If it matters to your wife: Tell her that the bear was killed after killing several sheep inside a high electric fence that was built to safely keep it out and safe from being shot. It's the truth.
Nice thread, Marlow. I was in Trondheim at a math meeting in the summer of 1997 and the woods and fiords were beautiful. The olympic team gave us a demonstration of ski jumping that was thrilling to watch. The color was so magnificent that when I flew to Ireland after the meeting was over, the emerald isle seemed a little pale by comparison.
Marlow - love your Norsk input. I've always thought - and more so recently - that Norway is the best country on earth in so many ways. Especially politically.
Environmentally it is quite similar to where I live in extreme northern BC.
Maybe I gravitated here because of spending a summer in Norway in '49, just out of high school. Loved it to pieces.
Nita
The hay drying system worked very well... Lol...
MikeL
Romantic images, yes.
jogill
Ski-jumping is a thrill to watch if you see the jumps well. And I'm glad you like the color, there is color even in the b/w photos. Though in my view nothing really compares to Ireland.
Fossil climber
People living in Norway right now are lucky. It's a very good place to live. By the way: picture number 3 above is taken 1949/1950.
For Nita - some other aspects of the hay drying system
Slaattonn
Credit: Marlow
Hesjing
Credit: Marlow
If you don't use a horse you can carry the hay on your back to the barn.
Great stuff Marlow. Keep it coming. Even though I don't speak Norge (is that the way to spell it?)
I spent a month in Norway and Svaalbard in summer '85. Have always wanted to return.
The woods that most blew me away in Norway were of a particular kind of tree out west, often lining the fjords, like these:
Not sure what type of tree, but in copses they seemed to glow. Walking through them was amazing - bright with filtered light, open to wandering, never impenetrable or dour, interesting vertical spaces, full of bird song. Strolling for 15 minutes could easily turn into a few hours. Felt like something from a storybook.
We saw so many awesome things in Norway. Next time I go back I hope to tour by bike - just one of those countries that begs to be taken slowly, and without engines. Will need good rain gear.
Birch is also the tree the "raw material" on the photo above is taken from, and it's only the outer layer that is taken, so the tree lives on very well.
HighTraverse
When you live in the country "Norge" you speak the language "norsk".
Let us know!