Spring is in the air!

April 24, 2006
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This blog, my Terella, is meant to be about Norway and the Nordic countries; the significant four seasons, our culture and habits. So it is with great pleasure I now declare the Spring Season to be starting for real. This means going from the dark period, when you don’t see the sun more than a couple of hours low on the horizon, a lot of snow and the temperature is mostly below freezing, to daylight until late in the evening. Already now the sun is up until 9 pm! Yes, this is the land of the midnight sun, but in Oslo we have a couple of hours of darkness in the middle of the night. Remember Norway is at the same latitude as Alaska and Siberia and looking at it in this prospective, the change from strong winter to light spring is important and significant. Since November not only the brown bears, but all of nature has literally been in hibernation and now it’s waking up and reaching for the sun. In this post, I will give you some proof:

The RoyalCastle starts to prepare for the summer:

Last week, after a meeting, I was passing the King’s Castle. In front, I found these two young girls experiencing that spring was in the air. (I had my mobile phone camera ready of course) Their winter coats were still on, but will soon be gone and as you can see, the lawn is not yet green, but it has its potential.

Some of the staff where cleaning up the King’s garden and planting to make the very best presentation for the 17th of May, Norway’s national day – our Independence Day.

Some spring flowers, Crocus, have found its way up from the defrosted ground even though there is still some snow left, as you can see in the background. Down from the monument of King Karl Johan on horse, you have a view of Oslo’s main street named after him. That will be the parade street on the 17th of May where all the children will march to salute the King’s family who stands on the balcony, which you can see in the first picture.

Let me tell you about the birds and the bees:

Every day in April, we are looking for signs of spring around our house. A couple of weeks ago, my wife showed me the scilla, which could not even wait for the snow to disappear. I just love to see this as the proof of the power of nature. Even if it seems hopeless in the cold and snowy winter time, there is life in the ground and it appears as soon as the sun starts warming it up. Not that I dislike the winter time – you have plenty of posts in my blog showing the just the opposite!

Last Saturday we were starting the same garden clean up as the King :-) and I saw bees flying around and helping the flowers to multiply. Remember it is only my mobile phone camera, but I do hope you still can see there is love in the air too.

Our first garden BBQ this year:

Married to an American gives a lot of joyful experiences. One of them is that the grill is out before all the snow is all gone. I wasn’t used to bringing it out before June, but she insists and I don’t mind. We had a visit from a couple friends from Bulgaria and my wife made some wonderful shish kebabs. My job is to grill them, which I do with pleasure. In that, I can’t resist a comment here: I would not say I am helpless in the kitchen, but most of the time my wife is most active in the cooking department – I make excellent gravies though! However when it comes to grilling, I am the master. Is it the same in you’re family?

Like I said, this blog is about the significant four seasons. Take a look at my post from January and February and you will know all about winter in Norway. From now on, the posts will be warmer, sunnier and with less clothes every day. So stay tuned!

Nature, Spring