one thousand gifts, norway, excerpt, week three

A walk down to the fjord
Someone's open bedroom window, in zero degree weather ... oh, the healing properties of Scandinavian air!
A lovely folkmusic concert at the Ibsen House
No drawn curtains in the houses we pass
Lamps and potted plants in every window
Looking into the house at the red light with generations of family portraits on the wall
The romantic couple standing nose to nose outside her house in the dark and the falling snow
A pen newly filled with ink
The ridiculous fortunes on yogi tea bag tags
This address in a magazine: Newton Road, The Mumbles, Swansea
A steady rain coming down outside my window
That bit of music from The Young Victoria that exactly resembles that bit of music from the animated LWW when they're grown and chasing the white stag
Leaning against the radiator to write in my gifts notebook while the boys play quietly
The smell of freshly chopped parsley
Reading The Blue Castle out loud to myself with a strong Masterpiece Theatre accent (despite the fact that it's a Canadian novel)
The sun! (after 17 days)
Blue sky!
The air filled with bird gossip about Spring
When the sun comes, it's everywhere. It greets you at every window, squeezes beneath every closed door, bejewels the snowy hillside
Clean sheets
Church bells pealing their call to worship
Two pigeons fluttering up to perch on an iron balcony
Jesus is the Fair Truth
The four year old tacking down the steep driveway at a full run
Lichen on the roof tiles
Waking to a chickadee's song