It’s really prettier here in this corner of Norway than the pictures do justice. That may be true of all of Norway, but I’m trying to acknowledge that Norway is half again as big as my home state. Someone who has only been to Cannon Beach might be surprised by Gresham, no?
My favorite scenery in the US is comprised of areas with wide vistas: Death Valley, the San Juan Mountains, the Grand Canyon. By contrast, here you turn every corner to find a new enchantment, neatly framed and complete in it’s beauty. A stone wall encircling a sheep meadow. A tiny half moon of sandy beach. A row of red boat houses edging the water. A glassy stretch of water marked only by the ripples from a swan. A gingerbread trimmed wooden farmhouse. A cove of sparkling midnight water lapping ancient granite boulders where improbable birch trees grow.
Improbable? When you come to realize the vast granite nature of this coast, it’s amazing that trees have managed to stake a claim on the rocks. They’re big rocks. I drive through a 100 meter tunnel carved in solid granite on the way to work. It’s easy to get poetic and compare the trees to the thousands of years of people who have also staked a claim here and thrived. Maybe that’s what got the Norse bards started.
The Eigeroy Fyr is a lighthouse on an island at the edge of the North Atlantic. Approaching the lighthouse you come across a house that, as one of my Norwegian colleagues said, “The Germans very kindly built us during the war.” It’s not a real house. of course. But it has an amazing view.
