M is for Mortsund in ABC Wednesday

ABCWednesday this time is from a small place called Mortsund on the island of Vestvågøy in the archipelago Lofoten, Norway. The area is special to me since my mother-in-law came from this little hamlet, and thus "one half" of my wife. Last year there was a gathering of relatives going back to my mother-in-laws granparents. More than 100 persons living all over Norway attended.

The picture beneath was taken as the plane was preparing for landing at the local airport and shows the area as it is now.



Here we are at sea level with Mortsund to the right and Ballstad with its mountains in the background.

My mother -in-law grew up in the 20's and 30s when the living was hard in Norway, especially in peripheral areas like Lofoten. One had to make a living from what nature provided - which in this area for a large part meant the ocean with its products. The families also tried to do some small scale farming, but as we can see that was not easy.

The main product from the sea was fish, especially cod. The fish was cleaned and hung on drying racks like these until they became ready for export as stockfish. By the way, the racks below now stands approximately where my wife's grandparents lived.

Whaling was also one of the ways of getting food, both for their own use and for sale. This is still being allowed in a small way.

If nothing else, they could not complain about the view - only these small rocks and islands protected them from Vestfjorden - Norway's widest and most exposed fjord. In practice the North Atlantic Ocean.



Today's post is part of the the third round of ABC Wednesday. The founder, Denise Nesbitt, has changed the rules to make the system more practical. There is now a no-comment blog where you can post a copy or short version of your post with a link-back to your original post for the full version and comments. Scanning through this no-comment blog will give you More Ms! She has also set up a new site where you can log on via Mr. Linky if you want to do that.