.


I'd noted the model of the complete construction in Gaudi's residence, and the scope of the task still remaining is quite daunting. If and when they do manage to finish it, I for one, would very much like to visit. But that will likely not be any time soon.


So that was more or less the goings on of the last four or five weeks. To cut to the present, it's been quite nice and sunny, and suddenly I've started noticing how long the sunlight lasts these days :). While the temperatures keep dipping below zero every now and then, there is a summery sort of feeling in the air!


But of course, spring must come first. Question is, will it last longer than a weekend this time. :)


Currently: contemplating blue skies and sunshine
Listening to: Afrojack - The spark