Winter for those of you who forgot what snow looks like

Cold weather descends upon us.  Furry creatures hide.  Fluffy snow turns to ice.  And, northern lights appear late in the night.

When given ice, what must one do?  Learn to skate stupid.  While every living creature in Trondheim unloaded on our park (Bymarka) to ski in the beautiful sunny days last weekend, we left the icy snow and headed to find some real ice.   The downtown ice rink Leangen is designed for speed skating with a large outdoor oval, but also caters on weekends to those who don't look as good in spandex.   We skated around and around listening to "The Eye of the Tiger" and other hits from bands like Journey and Boston.  Typical Norwegian metal bands wouldn't be nearly so family friendly. 

Then we got a nice fluffy snowfall today and got out the "Sledges." The Norwegians use the British word for sled and I kind of like it better.  We wanted to share some snow and outdoor activities with all of our warm weather New Englanders who may have forgotten what winter looks like.  The Sledges at the house are pretty awesome with little steering wheels for precise manuevering  -  probably produced by Norwegian children in an elementary D&T (Design and Technology) class.  We walked down to our local hill and managed to find some long runs down.

And, to round out our winter trifecta (skating, sledding, and skiing), I also had a quick 2-hour alpine ski trip Thursday night on some lighted slopes nearby (Vasfjellet) with a gang from work.   They charge by the hour with digital cards that you zip into the pocket in your left arm ski jacket.    It was like my childhood "Monday Night Skiing" with only a T-bar to take you up a long slope and steep lighted paths down again.  No bones were broken, some jumps were taken, and great speeds were obtained by all.

But probably the most important part of the weekend?  My finely detailed buddha cross stitch needlepoint is taking shape.  Yes, winter is upon us.