OSLO

I'm now in BERGEN after a a wonderful week spent in my friend SILJE and her boyfriend ANDREAS' apartment in OSLO. They are the lucky owners of an apartment with balconies both to their back yard and to the street, so it's not hard to be happy when you stay there. They have also planted a lot of HERBS as well as TOMATOES and CHILLIES on their balconies ..AND the apartment is in a nice area so we have been very happy tenants. They also have a lot of plants, so they had asked me to water all their greens when they were gone ...but, because of a misunderstanding ANDREAS's mother also thought she was going to water the plants ...which led to this nice first encounter between me and SILJE's mother in law; It's around noon, I have a meeting down town with the COUPLE that is getting MARRIED ..to see the venue for the dinner/party ..before the actual wedding (the wedding that I was going to photograph). I am of course running late, and the weather is NICE and WARM so I have decided that I have to/ absolutely want to wear a SKIRT (kind of desperately, because I know that I am only days, weeks or shorts moths away from moving back to BERGEN ..where my legs hardly ever will have the PLEASURE of feeling the magical touch of the LATE SUMMER SUN) ...so .. during my rainy weeks at the cabin shaving my legs had not been first priority so I realized that I desperately need to do this before I leave the house.

So there I stand, in the bathroom, with the door open, only wearing my UNDERWEAR, with one foot in the sink covered with white foam .. when I hear somebody putting a KEY in the front door. I knew it was not E, because he was on the train to VÅLER, so I quickly reach for a towel and stand there looking at the door ...when a woman I have never seen before enter. I was kind of relieved when I saw it was a WOMAN..and not a man ..and asked; who are you? And well, she of course answers 'I'm Andreas' mother, I am here to water the plants'. I walk over to her and realize as I am about to introduce myself and SHAKE her HAND that my right hand is covered in SHAVING GEL due to what I was doing .. I also realize that the apartment is looking like a MESS.. with my photo equipment all over the kitchen table and clothes all over the FLOOR due to my 'I'm in a hurry, what to wear' frenzy about 10 minutes earlier. I explain why I am there ..and that I am been put in CHARGE of WATERING the plants ..while I feel kind of like this BUM who's trashing up her DEAR SON'S beautiful apartment, not capable of taking care of anything ..let alone their herb garden that is inspired by the herb garden she has at her house ( I learned from the brief encounter). PUH! That said, she seemed like a very nice lady, I'm more unsure about her impression of me, ..AND very glad this was not my first meeting with my own mother in law.