The first week of March: most of the snow has melted. The past week I spent contacting newspapers to help publicize a concert coming up at church. I called the local radio station to see if they could help. On Tuesday the 9th I'll show up at 12 noon and be on the radio. Yikes (or Jeiks)! Well, at least I'll be known. As Dan said of himself, «star of television and church». I guess I'll be star of radio and church! More snow on Friday night/Saturday morning. Enough, already! The one thing that I really dislike about northern Norway is the weather and long winter. Not that I want a hot day, but it would be nice to have a full day of warm sunshine. On Sunday, the 6th of March, the sun rose at 7 am, and set at 5:30 pm. Length of day is about 10 ½ hours.
Week 10: The interview on Tuesday went fine. I was nervous about it but they edited it a little. It's supposed to be available on an archived recording on their website but so far it isn't listed. On Wednesday there was a funeral. Thursday was Magnar's birthday. For presents I gave him a sweater, a book on Cambridge, and a cd that Tom L signed. Friday evening Magnar and I had a dinner party for Hans and Inge.
I finally saw the northern lights this past weekend. On Saturday night they were fairly weak. On Sunday night they were a little better, but still bashful.
Sunday was a long day: an 11 am service at Alstahaug with 3 baptisms, and a 6:30 pm service with the choir in Sandnessjøen.
On Sunday the 13th of March the sun rose at about 6:30 am and set at 6 pm. Length of day is about 11 ½ hours. There was more snow this weekend, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Week 11: Winter is over. Spring has begun. Yeah, right. (That is probably the only example to two positives creating a negative). The days are thankfully getting longer and the sun is shining. But there is still snow on the ground. Spring will come in late April or May.
Tuesday, the 15th of March, we had a concert in Sandnessjøen Church. MiNensemble with pianist Anna Kuvaja gave a first-rate performance. They performed music by Liszt, a trio by Max Reger and the Piano Quartet Nr. 2 by Fauré. The church is ideal for chamber music. There were about 25 in the audience. To put a positive spin on it, you could say that the number of people in the audience didn't spoil the acoustics. Maybe the Ides of March kept people away. I really don't know how to get people to come – maybe I should use a Republican tactic: false advertizing.
My friend Bjarne from Brønnøysund came for a short visit this weekend. He took the Polarlys Hurtigruten back on Saturday. Before the ship left we had coffee onboard.
As of the 20th of March the sun rose at 6:10 am and set at 6:25 pm. Total length of day is 12 hours, 15 minutes.
