Reflections on the tunnels in which we find ourselves

I've been thinking lately about the tunnels that we let ourselves enter and then get lost in. It struck me that we should be more careful about the tunnels we choose to enter, because it may be quite difficult to extricate ourselves or to find the way out once we're halfway in. I've never liked tunnels because I'm claustrophobic, so I literally avoid real tunnels if I can. But avoiding the figurative ones is not as easy, because sometimes you don't realize you've tunneled yourself until you're lost or can't find your way out. 

We live in a society that is constantly striving to seduce us, to engage us, to capture our attention, to keep us on our phones and scrolling through our feeds on social media. A society that wants to suck us into one or another tunnel. Excessive use of social media is one type of tunnel that sucks us in and from which it's hard to extricate ourselves. Other tunnels are certain schools of thought, political philosophies, religious beliefs, and so on. Any type of extremist beliefs, whether they be political and/or religious, are dangerous tunnels to enter because they only lead us deeper into them. The tunnels get darker and deeper and narrower, like caves, and it becomes harder to see the exits or how to turn around. Much like a forest that we can wander into and in which we lose our bearings. The light disappears and the forest begins to impede our movements. That's what eventually happens; we trap ourselves into a mental immobility. We lose flexibility, freedom of thought, freedom to change our minds. 

I remember Christ saying in one of the gospels that we have to be vigilant, be constantly aware, because we can never know when he will return. Keeping the lamps lit was what I remember from that reading. Always at the ready--spiritual readiness. If we have wandered too deeply into our tunnels, the lamps will go out and we won't find out way out. We won't be ready. It's a dark thought, one that can scare me if I focus on it. Loss of hope, despair, negativity--these are other tunnels from which it's difficult to extricate ourselves. Staying vigilant--that is our hope and our salvation. Guarding against a sheep mentality--thinking and doing what most others are doing--is our salvation. We were given intelligence for a reason; we should use it often and responsibly. 

Electric Feel by MGMT

This song from 2007 escaped my attention when it was first released. I don't remember hearing it or seeing the video when it first came out. But it showed up in one of my reels on FB, and I was intrigued enough to give it a listen. And I liked it. It definitely has a psychedelic hippie vibe; it brought to mind a Three Dog Night album insert that depicted the band and their families partying, and also the song Dancing in the Moonlight from 1972 by King Harvest. 

  

How to find peace of mind (in my opinion)

Spot on, once again. Thank you, Stephan Pastis......

Wait a Minute by Willow Smith

I really like this song by Willow Smith (Will Smith's daughter). It's catchy and has some interesting lyrics.

 

July garden update

July has been an extremely warm month here in Oslo, with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s. That has had an impact on the garden in terms of hastening growth and maturity of some of the berries. For example, our strawberries were ripe at least two weeks ahead of their normal schedule, and the gooseberries and black currants are on track to be ripe for picking next week, which is a good week to two weeks ahead of their normal schedule. 

The garden's growth has exploded during the past two weeks. My perennials have grown quite tall, those that do actually achieve some height. My dahlias are now blooming, likewise all of my lily plants, which are beautiful this year. The loosestrife is also lovely and has not shed its petals yet as it normally does. The wisteria along the fence is now blooming for the second time this year! Lovely. The magnolia tree is growing tall and starting to spread its branches. It's happy. There aren't many red currants this year, but there will be plenty of black currants and raspberries. New this year--a lot of black and yellow raspberries. Black raspberries are my favorite type of raspberry. 

As far as annuals go, I planted snapdragons and rose mallows from seed, and they are doing well. Note to myself for next year--plant more of them--they're beautiful. I removed all the pachysandra from under the krossved tree and planted a hosta garden that is doing well. The pachysandra, while lovely, was beginning to negatively affect the growth of the krossved, as it is known to do in many instances. You have to be careful what you plant it next to. 

My three asparagus plants (planted in April of this year) are doing very well, but there won't be edible asparagus for another two years. It takes that long for the plants to become stabilized. The pumpkin and zucchini plants are growing, but it will be interesting to see if there are pumpkins this year. Last year there weren't any because the plants had only male flowers. I planted two kinds of potatoes and they are growing happily. I mounded the soil this year because that is supposed to help yield larger potatoes. We'll see. My garlic and onion plants are also doing fine. 

Having a garden is a lot of work, but it's worth it when you see the results. I only hope as I get older that I will be able to manage it all. I've had the garden for ten years now, and am hoping for at least another ten. That's provided that the allotment garden is not turned into a public park as has been suggested by the Oslo municipality (a stupid idea if ever there was one). I'll keep you posted. In any case, here are some photos from the past two weeks. 

Anemone--poppy anemones according to my iPhone info

Burning love flowers

Potato patch to the left, hosta garden straight ahead, loosestrife to the right

Allium plants that the bees love

My beautiful wisteria

Black raspberry plant--the ripe black berries look like little hats

Loosestrife and allium plants, plus a red dahlia

Phlox and astilbe flowers

Japanese maple 

Rose mallows 

Yellow lily

Reddish-pink lily

Liatris spicata--the dense blazing star, next to a day lily

Loosestrife 

The value of keeping your mouth shut

This post is inspired by one person who never shuts up. He thinks that everything he has to say is worth listening to. He thinks that every utterance that comes out of his mouth is pure gold. It isn't, not by a long shot. He is insulting, aggressive, snotty, mean, angry, vengeful and old. Grumpy old man. Up all night, can't sleep, taking out his vitriol on others. There are a lot of grumpy old men, but most of them are not in leadership positions, thankfully. 

There is one thing he is good for, and that is inspiring young people to think before they speak, if they open their mouths at all. My mother used to say 'if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all'. She was right. We were also taught not to comment on other people's appearances. Her generation was right about so many things. They had lived through the Great Depression and WWII and knew what true hardship was. They were careful with their words because they were taught to be careful. Children were taught to 'not speak until they were spoken to'. We as children could not just mouth off constantly; our parents would not have tolerated it. The value of monitored speech can be debated, but it made for a quieter world. And perhaps a nicer one. 

Sometimes I just want to scream out 'shut the f--k up'. Please, all you politicians who think your words are so impactful. I listened to JD Vance recently talking about how he thought Joe Biden ate an ice cream cone in a weird way, and thought--please just shut up. You're making a fool of yourself and embarrassing yourself in front of your children. I don't care if you are Ivy-league-educated. I don't care if you have written a best-selling book. I don't care. Just shut up. 

And that goes for all the grumpy old men who feel entitled to comment on women's attractiveness whenever they feel outclassed or challenged by women. They feel entitled to say that women are ugly, or that they look like men, or that they have lost their looks. The list of insults is long. I wonder if any of these men have taken a long look at themselves in the mirror lately. Do they see what the rest of us see and are mostly too polite to comment on? Perhaps more of us should speak the truth about how they look. Really, their narcissism and ignorance boggle the mind. Again, just shut up. No one wants to hear you.

Because here's the value in a collective societal shut-up. We others get a chance to think for ourselves, to enjoy the peace of reflection. We get a chance to focus on things that matter to us, rather than be continually distracted by your nonsense. This collective shut-up goes not only for politicians, but for media pundits and news-people who need to find something interesting to say 24/7. How to find peace? Turn off the tv and tune out social media. It's hard to do. We are addicted to scrolling on our devices. That's how we get our news updates nowadays. But it's a two-edged sword. It's good to stay abreast of what's happening in society, but we have to learn when and where to draw the line. We need quiet time in order to function normally. We cannot be 'on' all the time, listening to the babble that many politicians spout. I am not anti-government, I am anti-babbling. I am anti-nonsense. I don't want to listen to rambling stupid speeches, I don't want to listen to angry old men tell me how to think and feel. And this goes for any other angry old men who are in our faces 24/7, poisoning our society with their vitriol. 

Just shut up. 

I Took A Pill in Ibiza (Seeb remix) by Mike Posner

The video for this song always fascinated me. Drugs don't always have the desired effect of making you seem cool and part of the in-crowd. The protagonist in this video ends up rather sticking out in the crowd, isolated, alone, feeling weird, feeling out of place. At least that's the message I got from the song. One man's regrets over taking a pill in order to get high and to be cool. While it looks like he's having a good time at some points when he's flying high over the dancing crowd, apparently he isn't. When he looks at himself in the mirror, he seems surprised to see himself--wondering who he is, perhaps? Wondering if it was worth it? Perhaps it was for a brief few minutes. An interesting message in a song that at first glance appears to promote getting high.

Nantucket Sleighride by Mountain

One of my favorite songs from the band Mountain. Hard to believe it was released in 1971, fifty-five years ago. How time flies, really. Seems like yesterday that we were listening to this song for the first time.......

Happy 250th Birthday, America!

I am hopeful again, after several years where I had begun to wonder if the USA would survive the onslaught of grifting and negativity in which so many of its leading politicians participate. I have written so many times about how money rules in politics. It still does. But there are rising voices against this tide, voices that proclaim that the USA remains a country committed to the highest principles--freedom, justice, opportunities for all. Voices that say that how much money you have cannot define your worth as a human being. Voices that are less capitalist and more, dare I say it, socialist, but in the best way. Call it Christian socialism--concern for others, easing the financial burdens of ordinary people, making housing accessible for more people. The list is long. I see that some universities and educational institutions are making tuition free or at least reducing the annual fees. We are a diverse country populated by blue- and white-collar workers, and the rich. We cannot make life simplest for the rich and ignore the others. It cannot work that way. We cannot continue to be a divided nation, undergoing a cold civil war. That way of thinking is simply is not sustainable in the long run. Average ordinary people do not want polarization, division, war, aggression, bitterness, negativity. If you do, there has to be something wrong with you if that's what floats your boat. A country has to appeal to the best ideals in its citizenry. It has to inspire them with hope and the possibility for change. Otherwise it is a nation in decline. 

So Happy 250th Birthday, America! My country by birth. Happy July 4th! I root for you and I know that you will survive this dark period in your history. There are new leaders on the horizon who will lead the country in a new direction, and it's about time. The useless dinosaurs will soon become extinct. 

Celebrating 250 years of independence

July 4, 2026 marks 250 years of independence for the USA. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, although not signed by all delegates until August 2 of that year. This declaration of independence meant that the USA cut all ties with Britain and served to further support the Revolutionary War that had already started a year earlier. Americans wanted to be free of British rule. The Declaration of Independence established the USA as an independent nation. 

We have celebrated July 4 for as long as I can remember. When we were children, our parents took us to the grounds of Washington Irving junior high school in Tarrytown to watch the fireworks once it got dark. An orchestral concert preceded the fireworks, playing all sorts of marching band songs and establishing the mood for this important day in American history. The entire town turned out for the concert and fireworks and did so for many years until the fireworks were discontinued for some reason. 

Since I moved to Oslo, I've tried to commemorate July 4th as best I can. My American friend and co-worker Liza and I discovered the American Coordinating Council of Norway (ACCN) in the early 2000s and would meet on the grounds of Frogner Park for a picnic/barbecue at the ACCN celebration of Independence Day. The ACCN used to organize an Independence Day Celebration at Frogner Park which was attended by thousands of people each year. The celebration included concerts, raffles, games, and multiple food stands. The highlight of each year was seeing the classic American cars that were exhibited, thanks to their owners who were rightfully quite proud of them. My husband and I used to enjoy these celebrations, although we were not able to participate each year.   

After Liza passed away, I continued attending the celebrations in Frogner Park, and I fully expected that there would be a huge celebration this year since the USA was turning 250 years old. To my surprise, I discovered that there is not to be a celebration at all. It was cancelled this year, which is absolutely surprising because it will be fifty years until the next major milestone (300 years old). There could  possibly be a 275 year celebration if that counts as a major milestone. The ACCN posted the following on their Facebook page: 

Dear Supporters of ACCN,

After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to postpone this year's Independence Day Celebration at Frogner Park, originally scheduled for June 28.

A combination of factors, including ongoing security concerns and event logistics, led us to conclude that we could not deliver the safe and successful celebration our community deserves.

While we are disappointed not to gather this summer, we remain deeply grateful for the support of our members, volunteers, sponsors, and the broader Oslo-American community who have made this event a cherished tradition for nearly four decades.

We encourage you to stay connected with ACCN as we share updates on future events and opportunities to gather throughout the year. If your contact information has changed, please take a moment to update your details to ensure you receive future announcements.

We look forward to reconnecting with you soon and hope to see many of you at our October community gathering, where we will discuss the future of ACCN and the opportunities ahead.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.

With gratitude,

ACCN

And just like that, no celebration. They cite ongoing security concerns, and I've got to wonder if that is a major consideration, since we do live in strange times. The USA has become a strange and forbidding country to some, led by someone who seems to have only his best interests at heart. That has created animosity and confusion. Even within the USA, the national celebrations organized by the current administration don't seem to be generating much interest, whereas the individual state celebrations are doing so. There is so much nonsense at the national level that people must deal with on a daily basis. Many of them simply ignore it and the person responsible for it and focus on the local and state activities that are happening. Perhaps warranted. I find it sad that there won't be a celebration in Frogner Park this year, but I can understand it on a pragmatic level. Hopefully there will be other celebrations during the rest of this year. 

Summer in the city

I enjoy living in a city for the most part. I like having people around me, knowing that I am in the midst of a sea of people. When I worked in Manhattan, there was something about the hustle and bustle of people on their way to and from work--the commuters. I liked being a part of the movement, the buoyancy, the spirit, the goal oriented-ness, and the anonymity. As I get older, I appreciate having what I need around me, and not having to get into a car and drive to get what I need as I would have to do if I lived more rurally. I can leave my home and walk (takes all of five minutes) to the local shopping center to the supermarket, pharmacy, liquor store, bookstore, home goods store, and bakery. The latter is great to have on chilly days, when we stop in for a pastry and a cup of coffee. The hospitals and medical centers are also close by, and that aspect is not to be dismissed as one gets older. I know people who live an hour or more away from the nearest hospital, and that can mean the difference between life and death in an emergency. 

The public transportation system in Oslo functions well and covers most of the city. I have an app that lets me buy different kinds of tickets for the trams and buses, and also lets me connect to the trains that take you to the towns and cities surrounding Oslo. That's a plus. I use my electric bike during the summer months, and there are plenty of bike lanes to get me where I want to go. Also a plus. Oslo is a livable city and I enjoy living here, as do many people. That may be a problem for the future, because it is getting more crowded for each year that passes and there simply isn't enough housing to accommodate all those who wish to live here. 

I do look forward to the exodus of Oslo folk when July comes, vacation time rolls around and people go to their summer cottages or travel to other countries. The city gets quieter and more relaxed, which coincides perfectly with a truly peaceful summer feeling. I remember that feeling from many years ago, when I would travel into Manhattan on Sundays during the summer months. Manhattan was then quiet, peaceful, and mostly devoid of crowds. A joy to be there. That was mostly because the commuters who normally traveled into and out of the city for work, were absent on the weekends, and that was true for any time of the year. But during the summer months, true (and wealthy) Manhattanites went to their summer homes on Long Island for the weekend or for a few weeks. 

I don't want to live rurally, I never have, in the middle of a forest for example. I could very well live in the suburbs (like where I grew up--a small river town) as long as they're close to stores and hospitals. I don't want to have to deal with bears and coyotes and other wild animals that have slowly made a return to upstate New York, for example. Even where I grew up, in Tarrytown, there are now coyotes and bears that can be found in the forested parks along the river where we used to hang out as teenagers. I don't want to meet them, at least not by myself. I'm glad for their return, and I don't want them eliminated, but I would not walk by myself in some of those parks anymore, as I used to do just ten years ago. You may meet a fox in Oslo, as sightings have become more frequent, but they tend to run in the opposite direction when they see you. I would rather meet a fox than an angry badger; the latter will also run from you, but if you surprise it, it may hiss and growl and act menacingly. 

We tend not to plan two-week or longer vacations anymore during July and August for the most part. That's because the weather is usually very nice during the summers here, which is also good for my garden. Plus it means some enjoyable boat trips together with immediate family. As far as my garden goes, I cannot just leave it for several weeks without a backup plan, which is usually that my nearest garden neighbor in the allotment garden waters it for me when I'm away, and vice versa. That's a plus, to have garden neighbors who will look after your garden for you if you go away or are sick. Again, the advantages of being together with a group of (like-minded) people. They too enjoy summer in the city like I do. 

Anxiety and a crisis at every turn

My teenage years seem so long ago, but I can remember so much about them--the insecurities, anxieties, and confusion about where I fit and didn't fit in many aspects of life. That was pre-internet. I was a good student who preferred books to most other things and that got me through the tough times. Plus I had good parents who let me be me, who didn't push me to succeed at any cost. I enjoyed studying and the pursuit of knowledge, but not the stress of exams or competition. Competition was a huge part of our growing up, and while I think it's necessary to inspire the ambition to succeed, too much of it is not a good thing. There is too much of it now among teenagers, but not in the traditional ways--studies and sports. Nowadays it has more to do with online activities--listening to influencers, watching and following TikTok videos, and constantly trying to live up to beauty and social standards that are impossible to live up to. 

We did not have internet when we were teenagers, and the more I read, the more glad I am that we didn't. It must be exhausting and stressful for teenagers now to be coupled to internet and social media 24/7, worrying about where they fit not only on a personal level but on a societal and global level as well. Young people now are bombarded with the issues of the world and their societies at every turn--wars, violence, crime, climate change, politics, dating, planning a future, getting a job, buying a house, and so many other things that were easier to keep at bay when we were teenagers. We could deal with these issues one or two at a time. Not anymore. No wonder so many of today's teenagers suffer from anxiety issues. We had tv news, radio news and newspapers, but we could limit our access to them. Or a better way of putting it--they limited themselves. News was not 24/7 like it is now, ditto for newspapers that were published as morning and/or afternoon editions. Reading a newspaper was something you did at the beginning of the day; the weekend editions were larger and you could spend a day or two perusing them. But there was no stress attached to reading them, even though the news they reported wasn't good for the most part. There were wars, violence, crime and all the rest of society's ills at that time too. But for some reason reading about them wasn't overwhelming like it is now. Perhaps there is something to that--reading about an event that has taken place rather than having it blasted at you 24/7 on tv and social media. Everything seems to have a sense of urgency now. A crisis at every turn. If it's exhausting for adults, I can only imagine that it is overwhelming for teenagers who haven't lived long enough to learn how to filter out what is psychologically harmful for them. Parents have to emphasize that to their children--to uncouple from their devices, to slow down, to relax, to read a book, to show them how to enjoy family life. But that means that parents too have to do the same--uncouple from their devices and be present for their spouses and families. I understand that it's not always easy to do this, but it's necessary. 

More truth

It's truer than we would like to admit.....(from Stephan Pastis and Pearls Before Swine)

Using wealth for good purposes

I keep thinking about how the gap between the rich and the poor gets wider and wider for each year that passes. The injustice of it. It has nothing to do with envy. I don't want huge amounts of wealth and never have. My dream as a child was never to become wealthy, but rather to have a rewarding career that paid decent wages, enough to live on with the possibility to save toward a house or car or some nice vacations. I've achieved that. I can't imagine what I would do with huge amounts of wealth--as in billions of dollars. I'd probably give it away like the philanthropists Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott. Seriously, what does one need or even do with all that money? 

There's only so much one can accumulate in this life. You can't take it with you, as the old saying goes. The ultra-wealthy have multiple homes--huge homes, private jets, luxury yachts, the best of everything. But what is the best of everything? How would you define the best food ever? Or the most beautiful home? It's all subjective, dependent upon what we like or dislike. I think we are designed to be perpetually unsatisfied, always in search of the new 'best' thing on which we can spend money. But do we need all the things we buy, whether we're ultra-rich or simply well-off? 

When you have to find excuses for what to do with your money, then you have too much of it and can give a lot of it away. Give more to charities than you would normally do. Do it quietly so that no one knows what you've done. Give more to your churches. Finance sorely-needed school renovations or road renovations. Donate money to local gardens and parks. Pick a cause. Me, I'd go for beautification of cities and towns--public gardens, botanical gardens, many more allotment gardens, public parks--the list is long. It would be a wonderful idea to get more people interested in gardening and growing their own food. A good idea to get young people off their phones--you can't weed a garden and scroll endlessly on social media. Organizations that help the needy and the poor need your help. Build more houses for low-income families. There are plenty of projects to support that need your help. And how you help will determine the future of many of them. Rather than buying a private jet with your millions, why not buy up thousands of acres of land to give to the state(s) with the sole purpose of preserving the land for posterity. The Rockefeller family did that The Rockefeller Legacy: Philanthropy and Conservation. We need more wealthy people like them and less of those whose flashy lifestyles and unbounded consumerism find their way into the news on a daily basis. 

Reviews of Papillon and The Alto Knights

They're an odd bunch, movie reviewers. Those who do it for a living. I sometimes wonder if we've watched the same movie when I read their reviews. More often than not, we are not on the same page. I wonder too sometimes if they have an axe to grind. They find fault with so many things that I would never consider important in a million years. I guess they're trained that way. Or perhaps they've seen so many subpar movies that they have a hard time identifying a good one. 

Cases in point. I recently watched the 2017 remake of Papillon with Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek, and the 2025 film The Alto Knights with Robert De Niro. I liked them both and gave them good ratings on IMDB. Other viewers seem to have liked them as well, since Papillon has a 7.2 rating and The Alto Knights comes in at 5.9. But the critics? They were not impressed with either film. Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote about Papillon: “You know something has gone wrong when you want the hero to escape simply so that the movie can be over (quoting Roger Ebert's comments about the original directly). At least that aspect of the original (from 1973) and the remake remains intact." He gave the film 2/4 stars. His is just one of several negative reviews. The Alto Knights doesn't fare much better. Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars and wrote: "But as a gangster film, “The Alto Knights” does little more than putter along, taking in very few new or interesting sights along the way."  

I don't agree with either reviewer. Both films are based on true stories, although I would add, probably loosely-based, at least with Papillon. Papillon is the story of a Frenchman framed for a murder he didn't commit and sent to a horrible prison in French Guiana from which he (and a few fellow prisoners) tries to escape twice, both unsuccessfully, and then finally to Devil's Island from which he does manage to escape. He forms a tight bond with a fellow prisoner, and that aspect lends the film some kindness in the midst of the brutality all around them. They help each other all the way. I found the story touching despite the misery and seediness of prison life. I rooted for both to escape. I didn't find the film too long, and I thought the acting was very good. The film told a good story, was entertaining, and well-acted, hence my liking it and giving it a good rating (4/5 stars). 

Ditto for The Alto Knights. Robert De Niro did a very good job playing two roles--mafia bosses Frank Costello and Vito Genovese (Costello overtook the boss role from Genovese, who escaped to Italy to avoid prison for years before returning to the States wanting to resume his former boss role). Debra Messing did a very good job as Costello's wife Bobbie. The reviewers focused mostly on the dual role aspect; they weren't fans of it. It was sometimes a bit confusing to tell the two men apart, but I got used to their different looks so that ultimately it didn't bother me. The movie had enough action to keep me interested, and the story was engaging. The rivalry between two men of very different temperaments, friends from childhood, was well-presented. I don't think that the movie 'puttered along'. I'm not sure what the reviewers were hoping for--more blood and guts? More insane behavior a la The Sopranos? More sex? It's hard to know nowadays. 

It's a good thing that movie writers and directors don't make films for reviewers and don't let themselves be stopped or stifled by negative reviews. It's a good thing that they continue in the face of daunting odds. What a dull world it would be without movies.