May Day 2020, in Norway

May Day, 2020

Set off around 10:30, driving along the road to Egersund, in the Norwegian province of Rogaland.
It is a national holiday, and apparently an excuse for all the owners of motorbikes in Norway to ride them triumphantly along the winding coastal roads of Rogaland … who knows where they were off to … People bunched along the roadside, the children waving small Norwegian flags. And the sun shone.
We — that is, David and I plus daughter and her family (seven of us packed into the car, together with baggage and food supplies for the coming week) — also wound slowly along, at first following the rocky coast, then into foothills filled with huge irregular-shaped boulders. Unquestionably troll country.
We have booked a log cabin, in Norwegian a hytte, advertised as “remote from civilization”! It is. No wifi, no internet, no telephone connection, no TV. Wonderful.
Outside the sound of a rushing brook and the birdsong we have grown accustomed to in Stavanger. And on our first walk we hear the insistent (intrusive?) call of a cuckoo.
On the drive up to our cabin we saw many newly-born lambs, huppeling (lovely Dutch word) after their mothers, tails wiggling in delight and they sucked milk from her, then gambolled off. They cannot walk (yet), they skip and bounce. Newborn lambs one of the most joyous sights I know; many memories and associations…
We sat in the sunshine on the ?deck, ?balcony ?terrace, blessed by the warmth, enjoying our simple picnic lunch. The children played hide-and-seek in the surrounding woods, which offered countless excellent hiding places. Then the three adults (except me !) went for an enthusiastic uphill walk, while I unpacked the various containers of food we’ve brought, intended to last us for ten days. I think we’ve gauged it about right: we’ll see.
After tea, the family departed, leaving us to the silence of the trees. More unpacking of clothes and stuff, and warming of our bedroom with excellent electric fire. We tried to light the log stove in the living room, but alas the paper and kindling were damp and only a sad white smoke was achieved!!
Better tomorrow, when we will have dried things out. It seems no one has been in the house this year. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, many owners have not been allowed to rent their houses. But this  weekend is the first when the Norwegian government has relaxed some of the rules about “social distancing” and how many people may gather together. Each European country is following its own path, there are differing theories about this virus and how it behaves. It does make fascinating reading, although I could wish the main issue were not how to avoid death…
Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark, said another of those wise English Elizabethans. Francis Bacon? Was he an Elizabethan, or earlier? Ah, now I notice the usefulness of rapid internet connection. Since we don’t have it up here in the hytte, we can’t find quick online answers; no memory chalet for us (thinking of Tony Judt’s exquisite final writing).
But, after all, the idea in coming here was to retreat. To listen to the wind in the trees, the bleating of the lambs, the fresh liquid birdsong, and the various sounds of water. And the still, small voice that I have learned to recognize, though all too often blotted out by the many cries and crashes that fill my every day.

The first evening was cold in the hytte. We went to bed as it was dusking outside (this is Norway of the long summer nights).
Just remembered the menu: made one of my sustaining and substantial vegetable soups. Delicious. And drew up a a list of days’ menus for the rest of the time we’re here, planning and balancing according to our supplies. Should all work out just fine.
No owls to be heard… A half moon in the clear night sky.