First of May

Today being the first day of May, it was a holiday here in Norway, so none of the buses were running. Warren and I walked the 5 km to Odda to check email and watch the parade. This is a worker's holiday - somehow associated with the communist party, so none of the workers worked today. It was also a bit rainy, so even those who work today in their gardens in protest of the holiday and the communist party were not out.

To get to Odda, you drive through the 'Tyssedal Tunnelen', along the side of the mountain, and through another smaller tunnel. Only, we walked. It's a pretty far walk through this tunnel, and it's not really made to be walked through, though occasionally people on bikes go through. It's pretty tight and people go pretty fast, so we had to walk up on the dirt path a few times as cars whizzed by. There is an old road that goes around the side of the mountain, but half of it has been destroyed by rocks and at this time of year the other half is not really safe, especially lately after all the rain.

We quoted Romans 8 to each other from memory - he reciting the chapter first from the King James, and then I from the NRSV. It was good practice, and with his prompting I was able to get right some of the parts that I had misplaced from lack of use. It was a bit of a cloudy day, but I was still able to get some good pictures along the way.

After spending some time checking email, I went out to watch the parade. Here are some pictures of the flag bearers and band as they came up from the harbor past city hall and then down the main road. It was a very colorful display, and a good band too - quite impressive, I thought, for a small town. It's a small town with a lot of history, vim and vigor.