Last fall I got a call that was as unexpected as it was charmed. I have never had an interest in movie-making, or acting of any sort, and yet, after a week’s consideration I found myself saying, “Yes.” A month later I was taking a week off of work to do all-night shoots in the damp, dark woods of Northern Wisconsin for a movie production. A handful of other Duluthians joined me in the magic and exhaustion of bringing a wild band of gypsies to life in a mist-shrouded forest, wreathed in fire and impossible shadows. A week later payment showed up in my mailbox. I haven’t gotten a paycheck in almost 15 years, since I went into business for myself. This was a strange bonus, and I decided to use it for an adventure. Yonder wild and blue, the wild blue yonder looms. The only question was, where to go. Literally the moment I decided on a trip and wondered whither, I got a Facetime from a friend in Norway. Question: Answered. All of this is to say that I’ll be off and away with the kind of long-time friends that have become family, in Iceland and Norway: the Homeland. Be good while I’m gone.