Are those trees? No. . . not trees. . . .

Around 6:40 this morning, I let Tika out the front door for her morning sniff around. Blurry-eyed myself, and without both my contacts or glasses, I wandered into the kitchen to begin preparing Tika's breakfast. I could hear her growling outside, and figured a neighborhood cat had dared cross through our yard. I squinted out the kitchen window, and something in the far corner of our yard--about 20 meters away--caught my eye. It appeared to be a new collection of long, gray, spindly tree trunks. . . with large bodies on top???

We had three large moose standing in our backyard!


I yelled up to Erik, who had a fantastic view from our bedroom window, and I ran to the bathroom to grab my glasses. If I had mistaken three moose to be trees, I obviously hadn't seen them very clearly! I returned to the living room just in time to see them turn and prance out of our yard, over the fence and down the hill between our neighbors' homes. My camera was in my hand, but not quite fast enough with the lens cap.


It is a bit surprising to see them this far down the hillside. Our neighborhood is rather quiet, and on the edge of town, but not terribly close to the woods. Tika seemed quite happy to return inside to the safety of her home. I don't think she returned to the backyard this morning.


I find it a little ironic that moose have notoriously bad eyesight, and that they perhaps see people as clearly as I first saw them this morning. "Huh. . . what are those new brightly clad talking bushes doing in my path?  Oh. . . they must be people! Ok then, time for me to go. . . "

So tempting, I might almost join her

First outdoor spring nap. . .

Spring is sprunging here in Lillehammer. Yesterday the temps hit +9C (uhh 48F), and today Tika deemed spring officially here by taking her first nap on the sun-drenched porch. You can see by the hillside behind her that we still have plenty of snow: a good 2 feet deep on most parts of the yard. But everyday reveals more and more hillside and more and more dog poop, so I, too, know spring has arrived.

Birkebeinerrennet: The official Lillestange update

Greta "heia"ing Racer #625, with norsk 
og amerikansk flagger.

My apologies (mostly to my husband) on my delayed-by-a-week entry on the Birkebeinerrennet. I was all fired up about my own ski race, and pounded out a blog entry that very day. The Birkie is a much bigger deal than my measley 15K race attracting 4,000 women. This is a ski marathon, Norway's largest, one of the world's most well known races, 54km long, over a mountain, and attracting 16,000 racers! Yes, you read that right: 16,000 skiers. 

Just beyond the finish line.
Check out the bluebird skies! What a day.

I am not nearly nuts enough nor in shape enough to even dream about completing or competing in a Birkebeiner ski race. But Erik was, and reported that it was "fun". Also quite exhausting. And he's ready to do it again next year. And is dangerously close to becoming competitive about it. 


He woke at 3:20am, drove down the hill to Lillehammer, hopped on a bus at 4am, and was driven 2 hours to the start. Around 7am his wave (the 2nd wave of starters, based on qualifying race finishes) was allowed to place their skis at the start, and at 8:10am his wave started, just 5 minutes after the first wave. 


In the meantime, I was receiving text messages on my phone telling me what his times passed through a few checkpoints along the race. This was rather handy, as I was able to time our arrival at the finish rather well, as well as have a really accurate estimate of when we should be carefully watching for Erik to finish. 


Greta and I positioned ourselves about 400m from the finish line, complete with a small norsk flagg and a somewhat embarrassingly large amerikansk flagg (hey, it was all I had). It attracted some curious looks, which I admit was really kind of the point. We stood along a section of trail where the racers would first cross above us from right to left, then swing down a tight hill and pass in front of us again from left to right. This enabled me to spot Erik coming up a short hill, where we could cheer for him twice, then turn around, and sprint 100m through the snow carrying a 29lb kid + 10lbs of clothing, and cheer for him sprinting towards the finish. 

A slitten Pappa and a stolt Greta.

It was another beautiful day, with bright blue skis, temps hovering just around freezing. The snow and tracks were in excellent condition, according to Erik. And it was a well-timed race, as the next 4 days brought nothing but sunshine and above freezing temperatures. Spring had arrived (and none too soon, if you ask me).

First spring weekend

Our lunch spot by the riverside

 Spring has arrived in Lillehammer, and the locals were out on the ski trails in droves this past weekend, soaking up the sunshine and basking in the balmy 35F weather. This is a pretty common Norwegian spring custom: pack a matpakke (packed lunch), ski in to a sunny spot, maybe dig out a little bench from a snowpile, kick back and enjoy the sunshine, and ski back out again.

We joined the droves, packing up a lunch and some wood for a little bål (fire) to grill our pølse (hot dogs). We were not alone. A second family picnicked next to us, and we were joined by easily a dozen other ski/lunchers.

Tika licking her lips at lunchtime

As we skied home, we spotted a large group of students gathering at the riverside--all on skis--hanging out for an afternoon in the sunshine.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Students at the riverside