For many years, Norway has been on my list of places to go and photograph; I’ve been particularly drawn to the western coast, around Bergen, and had hoped to experience the fjords of this area.  However, this October trip was for non-photographic business and it could not wait until a more photographically ideal time of the year; there was no time for a trip to the fjords and, even if there had been, the weather was not very promising.  I went knowing that I would be in or near Oslo for the duration of my stay.  I brought a good camera along anyway because I wanted to be prepared for new, beautiful, or interesting sights.

 

 

Despite my not getting to experience the fjords near Bergen, my lingering thought from this trip (and the feeling brought back to me when I view this scene) is one of gratitude.  I was privileged to be able to make this trip, to transition colleagues into friends, and to experience a sampling of culture which, in many ways, was familiar — similar to the culture of my Dutch heritage.  I’m grateful to have such a capable tool with which to create photographs such as these.  I am also grateful to have this forum in which to chronicle through photographs and prose the striking experiences of my life — and for my growing audience, whose members share in these experiences.  I feel like a part-time photo-journalist with the assignment to help put my life into better focus; along the way, I occasionally strike a chord which resonates in some of my readers, enabling them to put their lives into better focus (or, at least, shed new light into their lives).  Such results are so very satisfying and encouraging.