A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim by Walt Whitman (1862)

Veteran's Day is on the historic day that World War I ended. The 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour and the 11th minute. It was thought to be the war to end all wars, but that was soon proven wrong. As someone who has provided health care to veterans of WWI and all American conflicts and wars since, I remember the consequences of waroften, if not daily, and today I choose a Walt Whitman poem about veterans of the Civil War, inspired by visiting a hospital with casualties in Virginia. A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Dim A sight in camp in the daybreak gray and dim, As from my tent I emerge so early sleepless, As slow I walk in the cool fresh air the path near by the hospital tent, Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there untended lying, Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woolen blanket, Gray and heavy blanket, folding, covering all. Curious I halt and silent stand, Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest the first just lift the blanket; Who are you elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-gray'd hair, and flesh all sunken about the eyes? Who are you my dear comrade? Then to the second I step—and who are you my child and darling? Who are you sweet boy with cheeks yet blooming? Then to the third—a face nor child nor old, very calm, as of beautiful yellow-white ivory; Young man I think I know you—I think this face is the face of the Christ himself, Dead and divine and brother of all, and here again he lies.

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

I am not into dystopian fiction, but this author is so good that I make an exception for her. She has predicted the future state before, and here's hoping that is not what is happening here, but we shall see, and sadly, what she writes is all too believable. This is set in the near future, beginning in 2031 and going forward from there. There are two parallel worlds, neither of them particularly lovely. The first is one where when the United States collapses it devolves into individual city-states, with armed militias in charge. It is not broken down along the political lines that exist and persist now interestingly, but more chaotic than that. The other world is authoritarian surveillance state and while it is less chaotic it is no more appealing. So there is a lot to think about here, and the story is so engaging, so well told, and so unexpected that it propelled me through it. I listened to it, and the audiobook version is well done.

Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker, Norway

On our return drive to Oslo we took a slight detour and stopped at this unique museum. Why so far from Oslo. Because it is built on the site of an old wood pulp mill over 130 years ago. A/S Kistefos Træsliberi was established by consul Anders Sveaas in 1889, a company that produced wood pulp at the site from 1889 to the mid-1950s. The production at Kistefos stopped in 1955, but the buildings and machines have been set in motion once again, creating a living factory for Kistefos´ visitors. Kistefos, as we know it today, was established in 1996 by Norwegian businessman and art collector Christen Sveaas, grandson of Anders Sveaas. The mill itself has been left intact with some displays of how it used to work. The industrial history is a running theme throughout the park and is inextricably linked to Kistefos´ history. The river Randselva runs through the entire area and was in the early days the very foundation for the industry at the site. Today, it materializes as a beautiful and soothing signature.

Every year, Kistefos presents new art exhibitions by highly recognized national and international artists in our two galleries, The Twist and Nybruket Gallery. The architectural masterpiece The Twist is both a gallery, a bridge, and a sculpture, all in one. The 1.000 square meters building takes a sculptural form, twisting at the midway point as it crosses the Randselva river to connect the north and south sides - turning the journey through the park into a loop. The Twist is designed by BIG - Bjarke Ingels and is a unique exhibition space with varied light sources and view over the river. Nybruket Gallery is located in one of the old factory buildings of A/S Kistefos Træsliberi. The factory heritage has been preserved, creating a beautiful framework for art. Finally, there is a large sculpture garden that for me was the best part. Many of the sculptures are playful and the setting is absolutely gorgeous.

King of Kings by Scott Anderson

It is all right here, why Iran should never ever be underestimate. Even the subtitle--A Story of Hubris, Delusion, and Catastrophic Miscalculation--could be used to describe when the US decided to declare war on Iran and it blew up in their faces. The other book this reminds me of is Stanley Karnow's book on what led us into the war in Vietnam. There and in the case of the Iran Revolution, we had opportunity after opportunity to figure it out and not make a collosal mistake, and each and every time we made the clearly wrong choice. The last Shahahshah (King of Kings) was a narcisisst--outwardly haughty and magnificent, inwardly insecure and indecisive. Not many of the people close to him really loved the shah. He let his friends down, he dithered, he habitually took the advice of the last person he spoke to. The dominos that fell at the end, which in a lot of ways are the least interesting part of the story, are told in great detail, but the lead up to the fall are what interested me most. The US undervalued things about Iran that made it different from the rest of the Middle East. It was the most progressive Muslim nation in the region, and if there had been less support for a weak dictator and more focus on what was worth savin, maybe it would have gone another way. As it turned out, the Shah became bloated with himself--again--after Carter visited (the last American president to set foot on Iranian soil) in 1973, and he made the wrong choice each and every time. While demonstrations were a regular and growing occurrence, the Ayatollah Khomeini, the absentee leader of the demonstrations, had long been a virtual prisoner in the Shia religious centre of Najaf, in neighbouring Iraq, then ruled by Saddam Hussein. It was impossible for outsiders to get to Najaf and speak to Khomeini; but the shah put immense pressure on Hussein to get rid of him. Khomeini’s more worldly-wise advisers persuaded him to take shelter near Paris, in the village of Neauphle-le-Château, where the world’s press could visit him and interview him whenever they wanted, and every word was beamed back to Iran. By November 1978 the shah’s downfall was inescapable. End of story.

Hydroelectric Power Generation, Norway

We only saw one hydroelectric power plant in Norway, but they must be everywhere. With hydropower and other renewables accounting for over 98 per cent of all electricity produced in Norway, the country delivers stable, affordable and low-emission energy to industries that depend on a reliable power supply. This has helped Norwegian heavy industry to operate with one of the world’s smallest carbon footprints--that and the fact that water abounds in Norway, and it is often moving. Hydropower is unique among renewable energy sources. It can be produced on demand, providing balancing power for intermittent wind and solar when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine. It can off gas methane, but in Norway hydropower plants are located at high altitudes, where there is little vegetation and a cold climate. The data confirms that there is very little extra methane production. Hydropower also offers non-power-related benefits in the form of multipurpose reservoirs, flood control, increased availability of fresh water, and much more. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), hydropower will remain the world’s most important source of renewable energy in the foreseeable future.

The Palm House by Gwendolyn Riley

I read this book because it was ling listed for the 2026 Booker Prize, and was previously unaware of this author, who has a number of previous books that are well regarded. This is not so much plot driven as it is the development of characters and a fires in Spain. Putnam has just quit his job as an editor at a magazine called Sequence. He and Laura have been friends for years, allied by what each of them wanted most to become, and are now joined together less by shared hopes than by the disappointments and frustrations that having become entails. As with so many magazines, Sequence’s board has no sense of what the magazine is, and when its editor-in-chief dies he’s replaced by a cad—he insists on being called Shove—whom everyone, but especially Putnam, hates. Putnam is forty-nine, and has been at Sequence more than half his life. His father has just died. He is unfailingly committed to the fact of his pain. Laura, long-suffering friend, tries again and again to take him out, cheer him up; she hreflection on what was happening (and how we might have avoided where we are today perhaps--that is not an overt assertion but rather me reading between the lines with the benefit of hindsight). It’s 2017. Laura and a friend, Putnam, sit and drink at a bar on the Thames. A hurricane offshore whips up ash and sand from wildelps clean out his father’s house and suggests other jobs. But Putnam is dogged, digging his heels in--he was a thinker and jobs for thinkers were waning. So that is the wave that was being rode in this story, but might there be a place for creative thinking in the remarkably inflexible world of AI? If in fact we survive it?

Frances Vin Bar, Oslo, Norway

This is a happening place. I was glad we had a reservation, because otherwise we would not have gotten a table, and this is a place where people linger. There is a very long bar and it was possible to get a seat there, so never fear if you are in the neighborhood and want to drop in. There is also a lot of outdoor seating, but the time of year was not optimal to exercise that option.

This is one of three eateries housed in the previous visa section of the former US Embassy in Oslo, right by Henrik Ibsens gate and the Palace Garden. It’s now been transformed into a café in the morning, wine bar and restaurant in the afternoon, serving a selection of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired sharing plates. The generous dishes catch the eye with their vibrant appearance, then satisfy the palate with their fabulous flavours; confit cauliflower with the colourful trio of tomato coulis, cashew cream and coriander oil is a prime example. Our favorite was a hamachi with avocado over it--so flavorful and unique at the same time. It is a Michelin Bib Gourmand, which is characterized by good food at a good value--we still had sticker shock here, as food and wine are pricy in Norway.

The End of Everything by M. John Harrison

This is yet another dystopian total societal breakdown novel, this one also has the distinction of being short listed for the 2026 Booker Prize. I am not a huge fan of the Everything Is Falling Apart novel, not now, when it seems all too real at the moment, or ever, because why borrow trouble, but I unexpectedly enjoyed this. The location is unnamed but on the Kent coast, and it is familiar yet estranged. There has been a catastrophe, but it’s already old news and, in any case, the news media seem to have collapsed. iGhetti – AI or Alien, it is unclear – invaded Britain some while back, provoking an ongoing war whose progress or purpose no one really understands. The main characters are beachcomber Phillip Tennent and his elderly aunt Marnie. Phillip sells his lucrative finds on what we presume to be the hidden market, though how much of the legal economy still works is unclear. Marnie paints, and defends her terraced townhouse against predators and vandals. Police are never mentioned. Order, such as it is, is maintained through vestigial community cohesion and survival of the toughest. Their story is at the center of the book, but all the other implications are the shadow over their relationship.

Nærøyfjord Fjord. Flåm, Norway

When planning a trip to a country which is famous for fjords, is one cruise on a fjord enough? The answer for us was definitely yes, but we had booked a second one here and so we did a second, and this one is just as beautiful, half the time and half the price. Nærøyfjord is a UNESCO World Heritage site. National Geographic magazine voted the fjord "The best unspoiled travel destination in the world" already in 2004. When choosing 50 most awe-inspiring natural wonders in 2017, CNN said: “If you only have time to visit two fjords in your lifetime, make it the Geirangerfjord and Naeroyfjord in southwest Norway” The two fjords shared tenth place in competition with other famous natural wonders worldwide. Other amazing places on the list included Preikestolen at Lysefjord, Stromboli volcano, the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia and the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. Having been to the later 2, I would say this is not actually in their league, but it is pretty spectacular, none-the-less. The beautiful, narrow Nærøyfjord is 17 kilometers long. The fjord is a branch of the Aurlandsfjord. Nærøyfjord ends at the little village of Gudvangen, located at the very tip of the fjord. On the tour, you will experience both cascading waterfalls, idyllic villages and many more sights that will linger long in your memory. Fjord cruises depart twice daily in winter and has five daily departures in summer from Flåm and Gudvangen and you can take a bus back to where you left your car--or there are tours that will pick you up, but we were on a DIY trip and left to our own devices.

Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian

This is my favorite light gay romance fiction writer--the ones I have read prior to this had a bit of time travel and fantasy associated with them, where as this one features the lead characters in a long running space travel television show. Simon Devereaux plays one of the leads in the reasonably successful TV show Out There, featuring a group of fractious outcasts and weirdos learning to function as a group in outer space. He’s xhronically anxious, always second guessing himself, and has a hard time connecting with people. He has one good friend whom he relies on constantly but is not romantically invovled with. They tried that, it didn't work out, but they have remained friends. He has been on the show for seven seasons, and has decided that it’s time for him to move on; when the season, he’s heading to New York to take up a theatre role and embark on the next stage of his career. Throughout all of those seasons, Simon has shared most of his screen time with Charlie Blake, former star of a reality TV show about restoring old cars and who has, in Simon’s opinion, brought down the tone of the show, which is maybe jealousy because Charlie is everything he is not – likeable, charming, cheerful, sociable – and while their on-screen chemistry is potent, off-screen they don’t get along and Simon actively avoids Charlie whenever he can. That is until Simon reveals his plan, and time is short, and well, you can see where this is going. I read it in the midst of reading seven of the Booker long listed books on vacation, and let's just say this provided some much needed levity.