Cold and dark, with squeaky snow

This is Trondheim these days. There are mountains to the southeast and southwest, so even though the forecast says that the sun came up at 09:45 and went down at 14:36, the actual day is shorter. The sun actually never touches the house I live in, I think. So it is dark as night at about 4, making for looong evenings and disturbed sleep patterns. I try to see the sun every day (when it is a clear day), to be able to feel that it was actually day at one point.

Mentioning weather, it has mostly been clear the last week or so, giving temperatures below -10 degrees Celsius. There are lots of people around in their down jackets and with scarves wound around their head so that only the eyes peek out. Have you ever tried hugging someone who is wearing a down jacket? It's so soft - makes for great hugs. The only sad thing is that my cloak, which is my usual winter outerwear, is being repaired, and it is a bit too cold to use it.

But the skies have not been completely clear, we have had some new snow. It came when it was below -5 degrees Celsius, which gives snow with a wonderful sound. Oh, you thought snow was silent? Not exactly. When it is really cold, the snow sort of squeaks and crunches underfoot. I really like the sound cold snow makes underfoot - I know it is really winter when I hear that sound.

I have found out that I prefer steady seasons - summer and winter. I don't really like the changing seasons, spring and fall, because of all the chilly rain and uncertain weather. Sure, the winter is cold, but it is also beautiful, and you know what you wake up to day after day. Winter is actually the season, from my memory at least, when we have the most stable weather. We can often have really cold periods that last for up to two months (and even more!). That happens when a high pressure field moves down from Siberia and settles over parts of Norway. The sky is clear every day, the sky is starry every night, and the air is crisp and cold.

Still, I prefer sitting inside with a good book and a cup of tea looking out at all this, because the cold air really stings my face, and I often start freezing on my fingers and toes when I am outside for too long. Looking out at the moon shining down and the stars and planets shining down, I look forward to being finished with exams and starting my Christmas holiday.

Oh, and by the way, change is still scary. I moved out of my old big locker and into two small new ones, and  it's really weird. Now I have to go a different place every morning and afternoon - I have sort of changed my home base at school. I had my old locker for one and a half years, and I feel kind of sad leaving it. I think about the weirdest things sometimes. Pull yourself together, Julie! It's only a locker!

I think the exam period is starting to drive me just a tiny bit crazy - I'm starting to talk to myself now... I'll just procrastinate a bit more, to see if I can drive it any further (I am still trying to read 50 books this year, but I have 13 to go...).

Okay, I will stop my ramblings now. Have a great advent, and good luck if you are taking exams or the like!

Changing skies - November musings

The sky before I wrote this post

The sky is always changing. The clouds appear and disappear, move and make patterns. The sun moves across the sky (or rather, the Earth turns so that the sun appears to be moving) giving different hues to the things on the ground and the clouds. The clouds can be glowing bright yellow, pink or orange. Or they can be soft grays and blues. They can look menacing, soft, heavy, or happy.

And the night sky is a whole other story. The moon can shine out through a veil of clouds, or be obscured or behind the horison. It could also be there one moment, and then be completely covered the next. On starry nights, one can feel so small and so significant at the same time. I feel that when I look up at the stars, I am alone in having that experience. It makes me feel special, in a way. Sometimes I feel that I can reach out and touch the stars, but other times I feel the force keeping me tethered to the Earth, and I feel small and far away.

The sky and the Earth are always changing. But I often feel stuck in the same routines. I feel that each day is just a repeat of the last one, and that next week will just be another week. But the future is undecided, it's just that I can't live with that idea. I seek stability and predictability - it is comforting to know what is going to happen.

The sky when I had written this post

But even the skies and the Earth are governed by natural laws that dictate how and when things change. I wish the laws of my life were easy to follow and understand. Then my life would roll on as easily as the rain comes in from the ocean, and I would always be where I was supposed to be.

Clouds, stars, visible breaths in the cold air, sunsets and fallen leaves are things that add to the atmosphere of November. Darkness is taking over, the days grow shorter. Woolly jumpers are comforting, and a blanket is the perfect thing in the evenings. I sometimes wish I had a fireplace with a comfortable chair where I could sit wrapped in a blanket and read with a cup of redbush tea. This is the perfect season for that.

Musing as the November day turns towards the November night. This was just a piece of the wandering of my thoughts, I hope you enjoyed it.

Watching the world turn

Turning, turning, turning through the years.

Minutes into hours and the hours into years.

Nothing changes. Nothing ever can.

Round about the roundabout and back where you began.

Round and round and back where you began.

From the song "Turning" from Les Misérables, the musical

A sunset (or Earth-turning)
seen from St. Vincent

There is something special about watching the Earth turn. It can be beautiful, mesmerizing, peaceful and awe-inspiring all at the same time. Sunrise is an almost magical time. The first rays of the sun hitting the land, watching the sunshine chase the night away, it's peaceful and pulse-quickening at the same time. Sunset is equally fulfilling to watch, colourful and amazing, but softly fading into night. Here are some more sunsets from the Caribbean. It feels so big but at the same time so ordinary being in those moments when I have the time set aside to watch the sunrise or the sunset. It's like the thoughts I have are coloured by the colours in the sky - stress becomes nothing, and all thoughts mellow out. Now that winter is coming and the days are shorter, I can more often see the sunrise and sunset - if I just remember to look out of the window. Maybe I should make that a priority, to enjoy some tranquil moments during my otherwise slightly stressful days.

The progress of the sun across the sky is something I rarely observe except during the summer, so watching the sun move sluggishly across the sky is something that reminds me of hot summer days with nothing to do but to relax with a good book. Carefree and relaxing days, just watching the world turing and going for the ride.

Focault's pendulum

At university, I find myself drawn to another thing that marks the passage of time and the turning of the Earth - Focault's pendulum. The basic idea is that the pendulum moves in the same direction all the time, but because of the rotation of the Earth, its direction appears to be changing. The one here has metal pins set up around it, and these are knocked down about every 8 to 10 minutes (yes, I have timed it).

It is mesmerizing watching it rotate, knowing that when the next pin is knocked down, the world will have changed. Ever so slightly, but changed nonetheless. The Earth turns and we go with it, however unwilling we are to go at that pace. We are turning around and around, but never back again, even though it an feel that way. We are all time-travellers, travelling forwards in time at a speed of one second per second. Those second become hours and days, which become months and years.

Sometimes, watching the Earth spin, I feel so small, stuck down here on this pale blue dot. But then I think of how beautiful this blue ball is, with its teeming life and small everyday miracles like snowflakes and dew drops. It is humbling and awe-inspiring as well as peaceful to witness the turning of the Earth and the passage of time. Happy time travelling, remember to enjoy watching the world turn.

Sunsets

Today, I present to you some pictures I have taken of recent sunsets here. All, except one, are taken from the horses' pasture. It is amazing how the same thing happening (the earth rotating so that the sun is out of sight) can be different every time. And so beautiful!

Now for a summary of this week: I have had a quiet week (or rather, three days), with only 6 people in total at the academy. My legs are really polka-dotted again after having read The Fellowship of the Ring outside wearing shorts for three hours. Today, after returning from our third jog this week, Kristina and I discovered that the water was back, after having been gone since yesterday afternoon. Yay!

Books read: 19
Pages read: 5131

PS: It is quite normal to see sail boats passing by here, like in the third picture. When I see them, I think of how wonderful it would be to be sailing here, and I remember how it was when I went sailing. It is very nice to have those kinds of thought breaks when we are working in the horses' pasture, for example.

8. Waterfall

I had two showers today. In one, I was accompanied by a huge bug which I thought was going to eat my toe if I closed my eyes (that was scary, but nothing happened), and in the other, I was pounded by the water so hard I nearly lost my balance. The first shower was in the shower at home, in Richmond Vale Academy. I was accompanied by a 3 centimetres long bug with huge jaws and pincers it kept opening and closing. It was a bit unnerving, and I was afraid of shutting my eyes. It kept walking around, opening and shutting its pincers, but I think it was really looking for a way out. The water here has only one temperature, and that is lukewarm, but well below body temperature. There is only one knob on everything, like the shower and the sinks. Since the water is a bit chilly, it makes me shower quickly, but it's really not that bad. It's not like it's not easy to get warmed up again.

The second waterfall

The other shower was in a wonderful waterfall I walked to after lunch with the participants of the clinic. It was very nice and relaxing. I showered under one of the two waterfalls (one above the other). To get there we had to cross a suspension bridge made of thick bamboo sticks. It was a bit scary, and when I was in the middle it rocked a bit. Then we got to this beautiful waterfall, and I decided I had to get underneath that (especially after seeing the others do it). It was really relaxing to feel the water pounding down on me, and it sort of cleansed both my body and my mind. I felt really refreshed (and a bit chilly, and also very wet).

Afterwards, we climbed some steep stairs to the second waterfall, above the first one. It was beautiful and wild, and had a permanent rainbow in it. I mean, what's not to love? We took pictures and relaxed for a bit, and then we headed back down and home. On the way home we saw the beautiful sunset. It is different every night here, but it is almost always breathtakingly beautiful. It was a very good conclusion to a wonderful waterfall adventure.


Books read: 17
Pages read: 4572