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So it’s been four years since our northwest chapter of AMICA—Automated Musical Instruments Collectors Association—hosted the international convention in Seattle. That auspicious occasion was immediately before Rob’s cystectomy (on July 19, 2019). This year we celebrated Music and Wellness with these wonderful men and others in New Orleans.

Usually the convention is an annual affair but, like the rest of the world, we had to postpone NOLA and skip gatherings in 2020 and 2021 as well. We all got our traveling feet wet again last year and met in San Mateo. That’s where we established the new tradition of convening over dinner for a chapter meeting during the week.

In 2024, the convention will be held in the LA area, July 2nd to 5th. Mark your calendars now.

It’s taken me a year to succeed in making-electronic-reservations-for-friends-in-another-country-with-short-notice department. I started trying about a year ago in Scotland. Finally last week in Norway, I scored.

While in 0slo, I practiced by getting tix to live music events in-person at ticket booths. For instance, I got an orchestra seat to Cosa fan tutti in Oslo’s magnificent opera hall by the sea. And later, my friend Sus and I bought tix to a blues & booze shrimp cruise.

Then when we were in Trondheim, we met Megan and Sverre, a musician and retired math professor who own an antique shop. Glad it occurred to me to ask for their recommendations when we were together. They told me about Antikvariatet, a music café that hosts an open mic on Sunday nights.

It’s difficult to make an online reservation when you know 10 words in Norwegian. And it’s awkward to invite only a few when you’re traveling with a gang of 23. Especially following the generous example of a fellow traveler who had managed to create two dinners at Norway’s finest restaurants when we arrived in new towns. He even researched, reserved, then invited all who wanted to come and adapted accordingly. It helped that he spoke the language.

With all this togetherness though, I was craving a 4-top for conversation sake. Besides, I suspected the venue was small. Solution: Invite the three others from our supper group back in Seattle. They all said yes. I also coached others about how to make their own reservations (and some did). It really wasn’t much trouble and, was it ever worth it!

I tried again to make e-reservations, this time in the activity department. I invited the whole group, “Come join me at Pust, the sauna in Bodø. It floats. It’s gorgeous, cedar-lined. They say Norwegians love it, especially in the winter. Never mind the optional swim in 5 degree (C) water.”

Needless to say, we had tons of fun splashing around. As we said out on the road together, working on our BS degrees, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.”

*Photo Credit: Kathy Buholm

This is funny.

Last night some of us went to a speakeasy-like open mic at Antikvariatet in Trondheim, Norway.

With beer and nuts in hand, I was eager for the entertainment to begin.

MC Isaac played a tune and then speculated that the crowd was a bit shy. When he said spoken word would do, I stepped up, read “Those Trolls” (two posts back), even got a laugh or two. My tablemates snapped this photo.

By breakfast, I was a famous performer. People asked, “What did you sing?”, “Did you nail a contract?” or commented “No wonder you went to the opera in Oslo.”

Ah, dreams of the big time. Best is imagining getting chuckles out of my husband and kids.

Decades ago when I was in my twenties, a therapist suggested I learn about containment. While I’ll be practicing for the rest of my life, I know more about why they advised it now.

I’m an extrovert. I love being around people and I talk a lot. I don’t have much of a filter. I emote shamelessly and in doing so, I give my energy away.

Rob’s less that way. Most people are. Over the years as I appreciate him more and more, I have learned about quiet and stillness. I journal, and meditate too. I listen deeply more often and feel energy wiggle on the edges of the container that is me. I love myself better from here.

When I travel with Rob (or alone), I build in a halfway day for no commitments, for reading and wandering. Thank Goodness, Ed and Laurie, our tour guides here in Norway, know the value of a “day of leisure” too. They built one into our trip here in Alesund, a sleepier fishing town on the Geirangerfjord, recognized by UNESCO.

It’s easier to notice and welcome spontaneity in times like these. I want to bring this peace home with me. I’ll be ready to join back into the social frivolity tomorrow.

I am up VERY EARLY yet again in Norway. By the way, I am here for another week. Once I realized it was Thursday, a fond thought surfaced: Zoom Morning Prayer with some of my besties is coming up. Thank God!

But wait…that’ll be 12 hours from now and it’ll be the afternoon by then.

For more potentially disorienting context, it never really gets dark these days in the land of the midnight sun. And the language is new to me even though the natives speak back in perfect English when I utter one word. And, oh yeah, most everyone is white, many are taller than me AND it’s warmer than I expected. Go figure. It’s a liminal stretch, I’m telling you.

I want to convince myself, in my bones, that ALL IS WELL which, of course, I know intellectually. I am here with a great group, most of whom, besides me that is, have Norwegian blood. There are some solid Lutherans (like Garrison Keillor, I’m saying.) The scenery is magnificent; so is our itinerary.

Even so and especially in the middle of what passes for “night,” I knock up against my own anxious wildness from time to time. Tonight it’s the usual “Will I have enough energy?” and “Can I stay well?” Specifically those ho-hum ordinary loops I know so well have morphed into “Can I ward off the nauseousness on these gorgeous, yet crinkly, bus rides?” and even “It’s time to wash my hair so can I go jump in the fjord first and not catch a cold?”

Oh yes, it’s fascinating in ths noggin of mine. God is shaking me up, people! And, Lord, this is exactly what it takes sometimes.

So…it will be wonderful half-a-day from now (conceivably) to sink into Morning Prayer with whoever can make it.

Before then, maybe I’ll go swimming. Or, at the very least, wash my hair.