Norwegian Interlude

Golden days beside a Nor­we­gian Lake.  Long scarves of cloud halfway up the moun­tain­side in the morn­ing, sud­denly turned to fire as the sun lifts over the oppos­ite ridge.  First flakes of ice at the edge of the lake.  Frost stay­ing most of the day where the sun doesn’t reach at this sea­son. Forestry tracks, as always, made for for­est­ers, not walk­ers. A paraglider swoop­ing into the val­ley. Sit­ting at Sunday lunch in a house halfway up a moun­tain watch­ing the snow swirl and coat the forests. My daughter’s cosy small house — obvi­ously insu­lated way bey­ond any­thing we build in the UK, and heated by a wood­stove or an air source heat-pump (warm­pumps, they are called over there).  Grey days too, beau­ti­ful in their own way, time to hun­ger down and eat cake.