Nya höga förvntnignar

My daughter has started to suggest we go on evening walks, or bike rides. Even if I don’t feel like walking I usually make her company. It’s a good way to get a conversation going. She often asks question she wouldn’t do otherwise. I really like that way of spending time together. When I’m writing this we just came back to the house after a 45 minute walk on the gravel roads around here. We hoped to see a moose or some other animal but nature was calm tonight. It feels it’s going to rain soon. On evenings like this the wild are silent, awaiting, animals searching for shelter. The sky is gray but the temperature is pleasant. Let’s call it a day maybe.

Waking up hearing our guests and my wife talking outside. That’s a good way to wake up. Their chatter and laughter sets the scene for the morning. A headache feels less annoying when people around you are having fun (and you know there’s coffee in the pot). I’m gonna drink loads of coffee. Headache’s gotta go. I have socialising to do.

Både jag och min fru är uppväxta med öppna hem, där ens vänner alltid var välkomna och där det alltid var okej med en eller två extra till maten. Så vill vi att vårt gemensamma hem ska uppfattas av barnen. Med tanke på hur ofta vi har någon eller några av deras kompisar på middag borde vi ha lyckats ganska bra. Nu under sommaren är det lättare än vanligt att bereda plats för vänner och släkt, oavsett om det är barn eller vuxna. Ikväll på torpet har vi svärmor här, samt en kusin och hans familj. Vi har badat, dukat långbord och druckit vitt från Österrike. Barnen har hängt runt och roat sig själva eller lekt med besökarnas gulliga hund.

Himlen brann rosa när solen gick ner bakom skogen på andra sidan åkern. 🇸🇪

After reading this post by Patrick Rhone and the conversation it started, I remembered I used to have Simplenote in my phone. Now I re-installed it to give it another go. So far I like the interface. Reminds a lot of the iOS app Notes for iPhone, which I like. Now I’m going to publish this to my micro.blog. I put some markdown in here to test the functionality.

/// Update /// You can also publish your note directly in the web from the Simplenote app. Then you get a link to it like this.

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.