After living in a city for almost 40 years, I moved to the countryside one year ago and completed a circle. I grew up on rural Norway’s Atlantic coast and now live in a small village in North-West England.
The similarities are many. The wind blows steadily from West and South-West, and the rain showers are frequent.
However, the landscape is different. I roamed the Norwegian hills and forest from an early age and climbed the mountains. Relatively untouched nature is abundant in Norway, and I loved the visual drama and physical challenge I experienced on my hikes.
Decades later, I initially found Northern England’s softly rolling, green hills somewhat exotic, with their endless pastures, stone walls, and hedges.
My next thought, after a while, was: “There’s not much happening here, is there?” The visual and topological variations and contrasts of Norwegian nature had turned my brain into an adrenaline junkie when it came to sceneries.
The third stage was, well, falling in love. Compared to the dramatic, ever-changing, and somewhat masculine features of the Norwegian countryside, I started to see the soft, smooth, fertile femininity of the landscapes here.
It’s beautiful.
This is home now.
