last days in norway

this morning i started my day on a home visit. someone had asked me to come see them. so i did. and i sat on a chair and listened to this person for almost an hour and a half. they were standing and sometimes pacing. i asked a few questions but mostly i listened. i didn't do much more thvingan that. i don't know how much that helped. they said they felt better getting those things off their chest. 

i felt. i don't know how to explain it, but i wish i could talk to someone about it. because it happens to me when i'm deep in a listen. it's like i'm lost in listen land. feeling what it's like to be this person. not completely of course. just a taste or a shadow perhaps. but it's almost like losing yourself. it's tasting emotions that aren't yours. it's experiencing life from another perspective--and it's usually a more difficult perspective and there's a feelingof being trapped, or lost, or hopeless, or confused, or ...i don't know. maybe someone will read this and say, are you talking about empathy? i don't know--maybe. maybe it's different. i've never tried to analyze the experience before. but definitely it effects me and i need some recovery time after to get back to myself. and i wish someone knew what i was talking about so i could discuss it witth them.

anyway...that happened. and i got to work. it was a busy busy day with lots of chaos. two important things: i met rick hanson. nicest most genuine kind man. and secondly we made a lot of progress on the cardboard box made to look like a cupcake that steven is jumping out of tomorrow. in the end i had to enlist pascale because she can bring my visions into fruition. that's the thing with me--i have visions but not the skills to make them happen. i so appreciate people who can make my dreams come true.

it's raining quite hard. welcome back rain.

norway, sunday september 6:

we went to church. barb and i went to church and torks went to play disc golf (ie frisbee golf) with his friend. barb has quite a large ward but we got her favourite spot in the chapel and i met some people. i noted that the pews were well spaced. one could stretch ones legs out fully, a luxury unheard of in richmond ward, where one must fold ones legs in half. well anyway it was fast and testimony meeting and i mostly understood everyone who spoke. then it was the first sunday with the new schedule of 25 minute classes. and it was fine.

after church we met torks back by the car and we went sunday driving. first we went to a lake that barb loves and we went for a cold dip. the lake:

torks did his duty and took our pics from afar while laying on the grass.

part of me wanted to swim across the lake but it wasn't the time or the place so i refrained. but know the urge was there.

yah, barb has a hooded towel dress and looks gangster in it. what of it??

back to sunday drivin' we went all over and we stopped at this little church which apparently is the oldest standing church in norway or something like that.

p

this sign is about the pilgrim route. this is a church on the pilgrim route.

old lichen'ed graves that we couldn't read anymore. the oldest one we could read, and by we, i mean torks, was from the 1700s

old door.

this says this  church was build around 1220

steeple hat...

after we got home we had some rests and barb made us salmon and rice and later that night we played 'cover your assets' and a game called idiot. barb was 'idi' by the time we quit for the night.

next morning barb and i both packed up and headed to the airport.  well i was already packed and played games with ori while she packed. then i said goodbye to the cute little red house and torks dropped us at the train in drammen

see ori in the window.

i had lots of time at the airport and a good thing because it took a while to pay for my luggage but i did have time to give barb a hug and buy a cinnamon bun and some pizza from 'bit'. quite delicious. and off to sweden for my next adventure!