It's Over!

The race has ended and the skiers can now relax! For 43 years, this event has been a classic for outdoor enthusiasts as they participate with a few thousand other skiers of all ages and travel from Hayward to Cable, Wisconsin on a fifty kilometer ( 30 miles) trail through the Wisconsin  hilly forest on their cross-country skis.

Each skier carries a specific weight and spectators cheer as the skiers enter the little town of Cable in northern Wisconsin.

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Outside of being in competition with others, the winter sport or maybe just the exercise, it’s questionable whether many know ( or even care) about the reason for the event! And why the “required extra baggage”?  The extra weight is the equivalent of a two-year old infant being carried on a storied journey.  The event is
the Annual Birkebeiner held in northern Wisconsin. Perhaps some American-based skiers may not know it’s significance, but native Norwegians certainly do.

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This all started in Norway. There always was a war going on between tribes, but a civil war was being fought from 1130-1240. While  king and chieftain names kept changing every two to twenty years, the fighters were often loyal to the same two sides, namely the church-leaning Bishops who  believed they were the people’s  true leaders and the rest who preferred their independence, and  resisted!.

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Priest with crosier

The “Church power” people became known as “ The Baglers” who were centered in the southwestern area of Norway and believed this was the place for the center of Norwegian power. All tribes were urged to submit to their authority. Baglers were also known as ‘Crosiers’, a crocked staff carried by the bishops as a symbol of their power. Along the eastern border of Norway, the population was less affluent and tended to

Birkebein ( Birch legs)

make a living  robbing those more fortunate. This rag-tag group simply opposed the bagler attempts to solidify control. Because members of this unruly group were so poor they couldn’t afford shoes, they wrapped birchbark around their legs and feet. They became known as the “Birkebeiners”    ( the Birch legs) and worked the border area  of Norway and eastern Sweden.

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This war intensifies when one of their members, Sverre Sugurdson,

King Sverre

marries a daughter of the Swedish king, thus gaining importance. He becomes commander of the birch-legs and trained his followers into becoming a cohesive army, waging heavy resistance against the Baglers with countless wars occurring between tribes. New kings enjoyed their victories, but died quickly. Often, this interaction resulted in the creation of several male offspring who were later able to claim to be fathered heirs to thrones of these deceased kings. One of these future kings was a son known as Haakon and followed by several “King Haakons”.

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Håkon Sverreson ( son of Sverre) soon became the leader of his father‘s armies and took part in many battles. However, he died an unusual death, possibly that of being poisoned by his father’s queen. Being unmarried, there was no apparent heir to his kingdom.

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 However, at this time, a woman named “Inga of Vartig” approached the court with an infant boy she claimed was fathered by King Håkon, thus claiming heir to the throne. Being supported by the king’s

followers, the claim was accepted, upsetting all plans by warring Baglers and putting the baby’s life as well as that of the mother’s life in grave danger. To escape assassination attempts, two skiers were chosen to transport the  2-year-old child to a safe territory where he would be raised by another friendly Norwegian King. The skiers were being pursued by their Bagler enemies as the two skiers and their infant passenger struggled in a blizzard through forests and mountains to safety.

This rescued child would later be known as Håkon Håakonsson IV, King of Norway.  

This king reigned for an astounding forty-six years while finally settling the long Norwegian civil war after everyone  agreed to a church-state regulation.He also prohibited ‘blood feuds’ and created a  regulation of heirs to the thrones. All while creating what was to be called Norway’s “Golden Age”. King Håkon IV of Norway died in 1263, but is still remembered annually

  by Norway’s “Worldloppet” and The US Birkebeiner, one of which is held in the northern area of Hayward Wisconsin. Every year, snow permitting, cross-country skiing enthusiasts arrive to take part in the ceremonious skiing event, carrying a backpack containing weight that would have been that of a two- year-old child in their responsibility, had  they been skiing for their lives in the Norwegian snowy mountains.

 Of all of the numerous Scandinavian leaders and famous kings, Håkon IV has been honored and remembered by Americans and Scandinavians alike every year in this winter sport.

No Cash???

                                               Summer In Scandinavia?
 Time to make those reservations, arrange the flight and check the bank account. Everyone warns us that it will be very expensive and you'll need lots of cash. Every one of those Scandinavian countries has their own currency and don’t care for the neighbor’s currency. In Norway, it’s NOK, in Sweden , it’s SEK and Denmark uses DKK! Then Finland likes the EURO. Confusion! So many changes!

Here, at home, we have had our own changes.President Nixon took us off the gold standard in the 1970s to

gold and silver, but everyone likes the ‘US Greenback’. Then it was “The Bit”! The ‘Bitcoin’ was the new currency in 2009 and an easy way of paying debts and saving money using electronics. However, it also turned out to be a good way for drugdealers and moneylaunderers to avoid detection. Hackers pulled $103,000.00 out of a security-protected account.  But now, I hear Swedish banks are making a change.              What’s happening in Sweden?

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The Swedish central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank, recently has declared it's benchmark interest rate  to be a -35%., negative interest! What is

‘negative interest’? Apparently, this is a kind way of banks saying “ "Those  fees you pay when you use  bank services help us maintain  accounts rather than have the bank pay you interest”, while reminding  us to “Save money. Online services are available for your transactions.” Sweden have remained interested in the larger financial markets, but uninterested in cash. Sweden is becoming the closest country on the planet to becoming an all-electronic cashless society.

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The rumor is that if you use too much cash, Swedish banks might call the police because they think you might be a terrorist or a criminal. Due to the lack of use,  Swedish banks have started removing cash ATMs from rural areas, annoying some people and farmers. Credit Suisse says the rule of thumb in Scandinavia is: “If you have to pay in cash, something is wrong.”

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 Sweden was the first European country to implement paper money; and now it is the first to eliminate it. In Scandinavia,you might  find a small  sign saying "Vi hanterar ej kontanter" ("We don't accept cash"). Four out of five purchases in Swedish shopping areas are

made electronically. Plastic is preferred in the retail markets where 95 percent of all sales are handled with cards. Between 2010 and 2012 alone, more than 500 branches have gone cash-free and  900 cash"By 2030 we will be completely cash-free," says Niklas Arvidsson, adjunct professor at the Royal Institute of Technology .
machines have been removed,

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Many Scandinavians have not carried any cash or been to a bank in years.  In Norway, seven-year-olds are 

allowed to pay with a debit card and children have pocket money transferred into their accounts,  Norway’s largest bank DNB wishes to stop using cash as a means of payment in the country. The Chamber of Commerce of Denmark has also proposed to allow most retailers (except for essential services like hospitals, post offices, etc.) to make all money transactions electronically and ban cash.

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No cash? No problem — in Sweden at least, where cellphone and credit-card payments are quickly replacing coins and bills. "Sweden has always been at the forefront of financial innovation," said Teigland, a professor of business at the Stockholm School of Economics. Public

buses in Stockholm will not take bills or coins.  A fashionable coffee chain with locations in Sweden's largest cities, recently announced it was no longer accepting cash at its stores.  Others are finding it more difficult to adapt to the move away from cash.

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Many elderly people  prefer cash because it is easier for them to handle: They can feel the amounts involved by the different sizes and colors of bills, whereas with card transactions they are never totally confident they are paying the right amount. Only one Nordea branch, Oslo Central Station, still handles cash over the

counter.  Cash will still be available through cash machines (ATMs). No cashless systems have fully replaced cash and credit cards yet, but many influential technology and finance companies believe that this is the next big thing.    Nordea ,the Swedish bank, described the move in a statement as an “important strategic step into the digital world”.  Björn Eriksson, former head of Sweden's national police and now head of Säkerhetsbranschen, a lobbying group for the security industry, told The Local, "I've heard of people keeping cash in their microwaves because banks won't accept it."

  Debit cards and credit cards (MasterCard, Amex and Diners) are widely accepted in all three countries. However,  grocery stores might only accept debit cards and not credit cards.

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 But to protect everyone’s electronic transactions, security measures are constantly being developed. Hackers  have been  known to have the ability  to access accounts.

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One new method of security involves “Biometrics”.

IBM has developed a method that uses a person’s unique biological signature to verify their identity. Data is  created using a person’s fingerprints, eyes, face, or voice. IBM believes that in the near future, people will be scanning their eyes to withdraw money from an ATM, for example, and when  accessing accounts. IBM’s research suggests that this is a technological trend that is finally on the move in the United States.      Currently, Sweden is setting the stage!

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So, you can leave your greenbacks home, but your credit cards, and debit cards will be happily accepted. You may have to look into the Scandinavian ATM monitors or put your fingerprint on a touchpad  while saying a special code word, but you can probably use your debit card in most Scandinavian ATMs!

Prepare, if you see the sign:

You have entered a Cash-free Zone. Credit cards appreciated.

It's The Dreary Time

It’s winter time and heavy clouds hide the sun. Snow covers the ground and it’s too cold to remain outside for any length of time. Christmas is over and nothing much to look forward to for some time.

Aliens overflying Earth might be astonished as they gaze upon our fine planet. Torrents of rain have caused mudslides in the Western US while our Southern communities are being rebuilt after hurricanes, storms and   tornadoes raged from Florida to the North.The year 2015 has been cited as

having been the warmest year since weather records have been complied. What is happening? “El Nino! is the cause” according to some believers while other scoff, replying “ It’s just the law of averages.”
Whatever the reason, our air currents seem to be changing and when the normally north cold airflow sags southward and mixes with the warmer air flow, ‘things happen’.

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Digging out in Washington

Our North Eastern area is still shoveling out from a snowstorm that delivered as much snow in three days as residents normally experience in their entire winter! 2016 has only begun.

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Overseas, warmer than usual conditions in Norway has caused mountain snowcover to be unstable. An avalanche thundered down a    mountainside in Norway’s northernmost archipelago of Svalbard during  a December weekend in Svalbard’s main island of Spitsbergen 

Avalanche in Longyearbyen

Longyearbyen

destroying ten homes, leaving one man dead and two children critically injured.This avalanche was caused by  shifting temperatures and hurricane-strength winds. "Nearly 200 homes have been built at the foot of the mountains surrounding Longyearbyen, a remote Arctic settlement. " reported a Norwegian Broadcasting spokesman, but some geologists said they would likely never have been built today, given the avalanche danger that has grown in line with milder winters and climate changes.

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 An American, John Longyear, started an Arctic Coal company and set up a mining operation for around 500 people in 1906. The settlement was naturally called "Longyear City." Today, it is known as Longyearbyen to all Norwegians and  the world’s northernmost settlement with a population greater that 1,000 permanent residents. Major mining operations have moved away, but this settlement is currently known for tourism, the location of a University Center,as well as the site of one of the World Seed Vault and an prominent weather satellite station as well as for several other reasons.

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 The ground in Svalbard is permafrost, which means the soil is permanently frozen year round. In

Longyearbyen on a clear day.

Longyearbyen, the permafrost ranges from 10 to 40 meters deep, with an active layer that melts each summer as the temperatures rise above freezing. Houses are built on pilings, or stilts to prevent flooding and sinking as the top layer melts!

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In Longyear, the sun ‘sets’ each year for the very last time around   October 25th and is not fully visible above the horizon again for four months.   

Midday at The Arctic Circle

The sun officially reappears on March 8th, when it is finally high enough above the horizon to illuminate buildings in the area . People in this area of the Arctic Circle  are accustomed to this semi-darkness and learn to ‘live with it’. This time of the year is called the Murky Season or “Morkitiden”. Due to location in the mountains, this dark period varies from village to village, but the sun is mostly under the horizon until around March. Midday is  “most illuminated “ as the sun approaches the horizon,  but the sunlight is feeble.

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Watching for the sun's return

These days of ‘No sun’ are known as “The Polar Night”. At the end of these long four months, residents can look forward to a week-long celebration known as Solfestuka- the return of the sun. Children are dismissed from their schools to see the happy day of the sun’s first arrival over the horizon.

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Michael Emberley

 Michael Emberley is a prominent author and illustrator of many

children’s books since 1979. Born in Massachusetts, Emberley now lives in Ireland, but one book written about the Norwegian winter became a favorite of Norwegian children, as his subject, a young Norwegian girl child became overwhelmed with the prolonged darkness and yearned for sunshine. The story became nationally popular.

In his story....

A book by Michael  Emberley

The youngster lived in a small Norwegian village hidden deep between

mountains and it was the “Murky Time”. The little Norwegian  girl, her
parents and friends grew weary of the darkness and as the time dragged on, the little girl convinced her parents to  journey up the great mountain while encouraging many others to join them on their upward climb to  “Welcome the sun!”. This story is probably read and enjoyed by Norwegian children every winter “Polar Night”in Scandinavia.

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Norwegians in the Arctic have earned to enjoy this time of perpetual   darkness as the twilight reflects off the snow and the northern lights flash around the skiers often seen on lighted slopes. After returning

Koselig

next to the fire, they enjoy the warmth they call “koselig”- a feeling of coziness, candlelight, fellowship and fuzzy socks.
  These people are content to live in their environment.
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No one even dies in Longyearbyen. It is against the law! This is because of the permafrost in the ground. Death is forbidden. Longyearbyen has

only  a small graveyard that stopped accepting new burials over 70 years ago. The reason? Bodies never decompose. Scientists found that bodies remain perfectly preserved because of the permafrost.So if one is about to die, they are required to go somewhere else. It’s the law!       (Cremation doesn’t seem to be acceptable).

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These people have learned to accept these harsh conditions. They are able to find the positive side, adapt to their country's conditions and use their creativity to their advantage with a different mindset.

 They look forward to their Polar Nights.

Santa Has left The Area

A famous 'person of interest' has departed a very important calendar-time of our year, but his celebratory appearance has once again brought up issues. Mr. Santa Claus, a very beloved 'real' man appeared by journeying to our lives and leaving in a vehicle pulled by a mythical team of  'Hreinin', which in old Norse translates to 'horned animals' or reindeer!

 "On Dancer, On Prancer...!"

This animal actually exists today. As Santa leaves, he calls out his team's names, ending with  "Donner and Blitzen". However, those two confused Dutch deer are really named Dunder and Blixim, named by the 

Sami Santa?

Dutch-American who wrote the famous story about St. Nicholas. So, what's right and what's wrong with this picture? Maybe, Santa is really Sami! One more thing: Both sexes of reindeer grow horns, but the adult male sheds his in the early winter, while the female keeps hers! So, the sleigh is being pulled by a  team of female deer   ( they all have antlers) that has the ability to fly!

 No wonder our children are confused!

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Reindeer were once viewed as mysterious creatures living in lands in the northern part of the world. Their population was widespread in Scandinavian and Eastern

European countries where, during the 18th century, they were domesticated. They are often used in transportation, pulling sleds and sleighs, and are still an important part of some northern European cultures, particularly to the Sámi people (commonly known as Laplanders to non-Europeans).

 The Sami are one of the oldest indigenous groups in Europe. Two thousand years ago, they inhabited all of present-day Finland. They have also lived  in the inland of Sweden and all the way to the Atlan­tic Ocean, from central Norway north to the White Sea, in what is now Russia. The Sami have a variety of livelihoods, including coastal fishing, fur trapping, and sheep herding. Their best-known means of livelihood is semi-nomadic reindeer herding. Currently about ten percent of the Sami are connected to reindeer herding, while the deer provide them with meat, fur, and transportation.

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   The Sami people have depended on the reindeer for food, transportation and their livelihood. The reindeer are free ranging to find their own food and survive the winter cold as well as summer heat, pests and wolves. In a year, reindeer may travel as much as 3,100 miles  each year. To avoid the winter weather of the tundra, reindeer travel back towards the forest to seek shelter from the severity of winter. Winter is a difficult time for the reindeer, therefore, movements are erratic as they forage for sufficient food to sustain themselves through the long, cold and dark eight months of winter.Reindeer migrations are simply a means of survival and during the winter, it migrates to the forested areas where it is easier to dig in the snow where they find  reindeer lichen on which  to graze.

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 To keep up to the reindeer, Sami herders must be able to move often. Their temporary dwelling is called a lavvu  (pronounced “LAA-voo”).Its simplicity enables the Sami to move quickly with their semi-domesticated reindeer herds at a moment's notice. Similar to an 'Indian tepee', the Sami home is more centered to the ground, and better able to endure the fierce winds of the Scandinavian tundra, a design that dates back many hundreds if not thousands of years.

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It's winter, and Christmas really is over! Dunder and Blixim

as well as thousands of reindeer will  cross Scandinavia for their annual two-month migration from Norway to Finland. It's a matter of survival and instinct. Sami herders will pack up their lavvus and family for their  journey which can take two months, covering hundreds of miles.Around 3,500 reindeer and dozens of Sami make the annual trip across the snow from Karasjok, the Sami capital of Norway, over the snowy plains of northern Scandinavia, and across the Finnish border.

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 The "stay-at-home" Scandinavians can only wonder what that trip would be like and  how it must appear. Winter nights are long and entertainment must be scarce. TV watchers have become content to watch TV productions of long duration. During one Yul, Norwegian TV aired "Yule Log" that did nothing but flicker all night. Another "Slow TV"  epic event was of a  'knitting marathon' in real time. These productions are well-liked by Norwegian viewers and these reindeer have caught their interest. By popular demand,  the reindeer migration will be aired on TV!

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" Coming soon, Reindeer Migrate to Their Winter Grounds"

NRK TV will air reindeer being herded across the country. The project leader Thomas Hellum, an NRK producer. says" it's going to be hard-core, but will only last a week. Anything more", he says," would be too slow, even for slow TV. It might be boring at times, but live reindeer migration is hardcore slow TV.” “It’s an opportunity to give the rest of the country a greater understanding of our culture,” said Ole Rune Hatta, of NRK Sami . Slow TV has been a big hit in Norway since 2009.

Ready...Action!

This large herd of reindeer are following their instincts and ready for the long journey.

10,000 to up to 100,000 animals band together for their journey.

As Sami herders keep them together, they travel to more favorable winter grounds.

The long journey continues until  winter food and shelter from the cold is found.

The Sami reindeer herders follow their animals all the way across the plains of Sapmi, an annual task of herding thousands of reindeer many miles in order to survive the tundra winter.As the season changes, The herd will retrace their path and return to warm and fertile home. Dunder and Blixim were unable to fly on their journey, but the annual event goes on.

Have a good trip. We'll see you on TV!