Tuesday, June 20, 2017

What would happen to the chocolate box ?

My Norwegian grandmother, born 1883, would now and then
get a box of chocolate from friends and family.
These boxes were kept in a secret place.
When she served chocolate from these boxes, she would always
use the oldest box.
On one occasion my father gave his mother a box of chocolate,
with an enclosed poem, in Norwegian.
(At that time, Vesle-Kari was my father's teenage cousin.)

"Jeg håper at du ei
vil vandre
inn i ditt kammers
og gjemme den der
blant de andre,
for da kan det hende
at jeg er så innmari
og gir bort esken til
Vesle-Kari."

Rough literal  translation:
"I hope you will not
wander
into your bedroom
and hide it there
among the others,
because then it may happen
that I become so evil/sly
and I give the box
to Vesle-Kari."

The island in Vansjoe / Vansjø

In the beginning of June a few years aback I was lucky to
join a guided tour of Vansjoe / Vansjø - the lake next to Moss.
The trip itself was very interesting, but what stays with me
in particular, is the visit to an island where we had our
lunch break.
The tranquility.
The mysterious forest.
Walking into that forest.