No Ocean View in the Forest

I live in a country which is ranked as number 8 on the World Top Ten Longest Coastline listing. 25 148 km long. Pretty amazing, considering how "small" Norway is, with its population of a little above 5 million.
Many people in this land enjoy an ocean view either from their living room window, on the road they drive to work, or when they go hiking.

Our home, the Duck and Cherry, is on an island. Island population 14 000. There are beaches all around, breathtaking ocean view from the lookout points, and the name originates from old Norse words suggesting harsh wind and weather conditions.

When we built the house, a friend looked around and said, "You don't have an ocean view. How can you buy a piece of land here - on this island - without an ocean view?"

The Duck and Cherry has a view of large fields with grazing sheep, a wooded area that reminds me of Robin Hood's legendary Sherwood Forest, and oodles of birds, deers, porcupines, squirrels, pheasants, even a badger meandering around . I especially like the vista from the living room windows of the long allée planted in the late 18th Century.

I love this view. As much as I enjoy watching--and listening to--the sea, the feel of the country forest goes straight to my heart.

Needless to say, there are several marinas and ferries that will transport people and cars across to the other side of the Oslo fiord. There are many boats. Marine leisure activity is as important to many Norwegians as owning a car, motorbike, or bicycle. According to International Boat Industry Key Market Facts the boat-ownership per capita is about one in seven.

We don't. Own a boat, that is. Not even a dry-docked ark in the garden surrounding the Duck and Cherry. Friends take pity on us, take us on a boat trip now and then, and let us feel the salty sea breeze in our hair. But we are happy without being that one in seven who own some sort of watercraft. And we can actually see the ocean if we walk a few paces up the road.

Today's water colors are seascapes painted a few years ago.