Back on the streets again
During the pandemic I’ve been very strict on where I take photos. I’ve stayed away from urban areas almost entirely, especially from early fall of 2020 when the second wave hit us, to the point where I don’t think it really was that healthy for me from a mental standpoint. While being out in the woods or at the coast is lovely and refreshing in all sorts of ways, I need to walk the streets every once in a while, camera in my hand, ready to take pictures of interesting people and situations.
The 365 Project Mark VI - Month Two
The older I get the faster time flies by…it’s hard to believe one sixth of 2021 is already over. I guess we’re still in some sort of holding pattern, still waiting for a change from March 2020 so that the “real” 2021 can start.
The second month of the year, this short month, was full of weather contrasts. We both had warm-ish spring days as well as bitterly cold days (and nights especially when the mercury…or whatever’s in thermometers these days) plunged to -12 C (10 F). That made for some rather unusual winter scenes here in southern Sweden where it usually doesn’t get that cold for any prolonged period of time beyond a day or three.
Ice, Ice, Ice Baby!
First…apologies for the title…it was too obvious a pick (also, now you’ve got that dreadful Vanilla Ice cover on your brain for awhile…congratulations!)
The weather this winter has been…interesting. As I write this during the last week of February we have 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit) and birds are chirping away outside while some tree thought it a good idea to release pollen into the air, way too early for my eyes to appreciate it. A week and a half ago we had -10 Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) at night and it was definitely thick longjohns time if you wanted to spend extended amounts of time outside in the dark!
The 365 Project Mark VI - Month One
“So here I am once more…”
Those are the first words from a song by my long time favorites Marillion and they seem pretty apt (although the actual song is about something entirely different) to use for the first summary of the year’s 365 project. I didn’t do any summaries last year, unlike previous 365 years and I found that missed doing them. They provided a nice end to one part of the project and a chance to think about the progress so far.
Returning again and again to a location
Most of 2020 and the start of 2021 has meant an ongoing “hunt” for places nearby where people aren’t likely to be too abundant (because other people are dangerous etc…) so I have found myself going back to certain locations several times since the start of the pandemic, camera in hand.
New year and new things to do
It’s been a few days since people all around me in the neighborhood seemed determined to blast 2020 into smithereens and it’s time to consider the new year and things to do this year
A comeback post?
Tap, tap, tap…is this thing still on? Mic check…mic check…hello! I guess it still works. Good! It has been a loooooong time since I did anything with this blog of mine, and I think I will chalk that up to the whole 2020 experience. But since today is the last day of this “annus horribilis” (to quote the Queen) I figured an update is not a bad idea.
Visiting the Ale Stone Ship
One of the sad facts of this summer is that long distance traveling is pretty much out of the question. I certainly wouldn’t have minded going overseas this summer, but nope…not gonna happen for me…nor for pretty much everyone else in Sweden. The fact that we’re barred from going to most other countries made me worry that the Ale Stenar, a very famous Iron Age megalith monument in the shape of a stone ship, on the southernmost coast of Sweden would be very crowded.
Walk in the rift valleys
There are a few reasonably “safe” spaces for people to hang out at now that we’re supposed to stay away from each other for the sake of everyone’s health - nature being one of them. Of course that only works if not “everyone” picks the same spot in nature to visit at the same time…which is what it felt like a few weekends ago when I went to the Söderåsen National Park in central Skåne, a very scenic area.
Vivid spring colors in pandemic times
It’s a confusing time period in the world at the moment, where we’re not supposed to do anything outside the house (preferably), and definitely not interact with other people if we can avoid it. Yet, the sun did decide to return to us here in the northern hemisphere after all and the vibrant green of the returning leaves beckons us to go out there, cameras in hand.