Sunday, December 14, 2008

Afternoons in winter

Today I would like to talk about two Norwegian expressions. One is 'there is no such thing as bad weather, just badly chosen clothing'. The other expresseion is: weather sickness. I don't care if the medical community has proven there is no such thing - when it gets dark at 2 pm, and the fog is down around your ears I get depressed and melancholy! And the only thing I want to do, is to hibernate until May. However, you can't do that even if you are unemployed and feel you have every right to dig yourself in. So I went for a walk, even if it looked like this at 2 pm.

Oslo is located so that you can have both forests and coast. I am drawn to the water, even if I get seasick just by thinking boat... however, I am good on land:) Snow makes for interesting patterns. A Norwegian poet and singer said that snow was 'white-out on the misspelling of summer'. Quite profound.

There is a melancholiness in the afternoons of winter, I think. Imagine that these beaches are full of people sunning themselves, kids playing, hustle and bustle, lights and colours. Now it is quiet, cold, and empty.
And no, beaches in Norway are not usually miles and miles of white sand:)
But there is beauty in dark and snow, too:) As long as you are dressed correctly and can manage to drag your butt out of the warm and cozy apartment.....

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