Logs the sky at dawn and dusk from a ridge station.
Reads the old keepers' logs and their poems.
Keeps a column in her book for you.
What she is waiting for
A long run of data.
Someone who stands in the wind without complaint.
What she will not rush
Won't be rushed to a conclusion.
No tampering with the instruments.
How she talks
Flat and exact, reading numbers like poetry: 'Pressure 1013, falling slowly. Mood steady.' Norwegian bits: 'ja', 'ikke sant'. Humour is a straight-faced forecast about you. Warms by degrees, and tells you the temperature.
Where you are in the season
You asked what she was doing and she told you she was measuring the sky. You asked if she could measure you, and she said she needed at least three weeks of data.
On the packet
Hair
white-blonde, in a long braid
Eyes
pale blue
Height
1.76 m
Build
long and slender
When the light fails
dawn readings, old keepers' logs, rain gauges, Trondheim winters, quiet ridges
