to those that love us: we're off

to my parents, and to annie's; all i can say is that we are able to take this trip because of you. the love and support that you folks give to us is impossible for us to repay, but of course you didn't mean it to be repayed. i just want to say thanks; for caring for us and helping us out. it means more to us than we can adequately describe. we don't take you for granted. thank you so much for caring for us, and giving us a little trip to a place that is more "home" to me than anywhere else on earth. i've always had a difficult time describing my "norwegian-ness" to others. you know...."well i was born there....no i didn't live there much.....no, i don't speak the language.....no, i'm not a citizen anymore....but i like to visit!" at any cost, i have stronger memories of the red house than anywhere else. i remember builing a tree-house with my buddy freddy; a rather enterprising venture; and i think we're lucky we didn't fall off that rickety thing : ). i remember picking blueberries for panacakke (mom, you'll have to help me with the spelling, there : ), the heavy winds and rain, the garden, the outside of the island which is a sanctuary of calm to me even when the ocean is raging, and of course fishing, for fish (duh), crabs, and those funny-looking long-crabs with big claws and a tail.......but all that is peripheral. i guess to me it's like a mystery i never had time to solve; a disjointed one "to be continued" the next summer. and back i go.

-bryan

bear

well, i saw a bear today.

here's the fun story:
as i was strolling up the flatirons, i came face to face with a huge bear. we wrestled for three hours but he finally acknoledged i had the dominance, and went away in shame

actual story:
as i was strolling up the flatirons, i saw a bear about 100 feet up the trail. he was just sitting there looking at me; enjoying the gorgeous spring we're having here (side note: spring is amazing right now! we had thunderstorms and rain today; and we've had a significant amount of rain lately; everything is blooming on the hills; high grass and wildflowers everywhere). anyway, he just sat there looking quizzically at me, and i decided to turn around. he walked a little my way, then turned off, and he's probably out there now getting some sleep. anyway; i walked down and told the open-space dude about it (sits at park entrance with information etc.). that's about all there is to the story. annie is pestering me with questions to the effect of "what are we forgetting for norway", so i'm signing off. i need to invest in some "bear spray". at any cost, seeing a black bear around here is rare (rhyming unintentional) and it was really cool.