Life in Norway…

breathe
in
life
now

Frosty the Oil Lamp

The climate in this bit of Telemark is a lot milder than in Hallingdal. Yesterday we had our first frost (-2’c) which is about a month later that I remember first frosts in Gol. The mornings are now noticeably colder but when the sun shines in the afternoon it feels like late August.

We will see what the winter brings…

It is a bit like watching a group of people with no experience of DIY trying to install a complete IKEA kitchen armed only with a Swiss Army knife, a pack of chewing gum and the motto, “No kitchen is better than a bad kitchen”…

The problem with fanatics, the Listhaugs, the Wilders, the ISs and the Al Qaedas of this world is that you, as a reasonable person will never be able to win a reasoned argument with them. Fanatics are always more dedicated to their causes than reasonable people ever can be, that being the whole point to fanaticism. Fanatics will be out at the crack of dawn, promoting their “alternative facts” while the rest of us are still waiting for our eggs to boil, our coffee to percolate and our toast to pop up cheerfully from the toaster.

Then one day, as we are enjoying a particularly good boiled egg, the perfect cup of coffee and some crisp fresh toast we turn around and notice that all the newspapers that used to practice proper journalism are gone. That the radio and TV documentaries that look past the sound bites and check the facts and sources against each other are no longer regarded as relevant by the vast majority of the population. That all the humanist voices suggesting that people who are not like us should be treated with dignity and respect will have disappeared into the margins of the internet, the margins currently occupied by today’s fanatics.

What will we do then?

For my part I have decided that after twenty years of “free” news on the internet it is high time for me to start paying money to quality news outlets for the work they do before they are driven out of business. It is an easy thing to do and a small price to pay for my children’s future.

I hope it is not a case of too little too late…

size 44 feet
bright eyes
open ears
nimble fingers
willing mind
look listen think

There are many like me.
Where are you?
I want to meet you.