People always ask me what I miss most about Norway, and besides from my family and friends there is always one thing that comes to mind:
I miss the forest.
I miss running freely between the trees with naked feet flying over the ground.
The fresh air, the little trails made over years and years of animals wandering from waterhole to waterhole.
I was a wild child.
Born in the wilderness.
And I’m not even joking, we had a wolf pack living right behind our house, a few miles a way they saw bears almost weekly and in the middle of all that was my home.
A little red house in the middle of the forest in Norway.
Deep and dark, but all so beautiful.
I grew up an only child.
But In my imagination I had billions of brothers and sisters.
Every tree, every flower, every butterfly, every deer.
We were connected.
Living, breathing creatures.
I might have been the only being walking on two legs, raising my hands to the sky, singing my heart out..but I did not own that forest.
I shared it, with all other beings.
If anything, the forest owned me.
And I miss it. Oh god how I miss it.
Never have I ever felt love like that again.
You made me feel big and small at the same time, powerful and free.
You embraced me, watched over me with every step I took.
You showed me magic. Fascinated me. Inspired me.
You saw me laugh, you saw me cry.
And it was your silence that had the answers to everything.
Your love was kind, and endless. Just like your trails
Yes, my childhood was filled with magic because of one big forest and our endless love.
And behind my eyes lays all our memories.
The memories that has created me and shaped me.
So if you ask me what I miss the answer will be “I miss the forest” for oh so many reasons.
Ine Back Iversen 