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Not just about trains.

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Railway modelling is not just about building and driving model trains. Landscapes, buildings, people and all the other things that exist in the real world also need scaling down, in the instance in these photos, to the scale of 1:87.

The level of detail and dexterous skill involved in railway modelling may therefore seem a job well suited the female’s small and nimble fingers. Yet, railway modelling is still considered a strictly male pastime. Among the approximately 2500 members of the Norwegian Railway Club, a club which makes model railways, only a couple of its members are female.

The club’s division in Bergen annually organises a model railway exhibition. Here, the club has experienced that women simply are not that interested in the trains themselves or in the technical and electrical aspects of railway modelling. However, they do frequently ask questions about how the landscapes, houses and figurines have been made.

By emphasising the latter aspect of railway modelling, the Bergen division now hopes that more women will be encourraged to take part. After all, a man’s hands may sometimes become the bull in the china shop when attempting the interior decorations of a tiny house.

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Photo credit: Britt Embry

Snakes’ Ambassador.

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What does it take for many people to understand the value and importance of each species of mammal, bird, fish and reptile in nature, including the much demonised snake?

Animals in captivity may serve as ambassadors for their wild and threatened kin, provided they are properly taken care of with regards to living space, food and stimulance that will assure them a mentally and physically healthy life.

At the Oslo Reptile Park, many visitors learn for the first time that snakes are not slimy, that not all snakes can or wish to kill you, and that snakes ususally will not bite a human unless they are surprised or provoked. And did you know that snakes, like the ball python above, have individual personalities, just like humans do?

Snakes regulate the number of rodents, frogs, birds and other populous species that humans otherwise would have a very difficult time regulating without the snake – although introducing a non-indigenous species into a new environment may upset the existing balance and lead to mass-extinction among the native species.

Maintaining a snakes natural habitat and a healthy snake population is vital. And sometimes the only way we can understand the value and importance of something is if we can see, touch and feel it ourselves.

Photo credit: Britt Embry

A story no picture could tell.

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Yesterday, at a Norwegian roadside cafe, i ordered fish and chips. I didn’t eat the fish and could have done without the chips, too.

Waiter: Did you enjoy the meal?
Me: No, the fish wasn’t good and – (interrupted by the waiter at this point)
Waiter: Well, this fish is special because it’s battered and deep fried.
Me: I’m English, I know what fish and chips is supposed to taste like.
Waiter: Please help yourself to some free dessert.

A tragedy in Paris.

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Strawberries, so vibrant and fresh, waiting in vain to be enjoyed, perhaps with a glass of Champagne, perhaps by two lovers in the City of Love. But was their tragic fate perchance the result of a tragic love, in which one wounded lover cast the beautiful, heart-shaped berries aside on the cold, hard pavement only to be stepped on and squashed like his or her heart had so most recently been? One can only picture the story.

Photo credit: Britt Embry

The Vietnam veteran from Norway.

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In 1951, when Leif Marøy was 10 years old, his family moved from Arna in Bergen, Norway to Minneapolis in Minnesota, USA. 15 years later he found himself sitting on a plane bound for the Vietnam War, to serve his duty as a jet fighter mechanic in the American Air Force.

Marøy was a keen photographer, and through the lens he captured many impressions that have stayed with him throughout his life. He particularly remembers the time he and some fellow airmen built a school for Vietnamese children who lived close to the air base. But mostly, he remembers this: There is nothing glorious about war.

Marøy and his parents and brother returned to Norway not long after his return from the war, a war in which his cousin died.

Photo credit: Britt Embry

Even suits crocodiles.

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There is a widespread belief that you show who you are on the inside by what your wear on the outside. This is to an extent true, but whatever the fashion season, a smile is always the prettiest thing you can wear. It even suits crocodiles.

Photo taken for small writing project: brembry.wordpress.com.

Photo credit: Britt Embry