A nice day

I left home a 7 in the morning. The sky was blue and the sun was shining. It was a nice day. 

Now I'm sitting in an air plane, Aeroflot SU2165 on the way to Moscow. The stewardess is serving coffee and snacks. I asked for an orange juice, and I got it.

I'm  surrounded by Russians. They talk in a language I don't understand, about things I don't know. That's OK.

The Russians are on the way home.

I'm on the way out. 

I like it. It's good to get away from everything, or at least most of it. 

Below us there is ocean as far as I can see. Soon the Riga Bay will show up, I presume, and the trip has just started. There's still a long way to go >:)

(Picture taken from the plane)

Fuck Denmark

Some time ago I happened to visit the Faroe Islands. The rocky basalt islands are covered by green grass, and inhabited by 50.000 people and twice as many sheep. The nature is awesome, with some and some spectacular places.

The Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Since 1948 the Faroes have enjoyed the high degree of self governance, but they are still under Danish rule in many respects, such as foreign policy. Today the Danish rule is quite mild, but it hasn't always been like that. Throughout history, the Faroe Islands have been treated pretty much as a Danish colony.

On the top of a small hill in Torshavn, there is a basalt obelisk, erected in the late 1800s, to celebrate the visit of the Danish king. I heard that some people accept the monument, and some people dislike it. I was disappointed to see that the obelisk was so clean and untouched. Send some young punks or students up there to decorate the obelisk with some "Fuck Denmark" graffiti, at least.

BTW, I have nothing against Denmark. Copenhagen is a great city >:)

(Pictures taken at Faroe islands a month ago)

Constitution

Yesterday was our Constitution Day, and big celebrations.

In the morning it was the childrens parade, with all the elementary schools in town. Little boy is in 4th grade, and was participating with his school.

Then there was the citizens parade, with all the clubs and associations in town; the Kung Fu Club, Roller Derby Club, pro-football team, Students Society , Gay Association, Lions Club, Moto-Cross Club, Railroad-workers' Brass Band, Together for Jesus, and so on.

Same procedure as every year.

Our constitution is inspired by the French and the US, and builds on the principle of separation of powers; the executive, legislative and judicial, respectively.

Here are some punch-lines from the constitution, written about 200 years ago:
o All inhabitants of the Realm shall have the right to free exercise of their religion.
o The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the State. The inhabitants professing it are bound to bring up their children in the same.
o Jesuits and monastic orders may not be tolerated. Jews remain excluded from admission to the kingdom.
o There shall be freedom of expression.
o Search of private homes shall not be made except in criminal cases.

My parents may have violated the 2nd statement, even though they possibly did their best to obey it (it just didn't work on me).

It's interesting that the most important statement is only six words.

One of the statements above has been removed from the constitution in modern times ... guess which.

(I don't take many pictures on the Constitution Day. It's the same every year, and I've seen it all before. The picture above is from the citizen's parade last year.)

Freedom

“What would you do if I told you that I’ve been sleeping with another man?”

“Have you?”

“No, just imagine. What would you say?”

“Great. Did you enjoy it?”

“It means you don’t care about me. You don’t love me.”

“Quite the contrary. It means that I don’t want to own you, or decide over you. You have all the freedom you want. If there is anything you would like to explore, you can do it.”

“Do you really mean it?”

“Yes”

“Wouldn’t you be jealous?”

“No. Jealousy is a sign of uncertainty. I’m not uncertain. I trust you. It’s been you and me for a quarter of a century, and it will remain so. I don’t need to keep you on a leash.”

“You’re unbelievable”

“Maybe.”

(Excerpt from my so-called novel, in progress. Painting by Arne Ekeland)