Annie Get Your Gun!

My first entry: The Magic of Mølde
Hello all! Hubby Gray here with my first blog entry.(Cue fan fare and confetti.) Our story begins just a couple of weeks ago when Laura and I traveled with our good friend Nils, up north to a place called Mølde. How can one explain Mølde. Ah yes, Mølde home of the body bag, if ya wanna get shot wear the wrong color rag. No, that’s not it… let’s see. Mølde, where kids are king, come on down because we are the dealingest. No that’s not it either, I think a more accurate description would be close to what the great Garrison Keillor often says about Lake Woebegone, “Where the women are strong, the men are good looking and the kids are all above average.”

Yes Mølde, is a magical place, with delightful people, and incredible mountains and fjords. Many of the mountains and valleys have been sculpted out by massive glaciers, in much the same way as Yosemite Valley, however in the same way that Yosemite is truly a one of a kind place; the same can be said of Mølde. I must say, in regards to the people of Mølde, the Lake Woebegone reference fits quite well, as I explain the rest of my journey below.

Norman and Jorunn
We stayed for a few days with Nils parents Jorunn and Norman. They are two of the sweetest and most hospitable people I have met. This was my third time visiting them with Nils. And I must say our friendship has really become a connection I cherish. Often when I come to visit we stay up late at night talking into the wee hours and on occasion enjoy a few sailing trips around the fjords together.

Where the women are strong
After our too brief stay with them, Laura, Nils and I headed a short distance away to have brunch with Nils’s sister Anne and her family. We first had to board a ferry to take us across the Fjord. After boarding, Nils encouraged Laura and I to buy a special kind of pancake served on the boat. I went to the counter and order, behind the counter was Nils’s niece, a slim young woman of about 19 years in age. She came over to our table to take a break from her work and tell us all about her winning first prize for her age group in a strong man competition in Mølde. A video of the competition can be found on youtube following this link. she can be seen at about 5:12 into the video, lifting a variety of heavy objects, and the smiling sweetly for the cameras.

Mølde's very own Annie Oakley
I don’t know about you, but I am impressed. So just who is the mother of this strong young woman? That would be Nils’ sister Anne. A very fitting name, for a woman considered to be the Annie Oakley of Mølde.
Annie in Action
Annie in wiki
Annie Get Your Gun

Every time a motorist hits a large animal on the mountain roads, if the animal runs off after the accident, it is the driver’s responsibility to call in and report it to the highway patrol. At that point the highway patrol calls in Anne. She and her husband then load up their three German bred blood hounds into her truck and then head out, often into the darkest early morning hours. They track down the large animal, (moose, reindeer, or bull elk) and try to determine if the animal has the ability to survive its wounds, or if the animal suffering they put it out of it's misery.

We arrived at her home by the fjord and had a lovely brunch outside on her porch. After we finished eating Lingon berries and vanilla cream, we headed out to the shooting range with Anne and her Husband. The shooting range was a short distance from their house, a large shed-like structure with barn doors on the back side that slid open to a large ravine. Far across on the other side of the ravine were the moose and deer shaped targets. The targets are connected to monitors inside the shed where the shooter can see immediate feedback on how close they hit the bull’s-eye. The moose target in particular is quite difficult, since the only way to bring that large animal down is a direct shot to the heart; an area just a little larger than one’s hand. This target is only exposed when the animal is in exact profile to the shooter. If the moose is angled away from tracker by just a few degrees, the target is blocked and the opportunity missed. In most cases, the shooter gets one opportunity. In Anne’s case, she gets one opportunity in the dark of night climbing up mountains and through brush.

Bull's-eye
I have never been fond of guns, and feel the world would be a better place without them. This is one of those rare instances where I can see there is no alternative. I had only ever fired a weapon once before, with Laura’s cousin Ben, a professionally trained soldier, who had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In that instance I shot some pretty large rifles that freaked the crap out of me when I pulled the trigger. Especially the very large shotgun, the Ben insisted that I fire once with the stock down looking through the site and again with the stock up firing from the hip like Clint Eastwood. The second time I fired, I was so overcome with nervous anticipation, that I may have closed my eyes at the last moment, just like I did the first time I swung a bat in little league. Jumping ahead now to Mølde, this time I put on ear protectors and stood several feet back with Laura from where Anne was positioned. The sound was incredible and I marveled how relax and steady she kept her body and focus. Most impressive was how close her shots were all grouped dead center in the bull’s-eye and in the exact same spot. She turned to me and asked if I was ready. I really REALLY didn’t want to. But since I was the guest, I saw there was no way out of this request. So I relented, shrugged my shoulders and got down into position next to Anne. She helped me quite a bit and gave some fantastic instruction. I was actually able to calm my nerves and heart rate down, and turn my concentration to the target. The target was far enough away across the ravine that my slight pulse was causing the crosshairs to bob passed then target with each heart beat. The key was to settle into this context until I could anticipate and pull the trigger at a predictable moment. And wouldn’t ya know it, that I Matt Gray brought up in the comfy California suburbs of lawn mowers, and leaf blowers, managed to hit the inside of the bulls-eye. OMG! I actually hit it on my first and second try. She asked if I would like to fire one more time. I declined in order to keep my record as an expert shot intact. What a thrill! Still as I stepped back for moment, I am sure it is quite a different experience after scrambling up steep ravines in the dead of night chasing a large frightened animal. Still I can't wait to tell Laura's cousin Ben.
Takk på leser, Matt