Catching up with the past

I'm flooded as the Vennesund ferry shudders and sets out from the dock at Holm. My dad had an almost religious reverence for Helgeland, the stretch of coast from here to the Arctic Circle, and I'm overwhelmed.

Maybe it's just me. Who knows. Childhood perceptions imbue all sorts of things with an importance they may never have had, but it is what it is. In my mind this is a place that meant something to my dad, so that's what's coming back to me.

It's also why we're here. Helgeland is a detour, but we're taking it for everyone else to see Torghatten and for my own selfish reasons, to retread old paths. We took this trip, our family, when I was maybe 9, or 10 — 11? Who remembers these things? We'd wrap ourselves in my dad's pillowy Citroën and head from Hokksund to Lofoten in the summer. That one year we took a detour to Torghatten, and as I remember it my dad walked on air the entire time.

So now, on the deck of the ferry, I'm flooded. I miss him, but I'm also overwhelmed to be somewhere that meant something to him and a place he so much wanted us kids to see as well. Now I'm doing the same for mine, who are in the cafeteria debating whether to spend on hot chocolate or waffles with butter and brown cheese.

They're not overly impressed with the coastline, but it's distinct. Maybe it's the geology that changes right here, a slight difference in the color of the mountains. Whatever it is, at one point I just feel it. Off the ferry on the narrow road that winds its way to Brønnøysund, a little excess moisture in my eyes gave me away and Traci catches me having a moment.

I know, I know: To the untrained eye, or to those not imprinted with its sentimental value, it looks more or less like the landscapes we've spent days driving through already. To me, though, Helgeland is different. It's beautiful here, and I wish you were alive, dad, so I could tell you that.

You always asked if I remembered this trip and that. It was important to you that we remember. I do. Thank you for taking me here all those years ago so I could come back.

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