two-steppin' with the unrisen sun

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had no idea what time it was.

there were no clocks in my apartment (yep, i actually had a little apartment here- in the basement of a family's home). i couldn't tell from my phone, since it has no reception here. it was dark out, so essentially i should still be sleeping even though i couldn't. whatever time it was, my body was convinced it was later.

to help lift the oppressive silence, i turned on the tv. the channel appeared to be a music video channel--nowegians singing songs of various types. the overriding genre was country. i couldn't understand a word, of course, but the emotional substance of each video was clear.

a guy in a pick up truck, probably singing about his dead wife, or being drunk, or how his drunk wife nearly killed him. a young girl imploring Love to have mercy on her. the next video was of a woman in a cowboy hat, line-dancing to an appropriately twangy ditty. this appeared to be where they showcased 8mm karoke videos in Norway, and i had been lucky enough to have access to the channel.

then, at the bottom of the screen, i noticed the time. in the pre-dawn darkness, it dawned on me: i was watching amatuer Norwegian music videos at 4:25am.

I guess any moment of clarity is a welcome one, especially if it comes with a catchy beat.

coming up: fjords, fjords, fjords. and debonair crosswalkers.