Andreas

One thing that could improve on MB is writing longer posts on the micro.blog app. I have iA Writer and like that a lot but a good clean in-built editor are the best. Writing long posts here starts to be annoying after you reached 450 letters. The whole screen starts to bounce.

/// I’m writing this on a train heading for Stockholm. Me and the twins are spending the day in the city. We’re going to the amusement park Gröna Lund and we’ll sleep at home in the apartment tonight. Tomorrow we’ll go back to the cottage. 🚝📱🎢

Video: This is what I mean with Swedish filmjölk. There are several brands on the market, this one is called Fjällfil and contains a little more fat than average. I think that makes it extra good. @jeldo @toddgrotenhuis

As promised, here’s the story about two images that are forever stuck in my mind after I’ve seen them on TV as a nine-ten year old kid. Two horrific images, both connected to water. To this day I have to push both of them away every time I swim alone in open water.

The first horrifying image

It comes from the shark movie Jaws. Me, my parents and siblings where on vacation in the Swedish “fjällen”, the mountains in the north west of Sweden. It was winter and we’ve rented a cottage together with my best friends family. One week of downhill skiing, the best of times. One night Jaws was on TV. To both me, my friend Mathias and my brother’s surprise we were allowed to watch. It was fascination, thrilling, scary in a manageable way. We had a good time. I remember we were joking about the bad special effects and that you could see the steel construction inside the giant shark when it throws itself up on the deck of the fishing boat.

But something stuck in my mind. The jaws. The open shark mouth plotted with white sharp teeth ready to bite you, rip your body to fleshy pieces, from beneath the depth. That’s what I’m ready to see under me every time I go on deep water: the open jaws and the dead black eyes. I shiver writing this.

The second horrifying image

I don’t remember how old I was but this took place in the house where I grew up during. It must have been in the mid 80’s. There was a BBC tv series called Bergerac that was on Swedish national tv once a week. My parents loved the British crime drama set in Jersey island. I didn’t watch it. Wasn’t allowed to or didn’t want to. But I passed the TV. The thing I saw, I will have to live with it forever. It must’ve been the final of that weeks episode cause I remember the credits rolling afterwards. I saw a woman, dead by drowning, murdered. She was stipulated to the bottom of the sea with thick chains. It looked like she was trying to swim up to the surface but was forever stuck down there, with her body placed in an X-position. I can’t remember me having nightmares or anything like that but that image pops up in my head, like the one from Jaws, every time I swim outside.

I can handle it. I love swimming and being close to water. It hasn’t drastically effected my life but I’ll have to deal with initial anxiety forever.

Does this sound awkward to you? Or do you have a similar story? Please comment or write a post of your one.

All coffee drinkers know that certain cups taste much better than others. Even if they’re made on the same machine, with the same water and the same coffee beans. This morning I’m having one of these extra tasty ones. I started today with a 7 kilometres run followed by a short swim in the lake.

Bought these online and managed to get the right size.

If I good start every day that way, all year round, I might be a less stressed person. (Or not. It could be a stressed itself, knowing that I could start every day that way and therefore should).

Back to the coffee. What I’m having is ordinary brew. Made on an almost ancient Philips we inherited with this house.

I think there’s something wrong with it’s heater making the coffee a few degrees hotter than a barista would suggest. Slightly burned you could say. I love it that way. Never milk, never sugar. Just plain black coffee. Today I’m having it in an old Garfield cup. (Or is this a mug in English)?

My breakfast:

• Three cups of the above coffee.
• A bowl of filmjölk with strawberries (from our garden) and cereals.
• A toast with cheese and rhubarb marmalade (home made).

Thanks to my wife we got home grown berries and vegetables during summer. I like doing the digging, she’s the one with green fingers.

Yesterday I watched England crush Ukraine in the European Championship in football (soccer for all Americans). Ukraine is the team Sweden lost to a couple of days ago.

Ahead of me is a Sunday without plans.

I’ll be back soon.

I think you should too

I have a good feeling around blogging right now. The reason is I’m off work, on holiday. That always sparks my inspiration and creativity. Here on Micro.blog I’ll keep on doing the English writing. It’s challenging for me, good practice. In my Blot blog (www.ndreas.eu) I’ll write in Swedish.

I think Micro.blog has more to give and I’ll do my best to contribute to the community. I’ll write about my life in Sweden, about things I read and do and I will show you pictures of how things look around me. I think that’s one of the most interesting things with Micro.blog, the international vibe. To be honest, it’s a terrible community if you’re longing for blog posts in Swedish. I haven’t found a single one that’s not mine. Therefore I’ll stick to the community language: English. I won’t write about tech or Apple or iOS coding. I know nothing about it and I’m not that interested. There’s a lot of other microbloggers to follow if you want that.

Right now, when I’m writing this, I sit in a beach chair next to our nearest lake. I’m here with my twins (12 yo). I had a good swim before and might go into the water once again. The kids are playing around. We’re not alone but there’s not many other people here. It’s warm. Swedish summer at it’s best. I got a book from my friend Johannes for my birthday that I’ve been reading for the last couple of days. Eerie story. I like it a lot. It’s called The sunken land begins to rise again by the author M. John Harrison.

It’s Saturday. I try to stay as happy as I can. I know I have much to be grateful for.

I’ll be back soon.

This is where we do our dishes when the weather is nice. Such a different thing from standing in a small apartment kitchen. You can hear the birds sing or listen to a podcast while you get a good tan. I love it.

När man ser att solen lyser där ute, bakom rullgardinen. När ljuset tränger fram som en ram runt det mörka. Det är det finaste.

Utflykt. Tog bilen till Mariefred och fortsatte med båt till Björkö och världsarvet Birka. Det var första gången. Värt en dagsutflykt, dock ska man inte förvänta sig något massivt vikingaståhej på plats. Low key och vackert.

Båtresan tar en timme och en kvart från Mariefred med Strömma. T/r kostar cirka 350 inklusive biljett till museet.

De gräsbeklädda kullarna, I Love it. Jag blev trackad för mina låga DocMartens men jag har inga andra bra skor som är värdiga att bära utanför torpet. Måste åtgärda detta.

A vid Ansgars kors på berget.

Vi hann inte bada så efter att ha käkat i Eskilstuna på vägen hem stannade vi till vid västra Sörmlands bästa strand och kylde ner oss i sjön. Jag och barnen var ensamma där tills en epa-traktor med tre ynglingar kom och förstörde friden. Nej, det gjorde de inte. De var sin åldersgrupp trogen och gick direkt upp på klipporna.

Tre andra bra saker idag

• Den picklade rödlöken på restaurang Särimner.
• Kvällssolen.
• Tidskriftspodden om branschbevakning.

I’ll start with posting a picture that shows where I am right now in this particular moment. I also write a short post telling you what I appreciated the most with this day so far. Then it’s your turn to do the same. Okay? If you’re in a place where it’s early in the morning, write down what you’re looking forward to the most instead. Let’s go!

At this moment I’m sitting outside the little cottage where me and my family spend our summers.

The best thing today was the smell of wild strawberries. That’s the scent of early summer. 📸