Out from the Fog

Life is gradually returning to normal and the fog of COVID-19 is clearing in the United Kingdom. All legal restrictions are due to be lifted on 19 July as the majority of the adult population will be fully vaccinated with Double jabs.

soon, I will feel in a right frame of mind once again. I will set sail on my quest with a clear horizon ahead of me and calm seas.

Viborg Wander

So, I might not be able to visit Denmark in reality at the moment, but I can visit in Virtual Reality. I just decided to put my VR headset on and visit Viborg, as it appeared to Google in 2019. I’m on the outskirts of Viborg, on Finderupvej. It was a sunny summer’s day when Google shot the Streetview. I’m just going to wander into the centre and explore.

Grieg moves my soul

Peer Gynt aroused in me a passion for classical music. When I learnt, at the age of 12, that there was a fantastic story behind the music, my imagination wandered high into the mountains of Norway, where, if I travelled, I would find medieval kingdoms ruled over by kings. There, I would also find a medieval way of life in small villages, where the Industrial Revolution was still at least 100 years away. I wanted to go there so desperately and Grieg enabled me to let my mind drift into another world.

Yet, I still have not read Henrik Ibsen’s play, upon which Grieg based his music. Today, as my first objective in my Nordic quest, I will read Peer Gynt, which I have just downloaded as an Ebook.

Now!

Now is the time to embark upon my Nordic Quest – not next week, not next month, not a minute longer. Now!

My Quest is to find my Danish identity. It is not to find my “inner Dane”. It is not a euphemism, since I have Danish DNA running through my veins. My grandmother was Danish and told me many stories about Denmark and the Danish people.

But I have never been to Denmark, even after 50 years, and now that I want to go and explore the Nordic countries, I find myself constrained by a global pandemic of a deadly virus called COVID-19. Denmark is a safe place to visit but I don’t know if I can get there safely for the foreseeable future. This should not stop me from setting out on my quest, though. After all, a quest is as much about self-discovery as it is about going out “there “.

So, I have now embarked upon my quest, which begins in the Dreamworld. I will replace my dreams of alien invasions – which is currently about my defiant salad drawer in the fridge – with dreams of who knows?