Helpdesk in Medieval times

As one of those in "the older generation" who often

feel a little lost with the PC, the mobile telephone etc,

and who still remember the beginning of my life with a

computer, I loved this Norwegian film clip from 2001

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

Yes, moving from scrolls to books also had its

challenges........

Halloween 2009

As I have already mentioned, my experience of

Halloween is seeing it celebrated in American movies.

Now I know that Kate will grow up with Halloween,

it gets more real.

Here she is in her first Halloween costume.

When we were kids here in Norway there was a custom

for children to dress up (nothing fancy like this costume,

just grownups' clothes) right after Christmas and walk,

in a group of children, from house to house.

I think I participated once. We were the children

from three neighbouring families living a little

outside the village.

We knocked on the doors of each family.

There was some element of scariness , and I really

don't know why.

Because it was dark and cold and we were outside?

We sang some Christmas carols when the door was opened.

We then received an orange, I think.

This custom was called to "walk as Julebukk" (gå

julebukk).

Who or what was Julebukk? A Christmas goat?

Was this some old Norse tradition?

I don't know, so I just looked it up on the internet.

It seems to have been a custom to slaughter a goat for

Christmas, and then children would dress up with a

mask of a goat's head, covering themselves in a piece

of skin with the wool on, and walk from house

to house getting some treats from those who could

afford to give treats.

Do children in Norway still do this?

One internet source told that these days children dress

up in whatever they fancy when they "walk as Julebukk",

and that this custom is probably more prevalent

in rural areas than in towns.

Thinking about now, it seems to have some slight

similarity to Halloween.

Grand Hotel, Moss

In the 1920's a friend of my father came to work in

Moss. He first lived at the Grand Hotel, close to the

railway and the canal.

I don't know when it stopped being a hotel, but these

days there seem to be apartments on the upper floors

and businesses on the street floor.

The end wall was a regular firewall till not

so long ago, but now boasts six new windows.

It must be quite a change for those living in those

apartments - more light, and a direct view of the trains

passing by.

Autumn in Moss

Kirkeparken with the statue of the elk / moose

in the background.

Simple fun

This is a copy of the cheese slicer my Norwegian

grandmother had in her home in Oslo.

I have now bought a copy of that cheese slicer.

It looks beautiful, and every time I will use it,

I will fondly remember my grandmother.

Simple fun.

"More humane, tolerant and eager to share"

My friend Norberto from Brasil wrote, in a longer text with

thoughts after a trip abroad:

In that respect, revisiting places and meeting old friends,

has the dual effect of registering and incorporating changes,

and reviving old feelings through smells, tastes, images,

and in less extent sounds.

The name of the game is perfecting oneself, this endless game,

the increase of consciousness and well-being regardless of

our health conditions.

The feeling of belonging to someone, a family, a musical

group, a country, or the human race is always reassuring,

and it can be achieved by listening to a symphony,

looking to a landscape either in a painting or through

a real scenery, or trivially sharing one sorrows and hopes

with a long-standing friend.

This feeling makes us more humane, tolerant, and eager to share.

Forgiveness

I used to think that forgiveness only was possible

if the person who had done something I considered

wrong or hurtful to me, asked me for forgiveness and

probably also in a convincing way.

Now I feel that forgiveness has more to do with a

conscious decision from my side to let the grievance

go emotionally.

I like these two quotes Jerry sent me:

"When deep injury is done to us,

we never recover until we forgive.
Forgiveness does not change the past,

but it does enlarge the future."
Mary Karen

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Not to forgive is to be imprisoned by the past, by old

grievances that do not permit life to proceed with new business.

Not to forgive is to yield oneself to another's control. . .

to be locked into a sequence of act and response, of outrage

and revenge, tit for tat, escalating always.

The present is endlessly overwhelmed and devoured by the past.

Forgiveness frees the forgiver.

It extracts the forgiver from someone else's nightmare."
Lance Morrow

"Forgiveness frees the forgiver". I like that.