DAY 21

(May 14)
Day off

This morning I drew berkano.  Got up about 0700, said my Sigdrifa prayer and had frokost.

There is a convention of special needs folks here at the hotel, I enjoy having them around for some reason.  They are the most genuine people in the world.  We could all learn a lesson from them about the sheer joy of being alive.

 

My plans today are to work on my drinking horn and maybe do some reading.  At 1300 we are all going to a mall.  I am going to look for some glue to glue the heel back onto my boot with.

Thoughts of loved ones, family and home are becoming more prevelant these days, even though there isn’t much time to think.  On these days off is really our only time to do any such thinking.  It’s pretty crazy; last week we did so much stuff, it seems like it was two or three weeks…but it was only one.

Today I have been gone for three weeks, pretty weird…pretty damn weird.  Can’t get caught up in all that though, I need to stay focused and really do my best to win this thing.  Later today I am going to do a three rune draw to check the course I am on.

Of the 10 contestants remaining I have a clear vision of who the top and bottom 5 are, but I can’t take anything for granted.  Nothing is guaranteed.  Not all the contests are physical, and all of them are not mental, the production does a great job of minimizing obvious advantages, especially in the elimination rounds.  I think what it really comes down to is mental toughness; who is best able to purge their brain of everything that is not necessary in order to focus on the task at hand.  I am usually pretty good at that…we’ll see.

The Gods have been faithful; Freya, Thor, Tyr, Freyr, Njord, and even Odin have been experienced and felt by me on this journey, as have the ancestors.  I am a blessed man in many ways.

Tomorrow we leave for the City of Oslo at 0845.  We will get on a train, that is where the filming will begin.  When we arrive we will find out about the first team challenge, it should be a very interesting week.  Episode 4, here we come!