New Arrivals, New Activities

Mormor and Morfar have arrived all the way from Minnesota -- what a lovely treat.  They are just in time for Christmas concerts and to see Trondheim decked in winter white.  With their jet lag, they only have1-2 hours to actually "see" nature.  I tell them "yes, we have to get outside, the sun is out." Dad argues that in fact he hasn't seen the actual sun here, but I explain that "the sun is out" means that the sun is above the horizon, whether or not it is obcured by clouds.  

Annaliese cruising in woods

When out skiing in the white snow, everything glows and my eyes see a very bright landscape.  When I take a picture, however, the camera shows twilight and I get surprised.  The human eye with rods and cones processed by the human brain is a much better optical sensor than any of my spectrometers in the lab.  It automatically adjusts  the gain settings to maximize the observed light.  Here are some photos of skiing with Annaliese and some of my healthy outdoorsy  norwegian friends.


Skiing with hearty Norwegians, Heidi, Siv, Erlend, Luiza, and Annaliese

The girls have been busy with their variuos sports.  Melita won her volleyball tournament last weekend (if you can't tell her from all of the other blondes -- she is the tall one, second from the left in the back).  Way to go Nyborg!!  She practices with her team every week and actually thinks exercising that way is really fun.  So, maybe she can try out for WMS Volleyball team when we return. Also, check out her videos on youtube -- she's working towards her goal of earning $1.50 for her first 1000 views (don't worry I won't let her spend it all in one place).

Melita second from left in back row with her Norwegian VBall team

Annaliese is busy with her ski team, but felt a bit overwhelmed this last week now that they are no longer jogging and actually on skiis.  The kids here fly on skiis. Ever competitive, she was not happy be the slow one out there.  But, within 1-2 months, she will be cruising with the rest of them.   They alternate skate skiing and traditional track skiing every week.    I show a picture of a Norwegian daycare, with the cutest little tots that hang out in the woods (and note their tiny skiis in the background).  If I reincarnate, I want to come back as a Norwegian toddler in the woods all day :-)



Look Mom no ropes



Better than skiing, however, is rock climbing.  We discovered a bouldering gym nearby.  Annaliese gets to climb with no ropes at all.  Wow, that might be her idea of heaven.

I end with the first shot of Morfar on skiis - a bit shaken but not stirred.  He probably never thought he would get to skiing in Norway again, but has many fond stories.  



Many generations out exploring on skiis.