Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

Booktalk on a Sunday 44

text and images britt-arnhild

Five years ago, on February 4th 2007, I wrote my first Booktalk on a Sunday blog post. I had planned then to write one every Sunday. Though I didn´t follow that plan close, this post happen to be my 44th Britt-Arnhild´s House in the Woods booktalk. Not bad :-)

You find them all, together with a lot of other book posts, if you click on the category BOOKS.

::::::::::::::::::::

Today´s bookpost is a little this and that. Ot may be I shall use the words from last weekend, a little bric a brac.

I started to read an author quite new to me yesterday. Philip Roth. Do you know him? I first saw his name on Twitter where the Norwegian Crown Princess Mette Marit mentions to someone else his name. I saw some of his books while browsing through a bookstore downtown yesterday, picked up Exit Ghost, srarted to read it last night and soon found that I like his writing pretty well. And as I am planning, the coming months, to concentrate a little on American litterature, to prepare for our July in California, Roth feels like a good choice. Ok, ok, he is from the East Coast, I know, but anyway!

::::::::::::::::::

Have you read Philip Roth?
Which one is his best book in your oppinion?

::::::::::::::

I have been on Twitter for several years. Active in periods. Quiet in other. Through the years Twitter has been a place for me to read about travels and to discover new books.

Yesterday I decided I want to share my travel litterature collection on Twitter, and I made a list #travelbookaday. There I will, yes, you got it, I will share a travel book a day. My definition on what a travel book is, is quite wide though. I stated yesterday with James S. Ackerman´s Palladio. Not exactly travel littarature, but it is the one I used when I traveled the Brenta River with my Italian friend Antonella last year.

I haven´t decidet yet which travel book to promote today, but you will find it on twitter.

:::::::::::::::

Back to American books. I made a list some months ago, based on your suggestions. I still have the list and I´ll use it now to chose books. But the list is not finished yet, so if you have a favorite, a book you think is a MUST before we visit the US/California, please let me know and I will add it to the list.

It is a grey winter day here in Trondheim today. Icy cold. Slippery roads. Soon time for breakfast, then church.

And then the rest of the way, well, at least a few hours, will be dedicated to reading.

:::::::::::::

Have a blessed Sunday. 

Music for supper

text and images britt-arnhild

I´ve had music for supper two nights in a row. Different menues, though both in Olavshallen, both with Trondheim Symphonic Orchestra. The first night I went with a few colleagues. My parents were there also and I met them before the concert to have coffee. On the music menu was Fauré and Debussy. Fauré´s Requiem. Debussy´s Nocturnes.

I like to come early. Read the program. Let my expectations flow. Watch the musicians tuning their instruments

Fauré´s Requiem is some of the most beautiful music written. Debussy is not my favorite cup of tea, still okay and perfect music for wandering thoughts.

 

The second night was quite different. Same orchestra. Same music hall. Different conductor. This time it was my little brother. Torodd Wigum. Different music. Johan Halvorsen. Nino Rota. Jerome Kern. Igor Stravinskij. Johannes Brahms. Modest Musorgskij. Edward Elgar. And a few more.

Before the concert I had coffee. Not with my parents this time, but with Terje.

Friday night. A busy week is over.
Good to sit down together.
Good to share the week. 

Good to travel into the music hand in hand.

Good to walk home after the concert.

Hand in hand.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 

:::::::::::::::

Saturday morning has come no.

Guess what I will be doing this morning?

 

And lucky me. After my camera morning walk I´ll meet up with an out of town friend. We will have lunch together and I know that words will flow.

 

Running with wolves, flying with birds, or?

 

There are books in The House in the Woods which I read again and again. Last night I took out Women Who Run With Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés from a shelf I have over my desk for very special books. The book will follow me the coming days. Weeks. Months.

I love to run with wolves. I love to fly with birds. I love to crawl with turtles. I love to sleep with bears.

Life is about all this. Life is about the colours of the rainbow.

 

Tears
Smiles
Hugs

 

Have you met the eyes of a friend today. Looked at your own beauty in his or hers eyes? Let him, let her, see his, see her beauty deep in your eyes?

 

A fire

Coffee

Sausages

 

It´s called life.

Playing ball with the sun

text and images britt-arnhild

Three pm. Me walking from my new office over to the Archbishop´s Palace and the old office.
Sun in my eyes. Made it hard to see the pathway. The ice. Made it easy to see that longer days are on their way.

It started with a letter. A penpal through 17 years. Bad news.
I couldn´t believe when I read,

It continued through out the day. A phone call, an email. Words across a table.
The more I got the smaller I became.

In the end I felt I could creep into the wall and become invisible.
Hide from the world.

But the days are becoming longer. The sun is rising.
Life will go on.

I will survive.

Shadows are here to show us the difference between light and dark.

Trondheim skylines and a little bric a brac

text and images britt-arnhild

 

I decided to do something different on my Saturday morning walk last week. To look for colours, shapes, angels I had not yet photographed. To surprise myself. To see my beloved city with fresh eyes.

And surprise myself I did.

The most wonderful patterns, laces and rainbows appeared.

How can I have missed the playful mixture of colours up this hill. My eyes see the hill almost every day. It makes me wonder what I really see. How much I miss. Then comes the lace pattern made by the bare branches. I have made posts about bare branche laces before. Now it all felt new, again!

The day was cold and windy. Not many people out so early on a Saturday morning. I was not the only photographer though.

::::::::::::::::::::

Skyline and bric a brac

    

I am probably pushing the meaning of these words outside their lines. Can I call the first of these two photos a Trondheim skyline? The second a bric a brac?

Of course not. Still I do. Still I can.
I love playing with words. Especially in English.
And I guess I fall into a lot of traps.
English is not my mother tongue. Norwegian is.
No matter, I love to play with English words.

May be it is high time to read A.S.Byatt again. She is the queen of words. Or Frances Mayes. She is the princess.
My copies of their books are read to pieces. I  buy new, but never in a millon years will I throw away the read to pieces-ones.

But I am talking too much.
This was supposed to be a post about Trondheim skylines. And about bric a brac. I love those three words put together, though I have no idea where or when I first heard them.

Here is what wikipedia says about them

Items of low value? No, their not. Not in my understanding of the language.

Bric a brac - curiosities along the road.

But back to my Saturday morning walk.

I am sure you all agree with me that Trondheim si the most beautiful city in the world :-)

With or withour bric a brac

Old and new.
Glass, wood, brics........yes, brics a bracs.....

 ....and surprises around every corner.

::::::::::::

I could go on and on and on.......

....and might continue with a few more photos and words in a post tomorrow.
Or I might find something else to blog about.....

......like the amazing low sun I photographed outside the cathedral yesterday.

 

Blogging is a passion. And there is always too much to blog about. To share. 

Aurora Borealis, Northern Light in The Blue Garden

text and images britt-arnhild

Years ago there used to be Northern Lights to see quite often. Now I hadn´t seen it in many years. Not until Sunday night. The sky was clear, the stars were shining and I told Terje we needed to go into the forst, away from the lihts of the city. I was going to see the northern lights again. Aurora Borealis. Magic fairy dust.

The nights was cold, so we wrapped ourselves in comfortable winter clothes, and walked out. The night was also dark and we had no flash light with us. Of course not. We were to see the northern light. We needed darkness. The snow was hard. I stumbled and hurt my leg. The sky was sparkling with stars. But no northern light. After a while we gave up and walked back home. Terje drove to pick up Marta from her cheerl leading practice. I went in to continue reading my book. But I couldn´t stop thinking about the sky. Why hadn´t I seen the magic?

After a while I wrapped myself in a shawl and walked out in the Blue Garden veranda.

And there it was.

The Northern Light.
Aurora Borealis
Magic Fairy Dust. 

The photos are taken with a handheld camera. No art shots.
But the magic is there! 

The cross in light and shadows

text and images britt-arnhild

I am a believer, a christian. To live with my Creator is like breathing. It is there, without me thinking. I breath in. I breath out. God is there, walking with me. I know there are other religions. I know there are people who believe in no God at all. I like to share stories. I like to share experiences.

In church yesterday we heard about Jesus as Living Water. This water is there for us to drink.

Light was shining in through the window during the service. During the hymns and the prayers my mind wandered. The day before I had got an email from The Interfaith Observer, they asked if they could use some of my photos from Deir Mar Musa in Syria. Only minutes before walking to church I read a message on Twitter written by Alain de Botton where he tells that his newest book, Religion for Atheists, is out. I wrote to him telling him that I am a christian, still interested in his book, wondering if the book could be anything for me, I also wrote that I love his The Art of Travel. Right away de Botton wrote me back: Absolutely, the book is for you......

I have written back to The Interfaith Observer to let them know that I am honored that they want to use my photos. I have ordered Alain de Botton´s book.

The road I wander is widening my mind and I am pleased.

Skrei, the Norwegian miracle

text and images britt-arnhild

Once a year a miracle happens up along the northern coast of Norway. Some time during January till March, millions of Arctic cods find their way to their sprawning fields along the coast. This ready to sprawn cod is called skrei.

This year is a very good year for the skrei. Skrei from Lofoten is sold at Ravnkoa, the fish market here in Norway. I stopped there after I had finished my Saturday morning walk yesterday, and when I saw the fresh fish on the counter, surrounded by cod roe, cod liver and cod tongues, I knew a party was on its way.

 

So last night was a skrei party night in The House in the Woods.

Skrei, roe and tongues boiled in salt water, liver and onion diced and cooked in a frying pan. Potatoes and carrots. Flatbread.

Seven around the table, and we ate till we were completely stuffed.

The miracle of the Norwegian skrei.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::

A link to a very informative article about the skrei

Last year´s dinner for two