I want to take this moment to wish everyone a very HAPPY CHRISTMAS ADAM!!

What is Christmas Adam? Simply the day BEFORE Christmas “Eve”… All gifts given emphasize creativity!! Thanks to 'christmas adam.com' for this picture and quote.

I have taken a step closer..

Gjetost, Norwegian Brown Goat Cheese. I LIKE IT!!

My first rememberance of Gjetost was that it was strong, smelled funny and had a weird after taste. My Grandpa Bernson used to ate it as often as he could on crackers and bread. I tried it and decided 'never again'. Well "never" came on Saturday 11/19/11 the day after my wife's birthday. We went to help celebrate the 45th Anniversary of the Local "Leif Erikson Lodge" which is part of the Sons of Norway national organization. Part of the feist was Gjetost server on waffle wedge in one case and on a crisp of some kind on the other. AND I liked it. It was thinly sliced and that was good too. So now I have tasted Lutefisk and have eaten Gjetost so I am wondering what is next?? (oh I also ate a large variety of sweets many of which hailed from Norway or Sweden but I could not tell you their names....yet) I also have a good book, sent from my friend, Martin, in Norway on how to learn to speak to Norsk.. so who knows.

Ooops forgot to give credit!

Thanks to Arensbak Trolls for this image..check out their site athttp://www.trolls.com/ It has a lot of fun stuff!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LOVELY BRIDE SANDY!!! The woman responsible for keeping this old troll (pictured above..can you see the resemblance??) on the straight and narrow!!!

Happy Halloween

Just a bit of fun. I love Halloween and it is my favorite time of year.. I think it is for trolls tools.. case in point look who showed up with our carved pumpkin....

Ice Giant, Odin and Christ

I saw a post today on facebook which said: "Odin said he would get rid of all the Ice Giants, Christ said he would get rid of all the sinners. I don't see any Ice Giants around anymore." This implied something a bit off so I responded.

"It just means the Ice Giants got smarter and learned to hide better. Odin destroyed with hate so the giants adapted.. Christ wins with love and the wicked haven't figured that out yet...so they continue to make fools of themselves in the open.. "

I guess I get kind of sad when this kind of stuff occurs and since it had to do with Norse Myth and Legend I felt good about posting it here. Chirst is our Exampler and King...following His way is the only sure way to happiness and peace of mind no matter what the rest of the world says or believes..The beauty of it all is that those in the world, the so called sinners, will know and love him too and have the same chance to accept him as we do.. we, as followers of Christ, just have to do our part too.

I will continue to love the lore and the myths my ancestors developed because that is how I got to know and appreciate them and that is how we will relate when I get the chance to teach them the gospel in the next phase of our existance beyond this mortal veil.

Stabburs and Norwegian Architecture

Wow.. I learned a bunch at the Sons of Norway meeting last night (Saturday 10/15/11). I learned that I did not know much about Stabburs and Norwegian Architecture. I really think the concept is cool. The traditional Norwegian building called "Stabbur" was used to store food. The two floors made it perfect for hanging meat from the ceiling in good distance from the claws of rats and other sneaky animals. There are several great pictures of Stabburs on the net. I suggest you google "Norwegian Stabbers" and have a look!

57 years old and finally the trolls talk to me!

I guess having a birthday messes with your mind.. The night before my birthday I dreamed I was in Norway and going to my friend Martin E's home to surprise him.. I walked up to his door (which was not quite accurate as far as I understand but that does not matter) I walk up and knock and Martin opens the door and I say "Hey, I was in the neighborhood and thought I would drop by for a visit!" He looks at me and smiles and closes the door. I pretend to get 'huffy' and say; "Well if you are going to be that way about it I'm leaving!" I walk up the stone lined path from his house (again not accurate) and he opens the door and I turn around and start back and then I woke up and never got to the door again... sad. THEN last night I dreamed that I was down the street three doors because I was after a couple big troll dolls that had strayed (thanks to some kids playing with them) down the street so I picked them up (and they were standing there like they were waiting for me, smiling of course, when my friend Ken E (who sometimes whittles wooden trolls and helps me with my woodwork staffs I make when needed) pulls in and has a couple of my bigger trolls (Denny and Markie 20 inches) in a car seat in his back of the vehicle. I get them out and I cannot carry all 4 so I put Denny and Markie down and they (to my only mild surprise) start to walk home. Denny wants to carry one of the trolls I am carrying so I let her and so Markie starts to whine and "me, me" at me so just as we get to my front yard he takes the other and we are going in. Denny is the first to talk a full sentence asking for a drink but Markie just climbs up on the sink and helps himself. I tell him I am proud of him for being so independent but that Sandy (my wife) does not like people climbing on the counters. He says okay. Then another of my trolls talks and well I am asking Sandy if she hears them and she does and she is quite surprised because all along I have insisted that trolls are real and alive and now I had proof and I wake up before I can explore it more.. Darn..Oh well...I have my proof! I am happy! And everyone else knows that I am still 'just a little' nuts or I am just your typical 'dreamer' Happy October everyone!

Lutefisk

Well it was inevitable... I "finally" got the opportunity to try lutefisk..I was invited to be the guest speaker at the Leif Erikson Lodge here in Utah. My topic was about Trolls (surprise) and I made it about Norwegian Myth, Legend, culture and trolls. I spoke about 45 minutes and I was told by Rick, who leads the group, that is was the first time they had to set up more chairs for a meeting and this on the same day as the BIG football rivalry between the U of U and BYU. I will maybe post my notes on it later when I get a chance. But anyway after I did this they served a bit of a dinner and in a jar on the table was pickled herring called Lutefisk.. It was terrible...I am not sure I could even get used to it.. the briny taste had to be washed away with four Swedish meatballs and a cookie.. I still cringe a little when I remember the 'aftershock' taste. At least I had the courage to try it..and it did take a few moments to decide. I had a lot of fun and it has given me contact with the Norwegian group here in Utah. Look for more soon.

Getting Excited

Too often we get so busy that things that have been fun and/or important to us fade and take a back seat to the realities of our present condition. Sometimes we simply outgrow or loose interest in these things and the passion with which we pursued them vanishes in the pursuit of new and more exciting things. The 'fire in our belly' ceases to burn and we walk away from those things that we once were passionate about with little or no regret. As part of this process we are often lead to say; "Oh, I still love doing that." or "When I get the time I will get back to it." and to a degree this is true but we all know that this "renewel' or 'getting back to' does not happen without a lot of effort and specific decisions during the process. Often this process takes a concerted step by step plan so we can work our old passions back into our 'new way of life'. Sometimes, along the way, we discover it 'just ain't worth going back' in which case we pack up the 'old' and put it away again.

I believe that both of these avenues are valid. There are some things that we must or should leave behind for any of a multitude of reasons. There are also things that should be brought back into our lives and revitalized. I also believe that this is an ongoing process and can change at a moments notice because of, again, the multitude of factors that demand or desire our time, talents and energies.

So why say this on a small blog about trolls which so far very few people read? The answer is simple..I love the world of the mythological troll and I love the world of myth and legend, so I am rearranging and trying to bring something new into my world..a regular blog.. Now I have said this before but I hope to actually act on it this time.. so if you read this.. read what I have posted before and then join/follow this page and go from there!

Too much to do with too little time. Watched the Movie "Troll Hunter". It was in Norwegian with English subtitles.. Found it fun and the 'animation' great. Just sad they had to turn the three headed troll to stone.