A Winter Retreat at Tautra

This summer I spent a couple of days at the Tautra Mariokloster, a monastery on an island in the Trondheimsfjord. It was peaceful, quiet, and serene, and I loved it. I made the decision to return at least once a season during our time here. My trip in August coincided with the peak of the very short Norwegian summer. It was sunny and warm(ish), the hay was tall, the island was in bloom, and the raspberries were at the peak of ripeness. The monastery’s guesthouse was full of visitors from all over the world.

My early December trip was just as beautiful, but had a much different feel. I was one of very few guests. The island had a bleak beauty about it. Daylight had dipped below 5 hours. Because the island is surrounded by fjords, and there were plenty of clouds, it was always either sunrise or sunset. The pictures below were taken at all hours of the “day.”

One unexpected and delightful surprise has been how much I’ve enjoyed the short Norwegian days. At home I associate the short days with worse traffic on I-97, and trudging around the Maryland General Assembly complex in the snow when the rest of the state workforce has a snow day. In Norway, I’ve made it a point to get outside at least part of the day to take advantage of the sunlight. Like Tautra, the sky in Trondheim glows all different colors as the sun inches above and then stays low on the horizon. The darkness encourages hygge (coziness) at home in the evenings.

The main challenge of the short days: it’s really hard to get out of bed when it doesn’t get light until 10am! I woke up one day recently unsure if my clock read 1:43am or 7:43am. Both are completely dark. (It was 7:43am and begrudgingly I got up.)

Upcoming darkness challenge: four days north of the Arctic Circle with my parents and brother at Christmastime! More to come on that.