The Land of the Vikings

This is a beautiful sunrise across our field on an icy cold morning in Odense. It has warmed up a bit since this photo was taken, but the weather isn't the only thing that is cold in the mornings here.

We have a brand new Danish Bathroom. It has a fine tile floor, a lovely new modern sink, lots of room for storage, and we even have a dryer, and washer (it isn't hooked up yet..but will be soon).

This is our new Danish toilet. To flush it you pull the little knob on the top. Then a rush of water flushes the bowl and leaves just a tiny amount of water in the bottom.

This is our shower. On the first morning, after our arrival, I was anxious to take a nice long, warm shower in our beautiful nw bathroom. I turned on the water, comforting and hot, lathered my hair for three minutes, and it turned on me. It became icy cold in 3 1/2 minutes. I had been fighting with the internet wires, our phone, our computers, and suffering a little homesickness- and the shower had just become my enemy. I had to heat water to rinse the soap off my hair in the kitchen. Then I began to murmur. I discovered, that with all the comfortable rooms that I was now privileged to live in, this bathroom would have to go. It is easy to become Lamon and Lemuel with a little stroke of bad luck. (see 1 Nephi 16: 1-2)
We discovered that we have a 10 gallon hot water heater in our house.
But since then, we have learned how to turn on our water, gently, push that little red button (hold it down for a minute- you have to hold most Danish buttons down- or you will be stuck in elevators, and not know how to turn your stove on and off). We have found out how to survive in this "most rustic" country where showers are not always friendly. We have learned to take short, warm showers... without murmuring. I called this shower our "viking shower." It makes us strong like Carl's viking ancestors.

I just put this little viking on my mirror in honor of the brave vikings who invented cold showers. I found him in a great little shop right across from Hans Christian Anderson's house...another brave viking, I think. P.S. for those who plan to visit us here..could you please bring some warm water?

See you soon.