The reindeers Artse (The eagle) and Gisse (The fat one) are among the eight tamed reindeers who this week gives people a chance to travel the traditional sami way at Rørosmartnan. There are always a lot of horses at this norwegian winter fair, but the sami people with their reindeers are also a part of this community.

The reinder herders who have started this small business, Rørosrein, that gives people a chance to travell with a reindeer and sledge have most of their reindeers in the mountains. And they have used some years to tame a few of them the traditional way. And now people can try to steer a reindeer by themselves.

The Scandinavian wolf was more or less extinct, but the last 20-30 years there has been considerable effort to reintroduce and/or strengthen the population. And so far this winter nature management have tracked 52 to 56 wolves in Norway. Half of these are so far only registered in Norway, while the other half, ie 26 to 28 wolves, are located in the border territory to Sweden. That means they come and go across the border.

In Norway the population of wolf was more or less extinct around 1860, according to scientific statistics, and in the years since it was only occasional transient individuals. The wolf was listed as a protected species in Sweden in 1965, and in Norway in 1973. But genetic analyzes indicate that the Scandinavian wolf was extinct, and that it was immigrants from the east, from Russia and Finland, and their descendants, who eventually got the benefit of wolf protection. The joint Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish populations in the mid-1970s, was probably not exceeding ten animals.

From 1966 untill 1980 there were no wolf shot in Norway, according to Statistics Norway that have such figures back to 1846 for all the big predators. Suddenly there were wolf again, but not many. Genetic studies show that the current Scandinavian tribe originates from a single pair of wolves with Eastern origin, but that another male came in 1990-91, according to facts from the swedish authorities. Here are maps that shows todays distribution of wolves in Europe and Norway.

The wolf is a a controversial animal in both Sweden and Norway, because it can kill livestock and reindeers, dogs and for certain a lot of moose, deer and roedeers. You can almost say that people who live in the towns and cities loves the wolf and wants more of them, while many people in the countryside see the wolf as a problem, as do many hunters and dogowners who live in wolf-land. That is especially the southern parts of both countries.

There are more wolves in Sweden than in Norway, but all together there are not enough fresh blood to keep the population viable says the scientists. The swedish government have decided to to use new and many says drastic methods to enhance the genetic strain in the wolves. That is releasing wolf puppies from the zoo to wild adoptive mothers, and to translocate wild wolves from Finland and maybe Russia. The places to release the new wolves is supposed to be announced before the end of March this year. But there are a lot of protests, and at least one swedish zoo have declined to deliver wolf puppies during  the last days. And a new law might make the landowners to decline any new wolves, and that might stop the whole projects, writes the newspaper DN.se.

The wolf is a critically endangered species in Norway and Sweden. Around the world there are an estimated 200,000 in 57 countries, compared to up to 2 million in earlier times, according to the organization Defenders of Wildlife.

These images are all photographed in a norwegian zoo, Namsskogan Familiepark. It is a typically norwegian zoo with almost only nordic species, and big enclosures that gives the animals some space. I have some more photos from the wolves and other animals in this zoo in my web gallery.

The only remaining populations of the European wild mountain reindeer lives in 23 more or less separate mountain areas in Southern Norway. But now the wild reindeer have many challenges in their habitats, according to central members of  The Norwegian Association of Hunters and Anglers, Norges Jeger- og Fiskerforbund. They are not alone to be worried.

About 500 years ago there were wild reindeers in most of Scandinavian mountains. And thousands of years ago the reindeer was the key resource in European culture. The reindeer are adapted a life in high altitudes and rough climate, and today you find these fascinating animals only in restricted areas in southern Norway. It is important for Norway and an international commitment to take care of the European wild reindeer, otherwise it might not be any wild reindeers left, lets say in 2030. Says the  The Norwegian wild reindeer foundation.

The problems of the reindeer is more or less the same as for many other wild animals today: It is increasingly more people, more roads, railways, cabins, power lines and other forms of urbanization and their habitat is reduced. It is not enough wilderness left.

These photos are not of the wild reindeer, but of the domesticated reindeers. I have actually never seen a wild reindeer yet, but the reindeers owned by the indigenous sami reindeer herders are more or less the same animal and they live the same way. That is roaming around in vast mountain areas as one of the most land-demanding species, and eating the same kind of plants and lichens. The only difference is that the wild reindeers are regulated by the authorities and through hunting, while the domesticated ones are regulated by their sami owners (but the reindeer herding is also regulated by the state). That means monitoring the yearly movements between pastures, keep looking for predators, collecting the herds to mark the calves in summer and slaughtering in autumn or winter.

There is sami reindeer herding in about 40 percent of Norway’s land area, that is all the way from Elgå in Hedmark and Trollheimen in Sør-Trøndelag and Møre and Romsdal and all the way to the russian border in Finnmark in the north. These photos are from southsami reindeer herding, most from the county of Nord-Trøndelag, some from Sør-Trøndelag.

I have more photos from reindeer herding and sami life in my web galleries. Here is a link to my gallery collection.

One of the worlds biggest sun dials, some say the biggest, is in my home town of Trondheim. The sun dial is just at the heart of the town square. That is a tall granite column with a statue of the city’s founder on the top, the viking king Olav Tryggvason (king from about 995 to 1000). Around the statue the cobblestone mosaic forms a gigantic sundial. So when the sun pops out, the column casts its shadow on a cobblestone clock face. The first two pictures show the sun dial when it was repaired in 2001.

These days the city government is thinking to remove this sun dial. Because a couple of rich merchants wants to change the town square, and have given the city a huge amount of money to do so, that is 50 million NOK. In return the want to participate in the decisions, and in the plans I have seen there was no sun dial. Actually not even the statue of the king, but I think they have changed their mind about that. Because there are a lot of protests, and it should be. Nobody wants to remove admiral Nelson or his column on Trafalgar Square in London I guess, or Fontana di Trevi in Rome. So why remove what is really a focal point and landmark in Trondheim, just because it is a smaller town.

NO, said the well known art painter Håkon Bleken and asked the Directorate for Cultural Heritage to interfere. They did. At least they told the local authorities in Trondheim to do nothing before the case was properly evaluated by them, since a square like this is of national importance. The city square is the hub in the baroque town planning made by Johan Caspar von Cicignon (born in Luxembourg in 1625, died in Norway in 1696).

The photo is showing the streef of Munkegata, from the tower of Nidarosdomen Cathedral towards the city square, and beyond towards the fjord and the small island Munkholmen. The city of Trondheim got a modern design very early. The big fire in Trondheim in 1681 led to an almost total reconstruction of the city, a plan designed by Cicignon. His baroque style is still used as a gudideline in much of Trondheim’s city centre. In later years there have been quite the debate over whether or not the plan’s intentions are being stretched by entrepreneurs trying to profit from infringing the plan’s strict building boundaries, according to Wikipedia, and others.

Trondheim celebrated 1000 years in 1997. The statue and the sun dial is not that old. The statue was made by the sculptor Wilhelm Rasmussen in 1921.

There are things going on on the city square in trondheim, sometimes, but the the local authorities want the place to be used even more. I agree. And I agree even more with the historian who now says that it is not the square that needs to be changed for that to happen. It is what’s in the surrounding houses that needs to be changed. Insurance companies, banks and an oil company like today does create crowds in the city center.

There are some more photos from Trondheim in my web gallery.

The best thing about winter in Norway is probably the blue light that occure about every day just before the dark of the night (which is not so dark when the landscape is covered with snow). We call it blåtimen, the blue hour, and it can have different colours of blue.

Even a residential area can look alraight in this kind of light. But every day is not the same, and if it is very cloudy or snowing a lot, the light might not be very blue or it last for a very short time. Like the other day when the afternoon suddenly got very foggy.

I walk around every day with the dog, and also everyday in the wintertime I have to make a fire to heat the house. It take some time carrying firewood and make sure the stove is burning but it is not a problem. Birch is the best firewood, and some birch bark and small pieces makes it easy to get going. I never use paper, or very little, because it produce a lot of ash that can actually extinguish the fire. The warmth from the fire is really nice and makes all the efforts worthwhile.

Here is a link to a website about the blue hour. You can see more these photos and other of my winter-photos in my web gallery.

Men and women who manage their own horses in Sassari, Italy.

In the show there was Mona Sahlin, former Deputy Prime Minister in Sweden, Jonas Gahr Støre, the norwegian minister of foreign affairs, and Timbuktu, a rapper and a really popular swedish musician. All of them really crushed this man from outer space. At least in Scandinavia the Man does not “help” the Woman in the home any more. They are both responsible for everyday chores. They mighth argue, of course. But the man resting on the couch after work, and the woman simultaneously and automatically doing housework after work, because these days both of them go to work of course (if they are not unemployed). Even Gray have noticed this. Still he talkes as if the Man is HELPING the Woman if he does anything in their common household. Ha, ha, ha, that was 1950′ties, maybe 1960′ties or even 70′ties. And of course it still happens in many places of the world. Maybe even next door. But it is not Comme-il-faut around here anymore. Sorry John Gray, you were laughed at tonigth. In Scandinavia at least, most of us know that men and woman, or people as such, are not identical, but we are equal. Or should be.

I remember when the book Men are from March, Women are from Venus was new. Many of my friends read it, and found it interesting. I did not, so I did not have a strong opinion then. From internet ratings it seems times have changed, it is apparently not everyone who expresses enthusiasm nowadays. Like Rachel, who are among the 17.000 ratings on goodreads.com:

“My biggest problem with the book is that it is extremely sexist. The book continually explains that this is just how men are, and then goes on to explain how women can learn to deal with that. Biggest load of crap ever. While some people will certainly fall into these stereotypes, I believe this book may cause more harm than good.  Some of the sexist highlights: -a woman should go shopping when her man decides that he needs alone time (this is how she can show him her love.”

I could not agree more, with Rachel, after listening to John Grays medieval opinions.

Man and woman going moose-hunting together in Norway.

Man and woman who share the joy of wine harvesting in Sardinia, Italy.

Sorry, don’t have any picture showing a man resting on the sofa while the woman makes all the household work.

I see moose (Alces alces) almost every day during the winter. That is, most of them I see during night, when it is dark and not so easy to see them. But some days I can see them just outside the window, like the one above, resting in the snow.

But most of the times when I see moose in broad day light, I see them hiding in the woods when I walk the dog. Because these animals are usually not moving around much during the day.

Moose, or Eurasian Elk, which maybe are the correct for the Scandinavian moose, is a big animal. Much bigger than a normal horse, and some people are afraid of them. Especially since the are walking around quite close to the houses some times. This happens most often when it is dark and most people do not see them then, but still, they are afraid.
I am not. As I said, I almost see a moose or two every day (especially at night), and only once did one of them make a charge toward me and the dog. But I understand why. We were very close, because of the dark night we did not see them before we were too close. But it was just a warning. This is wild animals, who have their body language that has to be respected. Mayself I never go straight towards these animals. And I will turn and go another way if I think I will disturb them. And contrary to some of my neighbours I do not mind if a moose walk through my garden. Because there is nothing much to eat there now. It is all covered with snow.

The moose above lives in a moose farm in Sweden that is a tourist attraction. As far as I know there are no moose farms in Norway, but there are some in zoo, like Familieparken i Nord-Trøndelag. But most of them live in the wilderness, and because the wolf got more or less extinct some hundred years ago, there is now a lot of moose in Norway. And because there is a lot of them, and even more cars, there are a lot of car accidents. Between 6000 and 7000 moose, deer and roe deer are killed by cars every year, and only in January this year about 90 moose were killed by train in Norway. So it is hard to be a wild animal sometimes.

In my web gallery you can see some more of my moose photos.

Today, on the 6th of February, it is the national day of the sami people, the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of Russia. Today there is also the first show of a new theater play about Elsa Laula, the first female, sami activist. On the 6th of February in 1917 she gathered sami from all over Norway and from different countries to meet together for the first time, to fight for their rights and also discuss problems with the authorities. This happened in the norwegian city of Trondheim, and that is also were this play has  its premiere.

Elsa Laula (1877 – 1931) was one of the first sami women of her generation to get an education, but she had to fulfill her political struggle and at the same time work full time as a reindeer herder together with her husband, and she was also a mother of six, two of them died in sicknes at an early age.

Elsa Laula is played by Cecilia Persson, an actor, singer and author, who like Elsa is of the south-sami people. And who also like her is living in a reindeer herding family when not on stage.

The play about Elsa Laula is staged by the company Åarjelhsaemien Teatere/Sydsamisk Teater in cooperation with Nord-Trøndelag Teater, and they will tour the norwegian districts of Trøndelag and southern Nordland this spring, and northern Nordland in the autumn, with participating at festivals during summer. I visited the theater at their rehearsals at Stiklestad in Verdal were these photos are taken.

The sami flag in the middle, between the swedish to the left, and the norwegian flag. The Sami flag was inaugurated during the Sami Conference in Åre, Sweden, in 1986. The resolution for celebrating on 6 February was passed in 1992 at the 15th Sami congress in Helsinki. Since 1993, Norway, Sweden and Finland have recognized February 6 as Sami National Day.

“Sámi soga lávlla” (Song of the Sami People) is written by Isak Saba in 1906. In1986, it became the national anthemof the sami, approved by the 15th Sami Conference in Helsinki, Finland in 1992.

There are more photos fram the play in my web gallery, were I also have a collection of different galleries from reindeer herding and sami life of today.

The Egyptian revolution was not a Facebook-revolution. The revolution was created on the streets of Egypt. But Facebook was a very important tool, said Mohamed Ibrahim on Hellkonferansen this weekend. Hellkonferansen is a yearly conference for norwegian journalists, and Mohamed Ibrahim was invited to talk about how social media can have exposive political force. Since social media like Facebook and Twitter was used to accelerate the Egyptian revolution.

In many ways it all started with the Facebook-page We are all Khaled Said. The arab version of this page was founded In 2010 by Wael Ghonim, in memory of Khaled Said, a young Egyptian who was tortured to death by police in Alexandria. Wael Ghonim used this page in moving and integrating the anti-government protests of the 25th of Jan revolution. Today this page have 1.9 million members.

Mohamed Ibrahim, who is a Microsoft-employee in London, is administrating the english version and told about how the cooperation with Ghonim came about, and how they for a long time did not even know each others names.

After av very interesting lecture mister Ibrahim told how the TV-cameras and video’s saved the lives of protestors in Egypt, and he asked the journalists to take the side of the weaker party in their work: -You have a responsibility because it can save lives.

The identity cards confiscated from participant of the infamous  The Battle of the camel in Cairos Tahrir Square showed they were not ordinary camel and horse riders, but belonging to the police and members of Mubaraks party.

Here is a link to some more photos from Hellkonferansen. I also have a collection of photo-galleries from Egypt, but not from protests and conflicts during the revolution. Or visit all my photo-gallery.

And by the way, Hell is just a normal name of a place in Norway, and I usually go to Hell more than once a week.

I live in the countryside quite close to the woods, but I have not gone skiing yet this year, before today. Because it has been too cold, because the day are too short, or other excuses. But skiing is a norwegian tradition on sundays, so today me and the dog went for å short trip to the forest. It is only five minutes away, and now the sun sets around three, so there was still some day left.

And yes, it was a bit cold. Cross-country skiing will be nicer in February, and especially in March. We did not go far, but with an irish setter in the front, we moved fast. And was back to see the colours at the sun set. That is after the sun set, because they lasts and change very nicely in this time of the year.

But I had only a compact camera (canon G12) and did not take many pictures. But it is possible to see some more of my winter-photos in my web gallery.