Overpowered by Róisín Murphy

This song is from 2007; strange that I don't remember it from that time. A good song in any case, regardless of how old it is.....

 


And the lyrics.....

"Overpowered"

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered

Your data my data
The chromosomes match
Exact as in matter
A matter of fact

These amaranth feelings
A cognitive state
Need the love object
To reciprocate

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

A chemical reason
If reason's your game
A chemical needing
Is there in the brain

With preprogrammed meanings
Like a little more pep
Alien feelings
We have to accept

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

When I think that I'm over you
I'm overpowered
It's long overdue
I'm overpowered

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

As science struggles on to try to explain
Oxy-toxin's flowing ever into my brain

I'm overpowered

A look back at this year's gardening season

And suddenly, just like that, summer is over, although you can't call what we had this year, summer. It was just a temperate rainy season with very little sun. In previous years, there has been a gradual movement toward autumn, with September days that have a hint of autumn in the air. Not so this year--just rain and more rain. Temperatures during September stayed mostly in the low 60s, so I cannot complain about that. But there was no real summer this year, and there has been no real autumn either. Now it's just cold. In some places right outside of Oslo, it's already snowed. This year's gardening season was less than stellar due to the rainy summer. The outdoor tomatoes rotted, as did three of my ten pumpkins. The string bean plants did not do well either. Too much rain and too little sun will rot plants, since the roots never have a chance to dry out. Or they develop mold, as did my outdoor tomato plants, producing tomatoes that were mottled and mealy. The greenhouse tomato plants did fine; that's how I know that the amount of rain we had this year was no good for the outdoor tomato plants.

We got the allotment garden in 2016, and since then, not one successive season has been the same. It is impossible to predict from year to year how the next season will go. I imagine that causes farmers much consternation; a farmer's life is far from idyllic or romantic, that's for sure. Last year, the summer was very warm and there was very little rain; that was true for most of Western Europe. But it was a banner year for the garden. Looking back, the 2016 gardening season was the best in terms of a good balance of sun and rain. I know that because the pumpkins grew well, and to a good size. This year, I've gotten one large pumpkin; the rest are small to medium-sized. The only plants that produced well this year were the zucchini plants--six large zucchinis from three plants. But zucchinis grow fast and for some reason were not affected by the overly-moist soil as were the pumpkins. Strange, because together with other types of squashes and pumpkins, the zucchini belongs to the species Cucurbita pepo, and you might think that they would all react similarly to the weather conditions. The berry plants all produced fairly well this year; berry plants seem to be quite hardy. The only problem was a blister aphid infection on the red currant bushes that sucked the juices out of the leaves so that they ended up looking wrinkled and blistered, hence the name. But the infection did not affect the actual berry production, which was something to be thankful for. 

The Folva potatoes did well this year, so next year I will plant more of them. Based on this year's experiences, I've decided that next year I will plant potatoes, zucchinis, pumpkins, and will try string beans again. If they don't do well, I'll skip them in the future. I'll only plant greenhouse tomatoes. In the end, you end up planting what works, because in truth, it is heartbreaking to watch what you've nurtured from seed end up dying due to frost, too much rain, too little rain, slugs, or mold. I know that how I feel pales in comparison to what farmers must feel when the weather is unpredictable. For example, this past April was a warm one, and the apple orchards started to bloom early. Then came May, with several weeks of cold temperatures, and the resulting frost killed the apple tree blossoms and killed the chances for the trees to produce any apples. The farmers who were interviewed were heartbroken. This is the ruthlessness of nature. It doesn't care what lives or what dies--there are no feelings one way or the other. It is us humans who feel sadness or elation at watching our plants die or grow, depending on the unpredictable weather. You either develop a thick skin and continue to plant the same things, or you learn and plant only the things that work.

Some thoughts on computers, writing, and travel

I've been having laptop problems for the past several weeks; turns out it's not so easy to replace a power adapter for an Acer laptop in this country, at least not for the type of laptop I have. The plug no longer fits snugly into the laptop, and the loose connection means that the battery won't charge or charges only intermittently. But suddenly the original adapter worked again after not working for several weeks, so I'm making up for lost time while it still works, as there's no guarantee that it will work tomorrow. I've ordered a new adapter from an online 'store' but it's impossible to know whether these stores are reputable or not; they take your money (as confirmed by Paypal) and tell you they've shipped the item, but that was eleven days ago and still no new power adapter. So I ordered another one from another online store and am hoping that they will deliver. You would think too that Amazon would offer this adapter, but no, not this time. I wish they did, because Amazon delivers. You can criticize the company as much as you like for my sake; I will continue to do business with them because they deliver when they say they will deliver, and because their customer service is dependable.

This entire situation has shown me just how dependent I am on having a working computer at home. It is my connection to the outside world and to the States, and as a writer, I feel lost without it. Tablet computers are no substitute; they're fine for reading e-books and email and for catching up on social media, but for writing, they won't do. Even for writing emails, I find that tablets are limited because the keyboards are too small. And I cannot use my workplace computer to access my Gmail; that is no longer possible in my workplace, since the IT department blocks all programs that even remotely resemble social media. Websites such as Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, some newspapers, and the like are forbidden to access at work. So it's not possible to use my computer at work to send personal emails. Not that I ever really did, but now and then it would be nice to be able to do so in a pinch, like now. I refuse to use my work email program for any sort of personal communications; personal and work emails should be separate, like personal life and work life.

I've missed posting here as well. My blog has become an extension of me. When I look at the body of writing that I've produced during the past nine years, it's overwhelming and amazing at the same time. But mostly it's important, to me, because it's given me an outlet and a megaphone to voice my opinions, share my writing, poetry and photography, share my reflections, and my travels. As I grow older, I see that this has been my way of 'publishing' what I write. Not all of what I've published is good, but a lot of it is. There are hits, and there are misses. When I read articles that find their way into major newspapers at present, I don't feel that my writing is necessarily of lesser value. If I wrote for a living, I would have had the chance to perfect the work I produce. As it is now, one of the nice things about having a blog is that one can always go back to a published post and edit it. That's important because sometimes, upon reflection, one finds it necessary to rephrase a sentence, correct a grammatical error, correct a factual mistake, and so on.

I've been wanting to post an article about my recent Scotland trip together with two of my closest childhood friends. Despite some recent health problems (not major, but a bit bothersome), it was possible to do the trip, although I was fairly exhausted afterward. I don't find being in a new place tiring, I find the actual travel to and from a place tiring. I find airport security procedures tiring--jackets and shoes in one small bin, laptop/devices in another, knapsack in another, and so on. Retrieving them all and restoring order are bothersome. This year, I thought it would be easier to travel with carry-on luggage; not so, because you have to remember to place all cosmetic items in the correct type of plastic baggie, and if you don't do so, your luggage is flagged and you must open it and present it to security. I found the whole experience exhausting, and will check my luggage the next time I travel. Plus not all airlines have enough overhead compartment space to accommodate everyone's carry-on luggage, so some airlines offer you priority boarding and that your baggage will be unloaded first, if you check it instead of carrying it on board. And so it goes.

So hopefully my next post will be about Scotland, if I retain access to my laptop. Hopefully the new adapter will show up any day now, and the problem will be solved. But given the current state of the postal system in Norway, even that is up for grabs. Mail is delivered sporadically; what was once a well-functioning system has gone the way of most everything else--in the interests of saving money and making it more efficient, efficiency has been lost. I no longer am even sure what days of the week mail is delivered; all I know is that I'm happy to see mail in the mailbox. Express mail delivery works, but the logistics of delivery are complicated. You're either rushing home from work to receive a delivery, or making a deal for them to come to your workplace so that they can deliver packages. Some will do that, others won't. There is no rhyme or reason for most things anymore. I'm used to it, as I suppose everyone else is. The question is rather--where does it all end?

The hypocrisy of the Green Party here in Oslo

I've translated this article from Vårt Oslo (Our Oslo) from Norwegian to English, so that you can read about the hypocrisy of the Green Party politicians and urban environmental agency here in Oslo. This is a typical stunt from them; usually they chop down healthy trees to make way for their beloved bike paths. But this time, they chopped down healthy trees so that they can plant cherry trees in their place. Is this hypocrisy? You bet it is. This has happened in other parts of Oslo, where trees have come down to make way for bike paths. And of course we need bike paths so that the entire population of Oslo can bike year-round and not use their cars for transport (the real agenda). We don't need any more bike paths in Oslo; it is not a bike-friendly city and it is nonsense to think that it ever will be. I don't believe for a minute that these lovely trees were sick. I do believe that these 'green people' have an agenda, and that they will stop at nothing in order to achieve their goals. These people are ruining Oslo.
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The protected lime trees in Thorvald Meyers gate have been cut down. What's happening?

By Anders Høilund    15. September 2019 00:16

The linden trees (also called lime trees or Tilia) in Thorvald Meyers street, from Nybrua to Olaf Ryes plaza, are history. The annual rings on the 70-80 cm high stumps show that the trees were 20-30 years old.

"I often pass by here, and suddenly one day the trees were gone. I thought, oh my God, what happened. I had previously read in the zoning plan that these trees were to be preserved", says Tom Ole Bergerud.

Bergerud understands that if the trees were sick, it was right to fell them. But the stumps tell a different story--that these were mostly healthy trees.

The stumps left behind after the trees came down are dry and fine and show that the trees were healthy and had a steady growth.

"I understand that sick trees must be felled, but all these trees did not become sick all at one time. The stumps left behind look mostly fine. If the reason for felling them is that the trees interfered with the power lines, then any new trees will do so as well" says Bergerud.

The Thorvald Meyers street zoning plan states that trees to be preserved are marked on the zoning map as 'not allowed to be removed' unless there is documented disease or significant damage to the trees. The lime trees that were felled were marked as preservation-worthy.

The lime trees in Thorvald Meyers street were felled one recent September evening. "The trees that were felled will be replaced by new trees in the spring and autumn of 2020. We will plant cherry trees that have a beautiful pink bloom in the spring. There are no plans for more trees to be felled now", writes Hilde Elisabeth Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.

Assessment of tree health was carried out by an arborist in the urban environmental agency. There are also requirements in the zoning plan for independent control of the arborist's assessment. This is done by AB Trepleie AS, according to Håve.

“The trees that were felled had poor growth conditions and were characterized by disease. The Urban Environmental Agency applied for an exemption from the regulations, which was granted because the trees' health was so poor, and because it would facilitate the planting of healthy trees in the future. Exemptions from regulatory plans in Oslo are handled by the Planning and Building Agency, Håve writes to Vårt Oslo.

"The trees that stood here were lime. They are easy to prune. Cherry trees are also fine, but why switch to that tree species? I would like to know the reason for that" says Bergerud.

Håve explains that cherry trees were chosen because the municipality has good experience with these trees in streets with limited space, as they are significantly smaller than lime trees.

"Since we had to replace the trees anyway, it was desirable to replace them with smaller trees that are easier to maintain. We do not see that the regulations provide any guidance for species selection or that this is something to be exempted from. The Urban Environmental Agency does not specify that one specific species should be planted or that it must protect those that stand there already, rather, the overall aim of the regulations is that there should be trees in the designated locations" she writes.

One of the reasons the lime trees had to be felled was that they became too large for the pavements in Grünerløkka despite sub-optimal growth conditions. They had grown out to the tram line, and at the same time came too close to house walls, according to Håve in the Urban Environmental Agency.

Tom Ole Bergerud thinks the upgrade of Thorvald Meyers street is commendable, but that the trees could have been kept.

"New trees need time to grow big, which of course will not happen for many years" he says.
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Remembering The Cars

Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of The Cars, died this past Sunday; he made it to 75, despite his heart disease. Benjamin Orr, the bass player, died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer. They were the co-founders of The Cars, a band that has special memories for me. About the time I started graduate school in Manhattan (1978), I started working part-time in Greenwich Village at a company that resold collections of books and magazines to libraries and other organizations. I worked in the basement to start with, unpacking the large cartons of books and magazines that were shipped to this company from around the United States. The basement was large, dimly-lit, and packed with boxes. But one memory stands out, and that was that those of us who worked in the basement could listen to the radio, and we did. Two bands stand out in my mind from that time--one of them is The Cars, the other is The Police; their songs got a lot of airplay, and to this day, they remain two of my favorite bands.

I cannot hear their songs without being reminded of that time. I disliked graduate school, but enjoyed my job at this small company. Eventually I made my way up to the office floors, working as an administrative assistant. My boss liked me and I think she would have hired me permanently had I wanted that type of career. But I didn't. In retrospect, who knows? Perhaps I could have been just as happy working in the publishing/book world as I have been in science (at least before it became a bureaucratic world to rival any other). In any case, songs by The Cars and The Police got me through my days, and through that time in my life, which was the beginning of many changes for me, many good, some not. But as always, music got me through the bad times, and The Cars were one of the bands whose songs (still) put me in touch with a myriad of feelings.

Here are some of the ones I really like:

Caledonia--a beautiful song by Dougie MacLean

I'll be writing a post soon about our Scotland adventure, but before I do, I wanted to post this song--Caledonia (the Latin name for Scotland)--that one of our tour guides played for us when we were driving toward Loch Lomond on the first bus tour that we took during the week we were in Edinburgh. I fell in love with this song; although MacLean wrote it about Scotland, it is a song for all of us who miss our home countries, who feel that longing 'for home' intensely. I can absolutely relate to it. I'm also including the lyrics.





I don't know if you can see
the changes that have come over me
In these past few days I've been afraid
that I might drift away
So I've been telling old stories, singing songs
that make me think about where I came from
and that's the reason why I seem
so far away today

Oh Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Oh and I have moved
and I've kept on moving
proved the points
that I needed proving
lost the friends
that I needed losing
found others on the way
Oh and I have tried and kept on trying
stolen dreams yes there's no denying
I've traveled hard with conscience flying
somewhere with the wind

Oh Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Now I'm sitting here
before the fire
the empty room
The forest choir
the flames have cooled
don't get any higher
they've withered now
they've gone
and I'm steady thinking
my way is clear
and I know what
I will do tomorrow
When the hands have shaken
And the kisses flowed
and I will disappear

Let me tell you that I love you
that I think about you all the time
Caledonia you're calling me
now I'm going home
and if I should become a stranger
no it would make me more than sad
Caledonia's been everything I've ever had

Untermyer park and gardens

When I was in NY in August, Stef, John and I visited Untermyer park and gardens, which are located off of Broadway in Yonkers. The gardens have a lovely Hudson River view. This is the link to their website if one wants more information about the gardens: https://www.untermyergardens.org/

The website states that "The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy is a non-profit organization that in partnership with the City of Yonkers is facilitating the restoration of Samuel Untermyer’s gardens in Yonkers, New York". 

The gardens are a work in progress, and are already quite lovely. What surprised us was that admission to the gardens was free; we would absolutely have been willing to pay a small fee to enter the gardens. In this way, there would be even more money available for restorations.

The day we visited was a very warm summer day, so we weren't there for more than a couple of hours since it was almost too hot to walk around. Perhaps the best time to visit would be the spring or autumn, when the weather is a bit cooler. But we took a fair amount of photos while we were there, and I'm posting some here so that you can get an idea of what the gardens look like.

one of the pools in the Walled Garden

The Vista

view from the Overlook

The Temple of Love