Day 31 – Is evolution as a concept flawed ?. . .

Not thousands. Not Millions. Maybe even more than billions. Natural selection has been at work. Striving to achieve perfection.

One should be forgiven for assuming that after a few billion years, or so, evolution would have run its course and perfected humanity. Discarded all of those genetic traits that jeopardise its very existence. Nurtured all of those that would guarantee the best means of a lasting survival. Yet it continues to fail. Incapable of eliminating evil.

Within this rugged landscape, the tourist spots, like the scattering of barely inhabited villages, coin the short phrase ‘go-to’. So to find two relatively (37K) close together, a bonus.

The Cultural Museum at Stiklestad constructed and built upon the history and myth surrounding Norway’s patron saint, AKA King Olaf, relieves us of 190NOK. Not quite a bargain. Parts are still being prepared for the summer season, which starts mid-June. We’re treated to a balcony of hanging banners. Cartoon-like images linked with bite sized info, cut and pasted from some memoire or another, of historical legend, chronologically lead us through his life, death and subsequent canonisation. A QR code leads us to the English translation as we share a mobile screen.

We tend to think of the Nazi camps from WWII as a more central Europe affair. A late afternoon visit to Falstad Concentration Camp in the village of Ekne, counters those thoughts.

This stone reads . . .

From the Falstad Prisoners 1941-1945

To all of you, who at your own risk, smuggled food, sent letters and greetings and opened your home to all those who wanted to visit us in the camp, we stand in eternal gratitiude.

Thanks

A short drive into the nearby woods we find the location of a memorial dedicated to the Polish and Soviet prisoners who were executed here, then hidden in mass graves.

Today’s overnighter, Korsnes Camping, occupies a beautiful location. Balancing upon the tip of a small peninsular, ariel photos make it look like a dream piece of nature. Which it probably was. Down at ground level however, the owners have ninety static caravans with chalet attachments crammed together, ghetto style. Motorhomers allocated leftover spots. We choose the only one that’s close to the service block. Mistake. A 24/7 humming motor, barely audible daytime, morphs into a between the ears buzzsaw at bedtime. This, coupled with a thumping party bass that didn’t end until 5.45am kept Mr S’s neural oscillations waving up and down as if he was experiencing a cardiac arrest. After only three hours sleep, he’s not someone you’d want to mess with today . . .