oslo airport
It's Sunday afternoon in Oslo airport. Cathryn just left to fly back home and I'm stuck here for the next couple of hours waiting for a plane to Copenhagen, and thence to Malmoe and other points Swedish. Luckily there's public wi-fi and I managed to grab a table in the coffee bar, much to the annoyance of some bearded Norwegian chap and his mousy wife who seemed to think that because they were Norwegians that they should have first dibs on it. Hrmph.
Anyhow we had a lovely time last couple of days, and damn busy too. Friday was very successful from a business point of view, and was followed by an evening of incredible sushi - though Bjorn had ordered enough for about 20 people and there was no way we could finish it all.
Saturday I woke extremely early again (my sleeping patterns are getting quite screwed up again with all this work-related travel), and I was very dozy and a bit grumpy all morning. We drove to the Oslo OTO temple, which is a really excellent space, where there were three Minerval candidates waiting. I decided to skip this because I knew that if I went in I'd probably just fall asleep during it, which would have been most ungracious at the very least, so I went outside into the morning sunshine instead. It was really nice to just wander around by myself for a couple of hours - it's the first time I've been able to do that for weeks really. So I pulled out my handheld and started going through the Mass again - it's been ages since I've done it, so I really needed to get back up to speed. I'm really glad Brian gave me that handheld, I owe you one Bro. I found a nice grassy knoll a bit away from people so I could speak it out loud, and started going through it. I've been playing around with singing some parts of it recently, so I thought I'd try singing the whole thing for a change, and it seemed to work very well (and least to me anyway). Standing in the sunlight, singing the Mass quietly and miming the actions, it started to feel really good. I got a real charge out of it. By the time I was finished I felt full of life and solar energy again, and ready for the fray.
The Minervals finished right after that and we went for a banquet in a fabulous restaurant in town. Very yummy fish. This alos gave me a chance to meet the two people who were to perform Children in the Mass, and go through some points in the time honored fashion of "ok, let's say this glass is the font and this candle is the small altar..."
Then it was back to the temple for my two-hour talk to the assembled Brethren. I had no idea what to talk about beforehand that could fill two whole hours, so Cathryn said "Just talk about yourself, you can do that for hours and hours..." Hmmm... thanks for that vote of confidence dear. So basically I just asked everyone to ask me questions on whatever topic struck them, and I freewheeled from there. I think it went really well, and I was especially gratified at the number of questions I got from the newly-made Minervals - they asked some really good questions. I hope I gave them something useful to mull over in my answers.
Mass came after that. We were somewhat astounded at the gigantic altar they had - apparently regulation size, but then neither Cathryn and I are regulation human size. And I've never been a huge fan of translucent veils. A veil is supposed to hide what's behind it folks, in a temple setting that means it's opaque. But we took it in stride. Cathryn looked stunning, the new dress she had made is wonderful. She was "40's film star Priestess", which is totally fine by me. Now I just need a Priest outfit to match (hint, hint). The Mass itself was wonderful, apart from one teeny tiny slip it was technically perfect, and I felt fabulous throughout (and did sing most of it). Laurence did a great job as Deacon, he's starting to come into the role very nicely, and the Children were spot on throughout. Couldn't have been much better really. I think the congregation liked it, though some of them seemed so stunned afterward they didn't say much. Either that or they hated it and were trying to be polite :-) One person who I talked to afterwards seemed completely transfigured by it, and that was extremely gratifying to see. I love my religion.
After that it was home to Bjorn & Trine's place where the Master Chef turned out his piece de resistance: Smoked Trout Ice Cream! It was damn fine. Full marks for that one Bro. I am seriously impressed.
Right, check-in for my flight seems to be open now, time to get back on the road... Next stop Copenhagen!
Anyhow we had a lovely time last couple of days, and damn busy too. Friday was very successful from a business point of view, and was followed by an evening of incredible sushi - though Bjorn had ordered enough for about 20 people and there was no way we could finish it all.
Saturday I woke extremely early again (my sleeping patterns are getting quite screwed up again with all this work-related travel), and I was very dozy and a bit grumpy all morning. We drove to the Oslo OTO temple, which is a really excellent space, where there were three Minerval candidates waiting. I decided to skip this because I knew that if I went in I'd probably just fall asleep during it, which would have been most ungracious at the very least, so I went outside into the morning sunshine instead. It was really nice to just wander around by myself for a couple of hours - it's the first time I've been able to do that for weeks really. So I pulled out my handheld and started going through the Mass again - it's been ages since I've done it, so I really needed to get back up to speed. I'm really glad Brian gave me that handheld, I owe you one Bro. I found a nice grassy knoll a bit away from people so I could speak it out loud, and started going through it. I've been playing around with singing some parts of it recently, so I thought I'd try singing the whole thing for a change, and it seemed to work very well (and least to me anyway). Standing in the sunlight, singing the Mass quietly and miming the actions, it started to feel really good. I got a real charge out of it. By the time I was finished I felt full of life and solar energy again, and ready for the fray.
The Minervals finished right after that and we went for a banquet in a fabulous restaurant in town. Very yummy fish. This alos gave me a chance to meet the two people who were to perform Children in the Mass, and go through some points in the time honored fashion of "ok, let's say this glass is the font and this candle is the small altar..."
Then it was back to the temple for my two-hour talk to the assembled Brethren. I had no idea what to talk about beforehand that could fill two whole hours, so Cathryn said "Just talk about yourself, you can do that for hours and hours..." Hmmm... thanks for that vote of confidence dear. So basically I just asked everyone to ask me questions on whatever topic struck them, and I freewheeled from there. I think it went really well, and I was especially gratified at the number of questions I got from the newly-made Minervals - they asked some really good questions. I hope I gave them something useful to mull over in my answers.
Mass came after that. We were somewhat astounded at the gigantic altar they had - apparently regulation size, but then neither Cathryn and I are regulation human size. And I've never been a huge fan of translucent veils. A veil is supposed to hide what's behind it folks, in a temple setting that means it's opaque. But we took it in stride. Cathryn looked stunning, the new dress she had made is wonderful. She was "40's film star Priestess", which is totally fine by me. Now I just need a Priest outfit to match (hint, hint). The Mass itself was wonderful, apart from one teeny tiny slip it was technically perfect, and I felt fabulous throughout (and did sing most of it). Laurence did a great job as Deacon, he's starting to come into the role very nicely, and the Children were spot on throughout. Couldn't have been much better really. I think the congregation liked it, though some of them seemed so stunned afterward they didn't say much. Either that or they hated it and were trying to be polite :-) One person who I talked to afterwards seemed completely transfigured by it, and that was extremely gratifying to see. I love my religion.
After that it was home to Bjorn & Trine's place where the Master Chef turned out his piece de resistance: Smoked Trout Ice Cream! It was damn fine. Full marks for that one Bro. I am seriously impressed.
Right, check-in for my flight seems to be open now, time to get back on the road... Next stop Copenhagen!