A Long Walk

The sun was out today, and while it was ungodly cold I decided I would take one of my trademark walks. I got a late start...around 11 am. I hopped on the Metro and took it about 5-6 miles away to a stop I have never been to and got off. The walk itself was rather uneventful, but I saw a ton of stuff I have never seen.

There was one point where I was lost somewhere in suburban Copenhagen with that 20 mph wind blowing in my face that I almost gave up. I was within seconds of just laying down on the sidewalk and scribbling my last will and testament on the back of paper money. My memoirs in a hurry. I was a great and noble man taken by the oppressive Scandinavian cold much before my time. I do not feel sorry for myself as much as for the world that will be deprived of a man of my stature! I want Jared and Ryan to execute my literary estate. This I insist must be done by them, there will be no delegation of this responsibility. They will need to go through all my books and cull my margin notes, all my notebooks and make sense of it all (even the number theory!)...Most importantly, this must be done between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am, and they must be clothed in only their undergarments. This is my last will and testament and I expect that it be carried out in full so as not to make a mockery of my life. Just then I was struck with the strength of Achilles and decided to plod on (actually the sun came out from behind a cloud and the wind let up)...but it was soooo cold.

I had so much change in my pockets, which was also 20 degrees, that sticking my hands in my pockets offered no quarter to my delicate hands from the elements. Why are the Europeans so fond of change, how about some paper money. I think they just evolved from trading sea shells and rocks up here so change seems a more natural transition.

As I made my way through the cruel and cold Copenhagen streets I could not help but ponder the history of this hostile land and its people. Now we all know the Danes are a nomadic people and they carry their wigwams on their backs as they track to and fro in search of berries and small mammals for food. They were not always this way though, no, they were once the mighty viking culture! I am not that interested in the vikings...I deal with plenty of barbarians from day to day, but there is one little detail that is endlessly unsettling to me. History tells us that the vikings were early explorers of North America...where did they go you may ask? Northeast Canada, Greenland, and Minnesota...what is wrong with these people? How about Florida, California...even Alabama.

I do have to say this much for the Danes, they had the wherewithal to say "enough is enough!" They must have gotten here with the Finns, Norwegians, and Swedes at some point and breathed an exhausted breath, sat down and said, "this is as far as we are going...you guys can keep going but we have noticed that the further we go the colder it gets and we are not going any further." The other Scandinavians probably looked at the Danes and laughed a throaty viking laugh..."Ha! Fools...when we get to Valhalla and are drinking wine and eating bread in the warmth of the gods won't you look the fool." I do not mean to be blasphemous to the nordic gods but it appears the Danes were right and it just gets colder. The others must be wishing they had stayed down here too.

Ok...the point is that it was so cold that my blood almost froze...but I had a great day. I took about a 4 hour winding walk before finding my way back to my apartment, and the little bit of exercise has done wonders for my spirit. Its gonna start snowing again next week because the wind is still blowing out of the former Soviet Union so I am going to enjoy it while I can. I was reading the stupid responses that the Russian government gives for being so repressive...why don't they just state the obvious...nobody who lives in a place that cold is concerned with Freedom...today I would have traded my soul for a hot tub...I have nothing to say and plenty on the law of war crimes to read so goodbye for now!