Taking a Break

Hi all, Hubby Gray here.
Laura is still taking a break from writing on her blog while she continues to gather more material. I will write in a later entry about the band after we have our first performance in October. For now an update.

We have settled in quite nicely here. The sun has returned after a couple of weeks of drizzly weather all over most of Europe. The fall colors are beginning to show and the temperature is dropping quite fast. In a couple of weeks there will be snow in the mountains. You can now get great deals on mountain bikes and last years skis. Every few days folks are slowly adding a new piece of warm clothing to their outfits; a scarf here, a hat there.

Last weekend we went to a free environmental festival. There was a free tour around the fjord. It was fantastic to see all of the little island communities. In little over a week Oktoberfest Oslo style will begin. Not sure what that entails. I do know that around this time of year Norwegians enjoy a popular dish of lamb and cabbage. I was disappointed to hear that my friend Ulrik will not be serving this dish at his party this Friday. He is having people over to watch the American debates and in honor of that he wants to serve meatloaf with a little American flag sticking out.
He asks me if I am excited about the debates. I tell him my stomach hurts just thinking about it.
Maybe a slice of meatloaf will fix it.

Speaking of which; Laura and I met an American in our Norwegian class who is so happy to be away from American press and any news about the election. He said it really used to stress him out and now he is happily taking a break. Not a bad idea. The American news has become so insistent these days, like the fast flickering of a TV screen, screaming out "look at me look at me, I am all that matters, feel the tension conflict and the utter outrage." Maybe I need to to take a break myself. I don't mean pretend its not there, I just think turning down the volume a bit will do. There are so many amazing things all around us everyday, expressing eternal beauty and connectedness. All one has to do is turn away from the laptop and head out for a walk on the beach, or climb a tree, build a porch, a spend some time playing a board game with one's kids. NOT MONOPOLY, at that point one might as well go back to reading the news.

Anyway, we miss all our friends and family back in the states and we so look forward to our vacation in December where we can sit around and play all in poker while we discuss the economy, and have some stiff eggnog while we discuss the election results... ahem, yeah...
Think I need a walk on the beach.