Music abounds!

The weather has been terrible. Last night before bed I captured this video, mostly to give you the sound bite. 

But this morning dawned nearly clear, bright and sunny, warm enough to go out in short sleeves. We all took turns standing by the window and looking at the glorious view either before or after breakfast. 

The first priority for today was to try to rehearse in the Voss Church in preparation for our concert tomorrow. The church is built on a site that is believed to have a stave church built in 1100, but then was torn down in the 13th century, and the current stone church was completed in 1277. 

Voss Church
(Martha's older photo)

The interior of this lovely old church is quiet, calm, and somewhat dark, even when the lights are on. It has a certain timelessness, yet feels relevant in the present time. 

Can you spot the phone? 
(Martha's photo)

As we rehearsed, groups of tourists came through to take tours, and learn about the building. At one point, we watched them disappear through  a 1m x 1m hole in the floor. I have no idea what they were looking at down there! 

Maren found a creative place to put her phone. We got a lot done, and the kids asked for some private practice time, which will happen tomorrow morning, I hope. We worked collectively to cut the setlist down to size, and got it down to the seven tunes we can fit in our set. The church has amazing acoustics, and we caught a little sound bite for you (Sue Yule took the movie):

When finished in the church we went shopping. We got a note from the organizer of Strunkeveko that we needed to have the kids, who all three now want to play hardingfele at camp, in green t-shirts for the final concert. We found some very, uh, "cost-effective" shirts at about $9 each. We know how to shop! Next stop, home for lunch and naps because all five of us were dragging. Three of five hit the sack without lunch; the other two of us ate and then crashed. I slept for more than two hours - I needed it! 

Second lesson with Arne.
(Martha's photo)

When I woke up at 4:40PM there was a text from Arne asking if we could meet him at 4:45PM. Uh...Wake the kids! Feed those that had no lunch! Text Arne and say 5:00PM or shortly after. Jump in the van. Drive down to the Academy (that would be the Ole Bull Academy). Tune instruments. Move chairs. Finished just as Arne walked out to the terrace. We just had to play outside - it was so lovely out! 

Lilah, Maren, Itsani at the statue.
(Martha's photo)

We reviewed the springar we learned yesterday, and finished learning the rull. That rull is from a very famous figure in Voss, the fiddler Ola Mosafinn. Mosafinn lived from 1828 to 1912, traveled to perform in the US twice, and was the person who

taught the next generation of important fiddlers in Voss. There are many tunes extant that come from Mosafinn, including the one we learned today. 

Statue close-up. 
(Martha's photo)

It happens that there is now a new statue in Voss, involving Mosafinn, that just had its unveiling in early June. It is a panorama, and though I am not certain, I believe it depicts when the King came to Voss and wanted to see a traditional Voss wedding. The inscription on the stone translates loosely as "Traveling to the memory of fiddler Ola Mosafinn and the horseback Voss wedding. "

The tune that is inscribed is Bølleslåtten, a very famous tune that many still play today. 

It was so beautiful out that I decided to have some fun with the kids. I wanted to have a picture of them in front of the lake. I asked them to jump to see if I could catch them in the air. It took about ten tries, but I did get one fantastic shot. We call this photo "We 💜 Voss!"

It was time to go home and have supper, which Sue kindly cooked for us. It's been fun to try and plan meals to accommodate all the food needs. This evening it was what we called "Taco Salad." Maren is eager for tomorrow evening, when we will have her beloved Norwegian Tomatsuppen (tomato soup) and we'll use up leftover taco supplies by making nachos to go with. Yum! 

Here's a humor shot with a puzzle for you, Dear Reader. How many instruments are in the fiddle corral in the back of the van? It's a little sneaky... You'll find the answer below my signature. 😎

And more fun stuff since the tour isn't all work! We did MadLibs in the car, and I have to say that some were so funny we were laughing so hard we were crying. But here's one that turned out rather apropos!

We open and close every day with a circle. The morning questions are 1) how am I feeling today and 2) what am I looking forward to today? Then we handle any issues, like the LOUD clomping on the steps. This was a problem because my bed is oriented in such a way that my head is under those...And we talk about the plan for the day. 

The evening circle starts with similar questions, 1) how am I feeling this evening and 2) what was my best moment of the day, and adds one more 3) what am I grateful for today? Once those are answered, then we go over the bedtime plan and the wake-up plan and details for the next day like what to pack. This is a shot of Sue and Hugh doing the "what's up for tomorrow" process. 

At this evening's circle Sue and I were surprised that the kids no longer feel unreasonably tired. Jet lag seems to be diminishing as we find our "Norway legs." But most impressive, without assigning who said what, was the list of things for which we are grateful:

• grateful to be together in a beautiful place
• grateful for leaders doing lots of stuff for us
• grateful for everyone working together to do chores
• grateful for improving teamwork and working smoothly as a group
• grateful for Arne's teaching, patience, and sense of humor. 
  

I'll take all of that to dreamland as a very grateful person. How grateful I am to have this time with this group of people. It's the BEST. 

-Martha

PS The answer is 8.