Winter Walk Around Utterslev Mose

Last Sunday I went out on a brisk, cold morning for a walk from our house to Utterslev Mose. A mose is like a pond/lake/marsh/wildlife sanctuary and there are numerous all over Denmark. Almost all have paths around them for pedestrians. Some are named lakes and others are mose, not sure exactly the difference. Thus the name of our street, "Ellemosevej" is broken up into 3 words: Elle (a womans' name) Mose (the stream that runs along our street and connects lakes and Vej ("way").

Utterslev is a 15- 20 minute walk from our house and then we can choose 3 different routes around the lake with each a little longer. It's a great family bike ride on the weekend or a place for walks and runs while taking in nature.

This particular morning, the sun was bright and the sky blue for a change. The temperature was somewhere around 30. We were slowly coming out of 10 days of freezing temperatures so many waterways were frozen over. Folks had even been skating on the "canals" downtown.

I took along my camera just to document a very common occurance: Danes out for exercise in nature. I honestly thought Oregonians were athletic as a whole population but Denmark puts them to shame. At least in the bigger cities. There are more people here who run/walk/play team sports/etc. than go to church in Oregon. It's a way of life. Women bundle up their newborns to go out for a stroll in 25 degrees every day no matter what. People just get out - every day. Lots of dog walkers too, especially those in fur coats - but that's a whole other blog entry.

And they don't just train by themselves. They like to go in packs or clubs. We'll see running groups on the weekends of 20 or 40 people in a group. Europeans have to pay for sports. For example, if you want to play tennis or rock climb or play basketball or handball you must join a club, pay dues and then attend. Danes have every club imagineable. For pay. Some are subsidized by the government and others are private. There are no public tennis courts, basketball courts, skate parks, tracks, etc. The trick is to find what you want to do and then join that club. And then, the times of activities are usually after work - because almost all Danes work. Men and women alike.

Back to the walk: Very few bikes passed me since biking is mainly for commuting. Unless you are mountain bike riding or long road riding, commuter bikes get parked during "off time". Running is the after-hours sport. I continued along, noticing only deciduous trees with a few scraggly brown leaves. There's a common brown/gray tone to everything. It's going to be a long time before life comes back to the trees and bushes here.

But we are getting more daylight - hurray! It's fully light by 8:30 am and not dark until just after 4. Every day gets better so I feel like we are out of the darkest times. I've been feeling much calmer and at peace lately. Perhaps I am finally coming down from the commotion and stress of our move, or just feeling more settled, or both. The girls too. Craig is another story. He's good, but work will continue to be a constant challenge. He's so glad we are here to support him.

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