Home, best place in the world.
Morten, Fred and Margit are the only people, who live on the island Birkholm throughout the year, making an unlikely place their home
It’s eight in the morning and the sun is barely out, However, like every other morning Morten has began work, standing waist deep in water carefully checking for shrimps in the nets that were laid last evening, adjusting his glasses he looks at Fred, who is now standing upright on the edge of the harbor and gazing at the noisy seagulls who are waiting in anticipation, Morten puts his thumb up in the air and Fred responding to the action carefully climbs down to his motor boat while Morten pulls himself in. The brothers look into each other’s eyes and nod in approval before they ride into the ocean, leaving behind tender waves and few disappointed seagulls.
Morten (78), Fred (73) and his wife Margit (67) are the only permanent residents of the island Birkholm. A tiny island off the southern coast of Funen far away from the urban hustle, 0.96 square kilometers of green grass temporary home to many migrating birds that wait for the spring to fly north while a hare are found making a solo food hunting trip on every corner. While silence decorates the island with its charm, every afternoon a postal boat makes a 25 minute sail from Marstal to disturb the silence; it is the only transport that connects to the island from the mainland.
While the brothers have gone fishing, back home Margit makes time for herself from the cooking and enjoys her coffee with a glimpse of her favorite pheasant bird that migrates from India as she turns pages of an old magazine.
She seems to have found a companion in an old doll from her mother while she is alone in the house and needs someone to mumble to.
It is noon and the brothers ride on their Quad bike back home for lunch, a strange camaraderie has been set between the two, they seemed synchronized in their actions and compliment each other without uttering a word. Silence is a quality both the island and the brother’s share, spending all their life here might have enveloped them as one.
“I went to meet my extended family in Spain and I was really excited about it, however, it did not last when I returned. The smoke and dust simply ruined it.” says Fred.
He also talks about how nothing changed in Birkholm since the flood in 1872, pointing at a wall mark he says, “that’s how high the water was and it lasted for a day.” He feels glad to have made Birkholm their home and how it has remained beautiful since the day they were born, he raises his glass and “Its home, the best place is the world”, Morten nods in agreement.
Margit is never alone in the winters as the brothers spend all the time in the house repairing their nets, however, during the days she misses them and waits for the monthly grocery shopping day where all three go to the mainland “You find everything there from lemons to bicycle tubes” she says with a twinkle in her eye.
The island has no school, hospital or even a grocery store. The medical helicopter and the postal boat from Marstal are two important lifelines for the residents of Birkholm.
Today is not that day
12 years ago when Fred had difficulty breathing, after a consultation over the phone a helicopter was sent across with a doctor on board. “Today there is no medical personnel on board, and now the government talks about cutting down further.” says Margit shaking her head in disbelief.
Margit remembers the time when they often had to miss meetings and family occasions because of the weather and would feel terrible about it, they consoled each other with a promise of making it to the next one early and dissolve in watching TV or play board games. “It’s one thing to visit a city for a few hours, but living there may not be my cup of tea. You have to be resourceful when you live here, and I like the challenge” she says.
The brothers have no desire to leave the island, and they fear the day they might have to, but Margit has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. After a thoughtful discussion the family now has made up their mind to move to Tåsinge, a city nearby for better care and help during the old age.
When that moment arrives, they haven’t quite decided, “While we can still catch shrimps and eels and enjoy a good match of handball and laugh, it has not, and old age has to try hard to move us away from our home, I know the day may be near, but today is not that day” says Morten.