Another Anniversary

It's been 75 years since it all began. Every nation became involved and the memories remain. All centered around one person and  his select group . Every year, they remember.

Corporal A. Hitler in WW1 uniform

                                   It was June 19, 1918 when the word came that the long and costly war was finally over.
A young German soldier,Corporal Adolph Hitler, had been partially blinded in a mustard gas attack and sent to a military hospital, where the news of the November 11, 1918, armistice reached him as he was convalescing. The end of the war was an emotional disaster for Hitler, adding more energy to his sense of  antisemitism. Losing the war, Germany’s financial struggles and political upheavals to follow gave him the opportunity to convince the German public that he was the man who would lead them back to greatness.

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Twenty years later, secretly creating a new army while surrounding himself with men of the same ilk, they set out to recover  lost territory. Many Germans in Austria supported Hitler’s nationalistic“back to The Motherland” movement and found little opposition from any other country and the annexation of Austria  March, 1938 was a simple exercise as the Nazis tested their new power. Adolf Hitler’s popularity grew.

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Glewitz Radio Station

Now, fully confident that bigger countries would not  interfere, The fanatical Nazi army under Hitler’s command  decided to invade Poland. Needing some excuse, they attacked a border Polish radio station falsely accused of broadcasting an “anti-German” sabotage message. After staging the attack,” in self-defense”, the conquest of Poland began September 1, 1939. The lightning war began.

Finnish soldiers in the Winter War

All this time, Finland had been involved in a dispute with Russian as Stalin demanded air bases and ore from Swedish mines.  The Soviets invaded Finland on November 30, 1939. (Stalin claimed that Finnish troops opened fire on Soviet troops.)The Finns needed help in the military action and Germany offered assistance. Finland was not a full supporter of Germany, but needed  help and  Germany  joined Finland to fight the Soviets. Finland remained unoccupied and maintained a democratic government throughout the conflict.
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  On  April 9th  1940, German warships entered major Norwegian

German warships being sunk in Norwegian Harbor

ports,  deploying thousands of German troops occupying Norway. At the same time, German forces occupied Copenhagen, among other Danish cities. In Denmark, King Christian X, convinced that his army could not fight off a German invasion, surrendered almost immediately, and Denmark, as well as Sweden, became a steppingstone to Norway.
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Continuing the Nazi Western Movement, Hitler’s war machine came to Sweden. Sweden had always enjoyed being a neutral state and wished to remain as such. For Germany,

German weapons being transported on Swedish railways

Sweden had no strategic importance other than Swedish iron ore and rail lines for Nazi troop movements westward and all this was achieved with no waste of Nazi troops. During the war, Nazi pilots who were shot down were jailed, while allied pilots who were shot down were free to go. Germany ignored the situation and Sweden remained neutral.
During the warm months, there was little German concern regarding the transportation of the ore into Germany. However, when winter snows shut down the railroad,  the route was forced to switched to a westward overland route into Norway, then transferred to

sea-going freighters which hugged the coast . This created a German problem. Germany had to control  the Norway route of Swedish ore to Germany. This, plus Norway’s coast was important for German warships, submarine bases and proximity for luftwaffe attacks on Great Britian. Norway was an  important target. The war that began  in 1939 continues into the next year.

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 partisan saboteurs at work.

Even before Denmark was fully occupied, German transports flew to Oslo from their new Danish airfields. The Norwegians fiercely resisted the Nazi invasion and underground partisans tied up a large portion of Nazi troops who hunted them throughout the “long five years” of occupation.Germany invaded Norway on April 9th 1940 and stayed there until Germany surrendered on May 8th, 1945. Adolf Hitler had hoped that France and Britain would no longer oppose  his conquests and quickly make peace, but was angered when that didn’t happen. On 10 October 1939, the British refused Hitler’s offer of peace and on the 12th of  October, the French did the same.After months of nervous speculation, Germany brought war to Western Europe  May 10, 1940. German bombers hit air bases in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. French leaders became resigned to an inevitable surrender and signed an armistice with Germany.

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Hitler’s Western Expansion movement was complete, but   Britain remained unconquered , Russia was now German’s enemy in the east and the USA would soon be forced into the war due to the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Hitler’s blitzkrieg war machine was now fighting a “two front war” and was finally finding heavy opposition.
The German occupation troops in France knew the Allied Forces were coming, but did not know when nor where they would land. After extensive planning, Allied troops completed  their landing operations on 6 June 1944,a day known as  D-Day, the largest

seaborne invasion in history. This began the liberation of France , and  all other countries from Nazi control as the Germany troops were forced into retreat  finally ending with an Allied victory in the war.

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1939 marked the beginning of armed conflict in Europe that resulted in historic atrocities, destruction, and death of millions of people by sadistic Nazi leaders who strived to liquidate all “sub-humans” and create a master race. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi regime were finally pushed back to Germany, relinquishing everything that was gained after 6 years of overrunning Europe.

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Every country marks the day the Nazis entered their country, beginning in 1939. This year marks the 75th anniversary of these individual country’s horrific day when the Nazis marched into their history.
 

Commemoration ceremony  are annually held in honor of all who served, suffered and died.This year marks the 75th  anniversary of the beginning of World War Two.

Oh, No!

A  Norway maple that stood the test of time and the northern Canadian climate for over eighty years is no longer.

Residents of Riverdale Park , East Toronto, Canada had taken a special interest in this old Norway maple that had recently suffered severe damage caused by a catastrophic ice storm, December 13th. Limbs were broken and the tree was marked  for removal by a city arborist  due to “its state of decline” and a work order  was  issued. After many public pleas , city officials agreed to prune the tree to make it safe and do some repair on the mature tree.

The work order to destroy the tree was rescinded and the service request cancelled. This aged tree was not considered to be “ the prettiest tree around” but it’s location in  the park, it’s appearance of strength and durability was appealing to residents. “The Norway” as it was known, was an important part of the city. So, a pruning crew, led by forestry chief  arrived early one morning, and few hours and 55 cuts later a third of the great tree’s canopy was gone, but the tree remained standing.
The tree was given a 60-70 per cent chance of survival and Dan Valley residents and visitors began to  root for “The Norway”. Arborists later reported that there was  no disease and there was never again any mention of the tree being slated for destruction. The tree's progress began to be a center of attention as everyone watched it’s progress, new growth and rugged durability. It gained even more respect as it survived and began to recover. “Old Norway” was going to remain a important part of local life.

Then, one February evening, residents returned home from work 

and found  “Old Norway” gone.

 That early February morning,contractors had arrived and cut the massive tree down, leaving a stump in the snow and branches and  debris strewn down the embankment towards the Don Valley below. Demands for explanation were  answered with “It was a mistake”. A “clerical error,” according to a city spokesperson . A Parks and Recreation clerk had found the original work order to destroy the tree,decided it was still in order and called the crew to destroy the maple tree.

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Adam and Eve were told about a tree in The Garden that they were not to touch. They decided to eat the tree’s fruit and everyone knows what happened! That was, again, a special tree!

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 Some trees achieve special attention, perhaps due to location, age or appearance.Stories past down through generations have resulted in many myths and beliefs concerning trees and their history.

 As elders told stories of the past,  sagas and myths were handed down from one generation to the next throughout the 400 years that marked the Viking episode of the Nordic culture. Some of those sagas concerned trees. The most important tree in Nordic history,

according to Norse myths caused  the end of Asgard, the world of the gods and home to Odin, Thor,and Loki. This great ash tree, known as “The Tree Yggdrasil”, (YEgg-dra-sell) was the “tree of life and wisdom” and was kept alive by the three women of fate (past, present, and future). The giant ash Yggdrasil was the largest of all Guardian Trees; it stretched up to the heavens and spread its branches over the entire earth. It was so large that a squirrel named Ratatoskr ran up and down the trunk carrying insults from Nidhögg up to an eagle who sits in the top-most branches, with a hawk perched between it's eyes. With all the wisdom in the upper branches, it is easy to imagine who resided in the roots! This tree was considered very holy and connected to the affairs of Odin.

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Another storied tree was that of "Thor’s Tree”,a sacred tree of the  pagans located in what is now the region of Hesse, Germany. A Christian missionary, who became known as Saint Boniface announced that he would suffer no harm as he accosted the pagans of the area by chopping down the massive tree of their faiths. As he began chopping, a violent wind blew down ‘Thor’s Tree”, causing the earlier pagans to become Christian believers. Wood from the oak was then reportedly used to build a church at the site dedicated to Saint Peter.

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Scandinavian farms often have a prominent tree standing alone in their farmsteads and maintained to honor the family and their descendants.The care and regard of the tree was believed to help insure the health of the farm and this tradition of planting a tree in   the center of the farm and this custom continues today in parts of Norway. In Sweden ,there is a similar tradition and the tree was
called a vårdträd  or caring/guardian tree.

Here in the US, we have well-respected trees, protected by their age and massive forms that have become tourist attractions,            but their ‘sacredness’ is questionable. 

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However, there is one US site that claims the title of " The Sacred Grove" , located  on a farm owned by the Smith family in western

New York. This is a  historical site of the LDS Church. The church operates a welcome center on the farm, which includes a replica of the log home built in 1818 by Joseph Smith, Sr., as well as the original frame home built by the Smiths in 1825 and is open to the public. On this site, Smith claims to have had communication with Heaven.
 The majority of the trees within the Sacred Grove are too young to have been present at the time the Smith family lived there. A forestry specialist hired by the church to care for the grove has identified only six trees in the grove that were alive in 1820, and  these trees are referred to as the "Witness Trees".

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Our most famous present-day tree might be a evergreen  conifer such as spruce, pine, or fir. This tree is sought every winter to 

celebrate Christmas. It is chosen for it’s beauty, then cut down and transported indoors to be decorated with lights and colored balls to celebrate the sacred Christmas season. After the ‘Ten Days of Christmas’ and the closing of the sacred season, the tree, which has lost its needles littering the carpet, is now carried to the curb  and discarded. So much for our practice of “sacred beliefs.”
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Sagas of our time that will be told to future generations  might consist of more ‘stumps’ then memorable and honorable sagas of our  legacy.

 It’s time to create our symbolic vårdträd .

Time Marches On!

Summer Time begins in Europe March 29th.

Summer Time  begins in Europe? We, here in the USA are looking forward to spring! How can this be?!

Looking a bit deeper, there’s more to the story. Summertime DOES begin in Europe March 29th, but this “Summertime” doesn’t have anything to do with the weather. It simply is the arrangement by which clocks are advanced by one hour in spring and move back in autumn to make the most of seasonal daylight.

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Sound familiar? Many of us spent an exhaustive evening Saturday, March 7th searching for, and adjusting every battery operated, electric and digital clock  in our houses, cars, and smart wristwatches. All had to be adjusted in  the annual ritual to stay on time, while losing an hour of rest! We call it  “Daylight Savings Time” .   Personally, I like “Summer Time” better!

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Why do we do this?

Benjamin Franklin proposed the idea of 'DST' in 1784. He discussed the cost of oil for lamps as well as working while it was dark ,and sleeping while it was day.

Today, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is used to save energy and make better use of daylight. The idea had been suggested in ancient times and later by famous scientists. Ancient civilizations are known to have engaged in a practice similar to modern DST where they would adjust their daily schedules to the sun's schedule.

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 A major contributor to the invention of DST was New Zealand’s entomologist George Vernon Hudson. In 1895, Hudson presented a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society, proposing a two-hour shift forward in October and a two-hour shift back in March. Although there was interest in the 'two-hour' idea, it was never followed through.The rationale was to minimize the use of artificial lighting in order to save fuel for the war effort during World War I.

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In the U.S., Daylight Saving Time – or “fast time” as it was called then – was first introduced in 1918 when President Woodrow Wilson signed it into law to support the war effort during World War I. Year-round DST, then called “War Time” was in force during World War II, from February 9, 1942 to September , 1945. The change was implemented after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and during this time, the U.S. time zones were called “Eastern War Time”, “Central War Time”, and “Pacific War Time”.
After the surrender of Japan in mid-August 1945, the time zones were relabeled “Peace Time”.

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                                         Arizona doesn’t take part in this ritual.
Many people in Arizona including many businesses, farming communities and people with children, prefer to remain on “Mountain Standard” or MST throughout the year because daylight saving produced no personal benefits for them. They had tried it for one year in the 1960s, but there was so much negative reaction that they never tried it again. Most people believed that a daylight saving schedule was not necessary for Arizona's hot climate.

The rest of us learned to adjust!

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At any rate, it’s a sign of warmer days ahead with opportunities to visit the many places highlighted in catalogs and pamphlets arriving in our daily mail. Maybe we do need more time  for The Annual Vacation! Many vacationers visit European centers, returning with photographs of the usual tourist attractions. This year, there are some unusual European locations that have earned national recognition that are attracting attention.

If you are planning on visiting Norway, all tours will include the most famous attractions and shouldn't be missed.. IF.. you have the time. However, consider something different!  Of course, one should not miss Bergen, always a fine introduction to 'ole-time Norway'.

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Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen, is a reminder of the town’s importance as a place of trading  from the 14th to the mid-16th century.

Many fires have ravaged the characteristic wooden houses of Bryggen, however, rebuilding has traditionally followed old patterns and methods, thus leaving its main structure preserved, which is an ancient wooden urban structure once common in Northern Europe. Today, some 62 buildings remain of this former townscape.

Then, catch a ride on the hurtigruten north to a  village known for a church.

Gammelstad, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia, is the best-preserved example of a 'church village', a unique kind of village formerly found throughout northern Scandinavia. The  wooden houses, huddled round the early 15th-century stone church, were used only on Sundays and at religious festivals to house worshippers from the surrounding countryside who could not return home the same day because of the distance and difficult traveling conditions. Luleå Gammelstad is a excellent example of the traditional church town of northern Scandinavia. The river and its valley have provided a route between the Gulf of Bothnia , the mountains of Lapland, and the coast of northern Norway from earliest times.The settlement became the meeting place for three groups - merchants, local farmers, and the Saamis of the hinterland The church town consists of 424 buildings, divided into 555 separate rooms. All are built from wood, painted red and with doors and window frames highlighted in white. The church is the largest of its type in northern Scandinavia and recognized as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. A UNESCO site is a place (such as a forest, mountain, lake, island, building, complex, or city) that is listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as of special cultural or physical significance.

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Everyone is aware of runes, but rock art in Norway?

Scandinavian rock art comprise two categories. The first type dates to the Stone Age (in Norway from between 8000-1800 BC), and usually depicts mammals, as well as examples of boats, humans and various geometrical figures. These rock carvings were probably made by people who used gathering, fishing and hunting as their subsistence. This type of rock art is commonly known as

veideristninger (hunter's rock carvings). Due to the wear of weather exposure and  human destruction, most of the rock-art sites in Central Norway, and  Scandinavia as a whole are not meant to be visited by the public. There are no signsand no maintenance is done on the sites to keep vegetation from covering the carvings, etc. There are, however, a small number of sites open to the public. These have signs with information, the carvings are usually painted to make them more visible, and there are parking spaces. (Painting the carvings red has caused some concern!).

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 If you REALLY want to visit something unusual, check THIS one out.
As long as you're up north,  take in a village in Nord-Trøndelag, located next to Trondheim airport in the Stjørdal municipality. While there's very little to see there, except for an annual blues festival in September, it's always fun to get a picture of yourself outside "Gods Expedition " (a freight forwarding office).
The story goes that a tourist asked a Norse man where to go. With a smile, the man told them to go to ....
Hellir.

This village has become a minor tourist attraction because of its name, as visitors often have their photograph taken in front of the station sign. A smaller building on the railway station has been given the sign Gods expedition, which is the archaic spelling of the word for "cargo handling". (Godsekspedisjon would be the spelling in contemporary. It has a more used homonym in modern Norwegian that means "luck". The Old Norse word Hel is the same as today's English Hell, and as a proper noun, Hel was the ruler of Hel. In modern Norwegian the word for hell is helvete.The name Hell stems from the Old Norse word hellir, which means "overhang" or "cliff cave".

Hell is a village of about 1,400 inhabitants  located next to  the Trondheim  airport. Hell has a train station where local trains from Trondheim, the airport, and Steinkjer stop. There are one or two departures per hour and trains from Sweden (twice per day) that stop in Hell. If you want to take the train, be aware that the train will only stop if they see someone standing at the platform, otherwise it will pass.

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Boarding the hurtigruten for the journey south, you might pass a very famous church located on the southwestern Norwegian coast. 

Urnes stavkirke

The wooden church of Urnes ,(the stavkirke), stands in the natural setting of Sogn og Fjordane. It was built in the 12th and 13th centuries and is an outstanding example of traditional Scandinavian wooden architecture. It brings together traces of Celtic art, Viking traditions

The church was built around 1130 or shortly thereafter, and still stands in its original location; believed to be the oldest of its kind, it

provides a link between Christian architecture and  artforms of the Viking Age with typical animal-ornamentation, the so-called "Urnes style" of animal-art.

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Archaeological investigations have discovered the remains of three churches on the site prior to the current building. The excavations uncovered holes in the ground from earth-bound posts which had belonged to an early post church, with walls supported by short sills inserted between free-standing posts.It is now owned by Fortidsminneforeningen (Society for the Preservation of Norwegian Ancient Monuments) . In 1979, the Urnes Stave Church was listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The village is located on a small peninsula that juts out into the Lustrafjorden, the innermost part of the Sognefjorden and sits on the east side of the fjord, directly across from the village of  Solvorn. You may enjoy the ferryride, a regular ferry route from Ornes to Solvorn, across the fjord.

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Back in Bergen and preparing for a return journey to  America, take a quick side-trip back to Bergen's free fish market  and  see local sights and sounds at no cost. Enjoy a stroll around the market while looking at crafts and flowers, fresh farm goods and seafood. The free Fisketorget  fish market in Bergen is open in June, July and August daily from 7 am - 7 pm, with limited  open times from September to May .

You will be able to tell everyone that you took the "UNESCO" tour!

So much to see,  so little time!

Maybe we need another hour, after all..

What's In a Name?

  We have had an interesting winter. Drought in the West, Freezing rain in the South, and piles of snow in the Northwest. We've even become acquainted with some new names like

Ole??

Many of our news-worthy events are labeled with a name. Newly discovered planets and comets earn historic names such as Hayley, Saturn, Mars,etc. Winter events are alphabetically named and this winter has created several events with well-known names as well as some unprintable ones. Unusual conditions have found our Western areas warmer than usual, while the Central states seem to be colder than normal. Lately, the Eastern seaboard and northwest states are now experiencing an unbelievable string of storms.
Weather forecasters watched the developement of a series of weather fronts moving through the US ,recently. When two opposing forces meet, there is often a serious reaction.

Octavia? Ole?? Things are becoming weird!

Winter storms usually form when an air mass of cold, dry, Canadian air moves south and interacts with a warm, moist air mass moving north from the Gulf of Mexico. The point where these two air masses meet is called a front. If cold air advances and pushes away the warm air, it forms a cold front. Winter storms develop when low pressure systems come into contact with a cold front or a warm front,resulting in snow and freezing rain. Residents were told to be ready for a winter storm named "Juno". 

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Juno

The name Juno is from Roman mythology, a goddess who looked after the women of Rome. This time, serving both sexes equally. Monday, January 26, the Northeast braced for "Winter Storm Juno", which threatened to become a major snowstorm with potentially historic blizzard conditions. Juno was a record snowstorm for Worcester, 31.9 inches fell in Worcester on Jan. 27, alone! And that was only the beginning!

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Only a week later, another "front" became a threat and was named "Marcus", the ancient Roman Emperor and Greek god Mars, the god of fertility war, and spring! Storm number 2 began February 9th and was expected to be a slow mover, and the snow began to pile up with an additional 20 inches of snow before it let the area.

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Neptune

Not to rest long, three days later, on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, another northeastern winter storm was quickly in weather news. This time," Neptune", the Greek god of freshwater and the sea roared into town with blizzard warnings in eight states; heavy snow, high winds, and brutal wind chills started it out with an additional snowfall rates of two to three inches per hour .The city decided to borrow snow melting machinery from New York City while dumping snow in vacant parking lots, now called "snow farms". The 'storm of the week'. Happy Valentine's Day!

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Octavia

However, Mother Nature was not finished. Weather watchers reported another problem! A region of freezing rain, sleet and dangerous conditions coming from the south. Arriving in the upper northwest February 15th, snowmovers had to find room for the additional snow of Octavia. 

 "Octavia " was the sister of the first Roman Emperor and known for feminine virtue and humanity. This time, it was for a snowfall of an additional twenty inches of   snow, totaling an estimated eight feet of snow on the ground, numerous icy accidents and winter problems , with still another week to go in February. February will be long-remembered in New England as a major snow month. Eight feet of snow in less than a month!
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We usually think that our Scandinavian friends are accustomed to snow on the ground for many months. Therefore, winter storms must be  normal happenings and our current weather patterns would be nothing unusual 'overseas'. Things do seem to be more calm in Norway's weather this winter. However, their year began,  weather-wise early, as weather reports of the first weather storm of 2015 in Norway took shape under  the name of "Nina". Nina has an interesting story. She was the ancient goddess of health, healing and helping civilization!  What happened??

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Nina

Extreme winter storm ‘Nina’  hit the west coast of Norway on January 11, with wind speed of 166 kmph. The hurricane strength winds left over 73,000 household without power, uprooting trees, tearing up infrastructures . A  reporter noted : "Never before has it been measured so much, so early in the year." According to several weather reports, this winter storm had been strongest in last 20 years. Snow-covered cabins are in danger of  roofs collapsing . Weather advisors are offering advice based on years of construction. Older cabins are vulnerable,"Cabins built after 1980 varies as to how they are designed. In practice, one should shovel the roof when snow depth begins to approach 1 meter (39 inches)." Apparently, rooftop snow depth under 3 feet is not really a problem in Norway!

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Following this hurricane-force storm, TV listeners were informed that still another weather pattern was soon to arrive! However, "this one would not be as severe". This one would be called "Ole". Ole

 doesn't have any mythical background. Everyone knows Ole. But this one was no joke!

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Washed out bridge

Ole arrived February 7th , virtually dividing Norway in two when the major Highway E6 was closed at Namskogan in Nord-Trøndelag county. The road surface on a key bridge had been washed away. E6 is the only road between Southern and Northern Norway, and there was no possibility for a detour, according to NRK reports. The only possibility would be to drive via Sweden!

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There were numerous reports of damage caused by the storm that hit.  in Lofoten, a number of households were without electricity. It took take days to restore the damaged grid, as several blocked roads made it difficult for the repair crews to reach the damage spots. Hurricane-force winds caused waves of  twenty-five meters in height that destroyed shoreline buildings and fisheries.  Ole turned out to be a major storm.

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During discussion about winter storms,one listener inquired as to why all storms  had a name. The answer: "It's simply easier to communicate about a complex storm if it has a name" said Bryan Norcross, senior hurricane specialist at The Weather Channel and compiler of the name list.   "Good communications benefits everyone."

There will be many people rejoicing at the arrival of spring, however, the huge piles of snow will be melting and  floods and sandbags will again be in the news!  All that melted water will have to go somewhere.

 Another well-known name : "Mother Nature"

  and she's  tricky!



Women in Time

Look at this!

Anyone walking our local city sidewalks can expect to see pedestrians wearing a wide variety of clothing. However, seeing someone  clothed in this fashion might be considered out of the ordinary.

In Arabian nations, this would be very commonplace and often required.  Women are covered from the top of their head to their feet in a black costume called a 'Burqa'. This costume has , in the strictest interpretation of some Muslim males, been required to be worn in public.

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'Burqa' is an Arabized Persian word meaning 'curtain and veil'. The Quran ,the  Muslim Holy Book, has no requirement that women cover their faces with a veil, or cover their bodies with the full-body burqa. Many Muslims believe that the  tradition goes back to the days of the Prophet  Muhammed,  requiring both men and women to dress and behave modestly in public. However, this requirement has been interpreted in many different ways. The Quran has been translated to instruct women:
"not  to display their beauty  except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons," ....and others in the family relationship.
This is considered  a virtue in a Middle Eastern Muslim patriarchal society, a strongly gender-specific  relations within a family stressing honor, attention, respect/respectability, and modesty. Young, unmarried women or young, married women in their first years of marriage are required to wear the burqa. However,  the husband usually decides if his wife should continue to wear a burqa. The body-covering is necessary because a

Muslim man who sees a woman's body parts can be  aroused, and this might cause him to commit sin. Islamic State in Iraq and Syria  compels people in the areas that it controls to declare Islamic creed and live according to its interpretation of Sunni Islam and sharia law. ISIL warned women in the city of Mosul to wear full-face veils or face severe punishment. One rule stipulated that women should stay at home and not go outside unless necessary.

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17 yr old Malala Yousafzai  is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest-ever Nobel Prize laureate.She is known mainly for human rights advocacy for education and for women in her native Swat Valley in  northwest Pakistan  where the local Taliban has banned girls from attending school. One October afternoon in 2012, Yousafzai boarded her school bus in the northwest Pakistani district of Swat. A gunman asked for her by name, then pointed a pistol at her and fired three shots. The assassination attempt sparked a national and international outpouring of support for Yousafzai.Taliban had set an edict that no girls could attend school after 15 January 2009. In these countries, girls and women in general are forbidden to be educated, and  strictly regulated in their daily activities. Those wishing to participate in any Western country culture activity and not adherring to current laws are severely punished.

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Different countries have different attitudes pertaining to the ‘Fairer Sex’. 

Women in  America  campaigned for their right to vote for several decades until the legal right of women to vote  was established   nationally in 1920.  The slogan of " All men are created equal"  omits the American women as they strive for 'equal pay; for doing the same work.

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Considering  this 'male superiority' status, one might wonder how the woman's life must have been in the Viking age of  uneducated and seemingly vicious nature of the raiding and plundering Vikings.

 Women in the Viking age were considered property and plunder when at war and carried off as slaves.

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Due to a lack of education and no written language, 'word of mouth'  stories past down through generations of Vikings and later Scandinavian excavations have revealed that the roles of men and women in Norse society to be quite distinct and male dominated. Each gender had a set of expected behaviors, and that line could not be crossed. Women did not participate in trading or raiding parties (although they clearly participated in journeys of exploration and settlement to places such as Iceland and Vínland).

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Women’s responsibilites were clearly defined to be domestic. Members of either sex who crossed the gender line were, at very least,
not    approved by society and often strictly prohibited by law. The medieval Icelandic lawbook Grágás prohibited women from wearing men’s clothes, from cutting their hair short, or from carrying weapons. She was prohibited from participating in most political or governmental activities On the other hand, women were respected in Norse society and had great freedom. In most sagas, the heroes are men and probably were written by men. Women tend to play only minor roles, but those roles are varied. In real life, the female characters were strong.The women seemed  much harder than the men, even more eager to protect the family’s honor. It was considered shameful  to harm a woman, and examples in the sagas of such violence are rare.

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In one of these sagas , Gunnar, in a fit of rage, slapped his wife Hallgerur in the face when he discovered his wife had stolen food from a nearby farm during a famine. (Theft was highly unacceptable in Norse society.) Hallgerur said she would remember that slap and pay him back. Some years later, in this story, Gunnar was attacked in his home by a gang seeking revenge. He kept the attack party at bay with a shower of arrows from his bow. When his bow string was cut by one of the attackers, he asked his wife,Hallger for two locks of her hair in order to make a new one.

“Does anything depend on it?” she asked.”My life,” replied Gunnar.

”Then I remind you of the slap you once gave me,” and she refused to give him the hair.

Gunnar was eventually overcome by the attackers and killed.

Women were excluded from these kinds of attacks on a household. It was a grave dishonor for a man to injure a woman, even accidentally, in an attack on a household. And if, for instance, a house were going to be burned to kill the occupants, women and children were allowed to leave without injury.

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In another Norse saga, a vengeful warrior named Eyjólfur and his men attacked Gísli in overwhelming numbers, Gísli’s wife Auur stood by his side, armed with a club. In the first rush, Gísli killed the chief attacker  while Auur struck Eyjólfur so hard with her club that he staggered back down the hill. Soon after, Eyjólfur returned and killed Gísli .

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 Later in the saga, Eyjólfur visited Börkur and his wife. The woman of the house happened to be Gisli’s sister, Ordís, and she did not  want to offer hospitality to her brother’s killer, but her husband insisted. During the meal, Ordís recognized Gísli’s sword lying on the floor by the killer’s feet. She dropped a tray of spoons, and after bending down to pick them up, she grabbed the sword and thrust up at Eyjólfur from below, inflicting a fatal wound. Due to her husband's action, she divorced him on the spot. Viking women had some rights and were granted great respect from the viking men.

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Women’s roles vary from country to country. Ancient accounts have evolved into actions never intended by the earlier authors. Our news is filled with unbelievable horrors as vindictive leaders have twisted these basic beliefs into new laws, killing their enemies and violently preventing the education of their women and female children.

  Equality for all has been difficult to achieve.