"I hope this will not be too inconvenient..."

I'm going to start of with a warning: this post is going to be a little cheesy and cliche. It's about the unexpected moments that occur when things don't go exactly according to plan. Today was a perfect example of a pattern that I have found really striking on this trip. This is not to say that we routinely miss buses or have our plans go strangely awry, but not everything always occurs as we expect, either. So today, when we waited an hour and a half for the bus back from the Dala Horse factory in Nusnäs only to watch it drive by without stopping because we weren't exactly standing at the bus stop, we walked the ten kilometers back to Mora. At the beginning of this trek, I thought to myself, well at least this will be a bit of exercise, even though I know I will be tired and starving by the end. And to tell the truth, I was tired and starving by the end, but during the walk I got to see the beautiful countryside that I barely even noticed while riding through on the bus. There were forests of green coniferous trees, small mountains in the distance, and classic Swedish homes nestled in the snow in between. The sun was shining, it was warm enough for me to carry my coat, and here and there were birds singing in the beginning of spring. So I thoroughly enjoyed this jaunt outside of the scheduled day plan.

I spoke about a pattern, so let me give you a few more examples. Several times we have hoped to see the Northern Lights and bundled up to brave the evening chill while searching outside for a good place to spot them. Finally, this week we did see a bit of a show, although with the greater light pollution here in Mora, the lights were less impressive than they might have been otherwise. But each time we go out at night to look for the lights, I have been awed by the starry night sky itself. When I look up at the constellations in Sweden, they are so much brighter than I have ever seen them, even in the summers in northern MN. I find myself wishing I had actually paid more attention when learning about them so that I could remember more than just the Big Dipper, Orion, and Cassiopeia. Especially since I have grown up in the suburbs of Chicago, where discerning any constellation in the night sky is a treat, observing the stars here in Sweden is absolutely breathtaking for me each time.

There are many other instances of finding beauty when I have been looking for something else, and sometimes this comes in the form of simply seeing how all the members of the group adapt so smoothly to unexpected situations or disappointments. I still remember the day during the Jokkmokk Marknad that Sonja and I stood in line for almost two hours in the bitter cold to get tickets to the Sami dance that evening, only to have the people a few paces in front of us buy the last ones. And this was pretty frustrating, but Sonja and I bought some ice cream to eat with a movie, and by that evening, we felt that ice cream and a movie were exactly what we were in the mood for anyway. And we still had an enjoyable evening with those people who did go to the dance when they came back later on. One of the things I love most about this group is the way that everyone can have a fun and rewarding experience, even when certain things don't go our way. As they say, with every door that closes, another opens, and that is more true with this group than any of us could have hoped to expect. Okay, that's enough of my sappy musings for today. You can't say I didn't warn you. :-)