Tag / Norway

by clumpaday

Speak Up!

Clump #267:  Send out flag; day twenty-five of National Blog Posting Month.

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This is a very big day in clumpville.  My father-in-law was a veteran of World War II.  When he died in 2003, my husband was given the flag covering his casket.  I have been procrastinating about how best to honor it for all this time.  I’ve looked at ready-made triangular cases in stores that looked cheap, and I’ve looked into custom framing that was very expensive.

I finally broached the subject with my husband today.  He suggested framing the flag along with a wooden name plate from his dad’s service that we inherited, as well as a photo of him in uniform.  I emailed one of my husband’s sisters to see if she had such a photo.  Not only did she say she’d look for one, she also said she knew someone who does that kind of framing.  Hallelujah!  I packed the flag and the name plate to send to her right away.

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I hadn’t realized how much this had been weighing on me.  Even subconsciously, every time I’d see the bag where the flag had been residing, it would remind me that we were not being responsible conservators. “Bad.”

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After procrastinating for so long, the minute I spoke up about it, a great solution had suddenly materialized.  Today’s lesson: Speak up! Get help! De-clump!

Now I’m really looking forward to a great tribute to a great guy.  Well, maybe not as great a tribute as the three swords in the photo below, where my father-in-law’s son and grandson posed in Norway, his ancestral home.  Imagine Grandpa’s spirit standing in front of the third sword.

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From Stavenger-web.com:

“Three enormous bronze swords stand monument to the battle of Hafrsfjord in the year 872, when Harald Hårfagre (Fairheaded Harald) united Norway into one kingdom. The monument was designed by Fritz Røed (1928 – 2002) from Bryne, just south of Stavanger. It was unveiled by Norway’s King Olav in 1983.

The swords, which are about 10 meters tall, stand for peace and unification. One sword is larger than the others. This was Fairheaded Harald’s sword. The swords are planted in solid rock – representing peace and are found at Møllebukta which is a bay area on the southern shore of Hafrsfjord.”

by clumpaday

Scaling a Mountain of Clumps

Clump #219:  Clear one pile of papers from the party runoff.  Day 15 of the 30-day challenge.

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Oh, the terrible feeling of backsliding on this Clump A Day journey.  With guests coming to our house yesterday, I fell into the old habit of corralling all the loose papers together and shoving them into a currently unused room, in this case our older daughter’s.   This room had recently become the repository of basement stuff still needing decisions and/or to be given away.  A photo of the whole room would be way too embarrassing and overwhelming right now.

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The loose papers on top of the plastic containers were the first to go.  I have to give myself a teensy bit of credit that I did get right to it today, rather than giving way to those infamous good intentions that pave the way to hell.

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I took the photo below when my husband, our son, and I were climbing Preikestolen, or Pulpit Rock, in Norway.  I had serious doubts about whether I’d be able to make it.  My son said, “Just take it one rock at a time,” and then we both said  “A clump at a time.”  I wanted to remember the exact moment.

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There were sooo many rocks.

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My camera battery had given way by the time we reached the top.  I bought this magnet later on in our trip to remind me that, unbelievably, impossibly, I had made it there …

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one rock, one step, one clump at a time.