battle wounds {and November soup}

Knitdick and Nordlys by Oslo based graphic designer and friend, Jon

Coming to Tromsø has given a whole new meaning to the term "beauty means pain". The Pain that Trish and I have endured to see the beautiful northern lights is really adding up. It's pretty shocking. We have even begun writing haikus (3 lines,5,7,5 syllables)  and sonnets (14 lines of rhymed couplets in iambic pentameter) about it. between the two of us we have:
*a very enlarged right tonsil thats almost beginning to look like a goiter
*a very senstive and peeling and dry brand new tattoo (Trish's. dont freak out mom and dad)
*a VERY sore right foot that may or may not be a stress fracture
*a swollen red and purple right food 2nd toe
*body aches and general head cold
*knee and hip pains
*lack of sleep
*oh and a crazy burn on my left underside of the forearm. {where you test to see if baby milk is not too hot}

i guess im just getting sick, and i have a sore throat, and I dont know whats going on with my foot. ill go to the doctor on friday when im back in spain. my knee and hip pains i think were from the cold but theyre gone now, thankfully. lack of sleep from trying to stay up and watch the lights, and the burn is from making november soup. November soup is what Christina fed us one night in bodø. it was so delicious and simple that trish and I wanted to make some while we were in Tromsø. It turned out great but at the cost of my left arm. I literally gave my left arm to have some November soup. Anyway here is the recipe:

*12 deciliters (dl) water
*3 dl soymilk
*8 cubes of vegetable broth
*6-8 potatos
*4 carrots
*1 onion
*1 celery root
*salt and pepper to taste

*boil the vegetables in water with vegetable broth until the vegetables are done. use a handmixer {or other blending device} to blend the vegetables whilst adding the milk. let it boil for a bit longer
serve with sour cream (we used vegan sour cream) and crutons!
{i like things spicy so i like to add chili or extra pepper.}

tonight we are taking a tour to go out of the city and see the (damn) northern lights which have been so elusive. Please wish us luck

I will leave you with our Tromsø trip inspired poetry collection::
{I should preface the poetry by explaining that nordlys is Norwegian for northern lights, and Knitdick is a christmas gift Trish received. It is a knitted dick as the name implies, and it has been the cherry atop this entire trip.}

Haiku 1:
Trish is sound asleep
Shayan stares at the black sky
Waiting for nordlys

Haiku 2:
Tonsil-goiter, ow
Thigh hives, Sore hips knees and foot
Such is arctic life.

Haiku 3:Relentless coughing
Insomnia and steel abs
Tatt aches, numb fingers.

Haiku 4: (2 parts)
Our host wakes at four.
"airport taxi comes at six!"
He sighs. Too early.

I look to the sky.
Like nordlyset in Bodø,
The alarm's too soon.
{there were nordlys in Bodø 2 hours before we arrived}

 Haiku 5: (4 parts)

To see the whole world
one need not join the navy.
Just be a knitdick.

An oddity rests
in the nook of each photo.
Beaded masterpiece.

Like "Amelie"'s gnome,
Knitdick will travel at length.
No book shelf her home.

How could they have known
a gag gift from Christmastime
Would journey so far?

Haiku 6:

No more haikus now.
Again, nordlys didn't come.
Disappointment shows.

Haiku 7: (by Jon)

KnitDick bows his head
In disappointment and shame
Maybe next time, yes?

TrisHaiku: (by friend, Dana)
i think you are swell.
norway is rude for stealings.
i'll come visit soon.

Haiku 8:

trish sleeping again
shayans left forearm skin burns
and burns and burns and burnburns

Haiku 9: (3 parts)

Trish grows much sicker.
The sick moves from chest to head.
Sleep: a remedy.

Still, she takes up watch.
4am, bring us nordlys.
So I can then sleep.

Shayan's turn to doze.
November soup: delicious!
But not when burning...
(dedicated to Shayan's scalded forearm)

The hunt: (a sonnett written at 3 am)

To travel north to see the lights above,
It takes its toll on unsuspecting girls.
Nordlyset gives our sanity a shove.
The crazy in us violently unfurls.

Our battle scars, too numerous to name.
Sore throats and tonsil-goiters, how they ache.
November soup has set Shy's arm aflame.
No pants for Trish! Cold, for the tattoo's sake.

A fractured foot, a broken toe we share.
'Tween two of us, the bus fares will be high.
With all the body aches and cold we bear,
With no success, you'd think nordlys a lie!
(you'd think nordlys would come to tell us "hi"!)

The sleeplessness has caused us all of this!
Will fortune grace us with the nordlys bliss?

hopefully the next piece of poetry will be about actually seeing the nordlys...