Founded as a walled city on a natural harbor in the 13th Century, Tallinn was originally built by the Hansiatic League as part of a network of Northern European fortified towns, unified against the threat of Viking attack. Estonia has ever since been under Danish, Swedish, German and Russian control, with only about twenty consecutive […]
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Oslo and the Vikings
We left Tvedestrand for Oslo for two nights on our way to Estonia, leaving just enough time to take in the city and visit museums. With the dollar weak, Oslo is disarmingly expensive and we were lucky to have Unni’s apartment to ourselves, living on bolle, salami, apples and potato salad as we navigated the […]
Tvedestrand Sjekte
I arrived in Norway last week to meet Ene and Aili and a group of friends gathering from around the world to celebrate our friend Wencke’s 50th birthday. Wencke was hosting the group on her family’s compound in Tvederstand, a tranquil hamlet of wooden buildings on a fjord about 220 kilimeters South of Oslo. Tvederstrand […]
Maker Mindset
THRIFT Craft persists where thrift is a commodity, either through necessity or intention. Thrift can be the result of poverty, isolation, habit, ethics or the desire for self-sufficiency. The most generous examples of craft are the result of pure thrift because so much must be made with so little. RESTRAINT Good enough is good enough. […]
Water
“The water which sees the air through broken veins of the high mountain summits is suddenly abandoned by the power which brought it there, and escaping from these forces resumes its natural course in liberty. Likewise the water that rises from the low roots of the vine to its lofty head falls through the cut […]
Bull Kelp Experiment 2
Ene and I returned to Salmon Creek Beach on the last negative low tide and harvested another load of stray kelp for a new experiment. I found a larger piece of tapered, round driftwood to use as a form for a basket and calculated how many strands of kelp would be required to make a […]
Benziger Family Table
I had the ocean on my mind as I drove from the Pacific Coast to visit my friend Colby Eierman at Benziger Family Winery in Glen Ellen, one of a handful of certified biodynamic wineries in the region. Colby is in charge of the gardens and livestock at the winery and called to ask of […]