Here is my paradise on earth, where I seek shelter from daily stress. My cabin. Nothing compares to that. Few people around. Calm. Lots of nature. Many things to do, if I want, or just relax. Or throw stones at Sweden, if I’m angry. The Swedish border is about ten meters from the island where my cabin is located, in the southeast corner of Norway.
My father grew up on this island. The family of eight moved here in 1944, in World War II. Our country was occupied by Nazi Germany and many starved, especially in the cities. But on the farm, which also lies on this island, my grandparents were able to grow their own food and care for their six children.
The cabin has a dark and mysterious past
From my father, who was only ten years old at the end of the war in 1945, I have heard that my grandfather sometimes asked him to check if there was anyone in this cabin. Sometimes there were two civil clothed men there. Possibly the border police, he thought. There were many refugees and people from the resistance forces who crossed the border back in those days, and my father remembered that he placed a secret package on a small islet nearby. However, my grandfather never talked about this. Not to him or anyone else.
Today, the situation is more peaceful, thank God. The noise comes usually from my hammer and saw. I have built a few buildings, as you can see in the picture above. To the left; a shed where I store my tools, it has slate on the roof. In the middle; a small Viking shower with a garden water jug. (There`s no water pipes and electricity, except a solar panel.) The shower is ornated with dragon heads, just like the sauna on the right. The sauna, warmed by a fireplace, is built next to a mountain and has a roof of peat and walls of clay and stone.
Lake Kornsjø is perfect to paddle canoe. Narrow channels, small inlets. A lot of wildlife to explore. Beaver, fish, birds, moose, fox, wolf and many other animals. Fresh air to breathe, clean water with no garbage of plastic. Even the Germans are back during the summer season, now as friendly tourists. And who knows, perhaps some of them are kinfolks of the soldiers who were here. I don’t know. They`re welcome here anyway.
In the late summer and autumn, there`s a lot of mushrooms in the woods. Boletus and chanterelles are galore. But I only use my cabin from April to November, and in the meanwhile, when it is dark and cold, I sit home and write as hard as I can. That’s my most productive period, while I dream myself away into a world of fiction and good memories from my summer paradise.
TOM THOWSEN 