Essay: How I Spent My Christmas Vacation
Really it’s a photo essay, as is probably already obvious.
So here I am all decked out in my late grandfather’s overalls, shirt, and gloves (and my grandmother’s socks), holding the gargantuan rake:
(I’m TOTALLY posting this picture on LDS Mingle. Or I would, if I had an account on LDS Mingle. Which I don’t.)
As you can see from the piles behind me in the picture above, I had already been doing what’s in the picture below for quite a while:
Then, the gathering and cramming into bags!
Can you tell where I’ve been?
Once one has bagged the leaves, one must carry the bags to a specified location:
Forty-three bags in all. Thirty-five from today; eight from yesterday.
My grandmother TOTALLY owes me. I mean, all she’s done is love me and help raise me for the past almost 34 years. And let me stay at her house and eat her food for free. And give me Christmas and birthday presents. And…
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)Scandinavia, part 2 (Norge)
More pictures from another beautiful, beautiful place:
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- Medieval fortress – bigger and more intimidating than it looks here.
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- Bryggen – the building tradition goes back 900 years. 900 years!
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- A Christmas store. Since it’s Norway, there are lots of cute trolls.
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- The road to the Hall of the Mountain King! (Grieg’s house is at the end. I loved these old, knotty trees.)
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- Grieg’s home – pretty much the coziest house ever. And so pretty!
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- Grieg’s back yard, part 1. I saw the inspiration for his music everywhere.
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- Grieg’s back yard, part 2. IMAGINE.
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- It’s a sewer cover. And it’s charming. Ah, Norway.
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- Norway has no shortage of trolls…
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- Another troll. Don’t know why it’s sideways…
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- Proof that I was there. I took the Ulriken (cable car) instead of climbing the mountain, ‘cuz I didn’t have much time.
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- View from the train window. Lovely!
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- Look! Another troll!
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- Being vanquished by one of my ancestors’ cousins (my Scandinavian heritage is Danish)
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- A Thai tourist. I loved her adorable hat.
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- A tiny village at the edge of the water. Notice the lack of roads leading to said village…
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- On the ferry in the Sandefjord.
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- See the tiny building? Look closely… Again, notice the lack of roads…
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- Hopping onto the Flåmsbanen for an amazing train trip up (and through!) the mountains.
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- In Myrdal, waiting to transfer after the ride on the Flåm railway. COLD. Modeling a hat bought just for the occasion.
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- Another beautiful village seen from the train. Looking at these pictures makes me wonder what I’m still doing in Boston.
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- It’s, like, a factory. But it’s a beautiful building nonetheless.
Scandinavia, part 1 (Sverige)
Pictures from a beautiful, beautiful place:
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- Gamla stan (Old Town)
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- Scandinavian clothes – too bad I already have a dirndl…
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- These are everywhere. They are also very tasty.
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- Typical Swedish souvenirs – I chose to take pictures instead of buying anything. Cheap, I know – but Scandinavia isn’t.
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- Now your inner Viking can come out and play!
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- They start ‘em young…
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- IKEA, are you paying attention?
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- Hard to see, but made to look like a ship turned upside down – the Vikings held meetings under upside-down boats.
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- See that cerulean sky? Yeah, it was like that pretty much the whole week…
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- Two awesome Scandinavians and an honorary Finn