livsglädje

winter in Minnesota

2010-02-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,
It's been a long time. I have really missed being in touch with all of you and sharing bits of my life through this little blog. But I don't have a computer where I'm now living, and it just dropped out of my life routines. I hope to be back a bit more frequently now though. So much has happened in my life, and I am sure you can say the same about yours!

Where shall i start? My sister and her hubby (Becca and Joe, whom I live with) got a puppy who has charmed all our hearts in a short time. Her name is Tato, short for potato, and she is also known to be called tato puff, tortado, tortanion...the list keeps growing.

Even bigger news...Becca is pregnant! She is due in mid-April, around her own birthday. This will be my first niece or nephew so I'm so excited. (no one knows the gender, it'll be a surprise) This baby is already loved so much, and already owns many knitted items of course, as what could be more fun to do than knit baby things inside on these cold winter days?

The weather has been a lovely, classic winter. Lots of snow with lots of sunshine, cold temperatures, and a white landscape everywhere. Winter chores involve: lots of wood cutting, both for the woodstove and the basement furnace. Knocking the ice out of the animals' water dishes every morning and refilling them. Splitting wood, stoking fires, and buying seeds in anticipation of spring. Inside the kitchen window we have a small greenhouse of citrus trees growing. It's amazing how warm a south-facing window can warm a room, even on a 0 degree day.

I had a birthday. I'm a quarter-century old now! Becca fixed a lovely breakfast for the 4 of us. The table was set with candles, homemade heart-shaped biscuits, and grapefruit, and my coffee was ready to be poured when i got in from chores. She definitely has the gift of making things beautiful and special with her detailed touch. In the evening, a special someone took me out for Spanish tapas in town. It was a beautiful day filled with all the special things you'd hope for on a birthday.

Daniel and I bought a milk cow! This has changed our lives quite dramatically. Every day, morning and night, we hand milk her into stainless steel pails, getting 3 gallons or so a day. We love her rich, creamy milk, and have been busy making butter, cream cheese, keifer, and sharing with friends. This isn't the greatest picture of her...she's not very photogenic but looks aren't everything and we think it improves her character.

If you have a minute, write back (in svenska in welcome too!) and let me know how you your winter is treating you!

10 things i'm loving right now

2009-08-10T07:05:00.000-07:00

1.living life alongside my sister

inspirational knitting conversations in the sugar snap pea rows
dressing like twins without intending to
spending precious weekend time cooking up a storm... and kitchen boycotts

2. picking flowers and making bouquets for market

3. Sofia Karlsson
Our favorite Swedish singer, an absolute must-have in the cd player while doing those flower bouquets on friday afternoons. check out "Norr om Eden" on her site.

4. Spending every moment of my time (minus sleeping) outside, in the garden.

5. knitting

specifically, stripes seem to be the summer theme.

this pattern is the current project on the needles:

6. watching his belly grow bigger every day with all that grass

7. A visit from 2 very special "family" members from Sweden

8. Dancing

And having the joy of introducing something new to an old friend.

9. flea market finds

10. mountain lakes

i have some good excuses

2009-07-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

I really do. I have been meaning to blog, wanting to blog, seeing a million moments every day i want to capture on camera and share with you all, but here is my schedule: up at 4 am. eat. work. eat. work. eat. bed at 9. and a slow computer. But life has been happening. Real life. Real, raw-milk-straight-from-our-organic-dairy-farmer-friend's-tank life. Life that includes popping sugar snap peas into your mouth while you're picking, and one that makes time for putting up strawberry jam. One in which your body grows strong, skin gets tan, and yes, maybe a little tan-looking from the dirt.

And we even make time for fun. Mostly fun centered around food. How could food NOT be the main excitement and subject of conversation as we work in the fields all day, surrounded by delicious inspiration?

I wonder how everyone's summers are going. I hear Uppsala had some rainy weather in the beginning of June, but hopefully it's nicer now? I know how important a nice summer is when the winter can be so....well, depressing? Not every day, but i remember those cloudy, dark, slushy days as being a bit tough to get through.

But let's not talk about winter. SUMMER is here, and on the farm things are in full swing. I am loving this lifestyle and learning so so much every day. And my convictions are growing even stronger that I deeply desire to raise chickens and grow food, perhaps sell flowers, and do bees? honey and candles? I'm not sure of the specifics, but it sure feels good to be a producer and not just a consumer. Here is a link with more farm pictures....they are from june when i was dropped off in Minnesota by my mom and little sister.

Minnesota news

2009-06-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I meant to write about 3 weeks ago to say that I was moving yet again, and give all you precious readers a heads up. But the night before the 22 hour car ride just wasn't the time. And then I got here and it's all been a whirlwind. So this post will hopefully catch you up on the basics of where I am and what I'm doing. Then I can share smaller details of my life here every now and then. Which is all I'll have time to do I'm afraid. The blog most definitely must take the back seat to other things happening this summer.

So....way back in the middle of the cold, dark Swedish winter I decided that when I moved back to the United States I wanted to live with my older sister and dear friend Rebecca on her and her husband's farm in Southeastern Minnesota. Beautiful rolling hills, covered-in farmland Minnesota. I couldn't picture a better place to transition to life back in the States than to enjoy their friendship and work hard to help them realize their vegetable-growing dreams. They bought their 40 acre farm just a few months ago, and there is much to be done.

We wake up just a few minutes before 4 am (the 3:something is significant psychologically) nearly every day to be in the garden harvesting by 5 am. They grow an amazing diversity of vegetables, herbs, and flowers to sell at 2 farmers markets and through a CSA (community supported agriculture). No chemicals are used, just lots of hand labor, hand tools, and diligent weeding.

I hope everyone had a wonderful midsummer! I'd love to hear from my Swedish readers how you celebrated. Sadly I didn't get to dance this year or see little girls with flower wreaths in their hair, but I thought about Sweden a lot that day. I am teaching Rebecca a lot of Swedish this summer. She is a language lover and eager learner. It's very fun for me to keep speaking!

"To be of use"

2009-06-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

To be of use
by Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

"Magic Foot" makes for a magical night

2009-05-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

Contra dance. If you don't know about it, or have never tried it, you must. Last night's dance was held in an outdoor pavilion. We had a roof over our heads which was edged with lights, a wooden floor, and no walls, bringing in fresh mountain air. The band was "Magic Foot" from New England. Four young guys playing fiddle, guitar, accordion, and drums. Am-A-zing sound. The night was like a blur. Lining up dances, reconnecting with old friends, spinning myself silly. And a post-dance dip in the pond. Can one do anything more invigorating, more smile-inducing? I think not. Check out this video on youtube for a peak at what it's all about. Many of the dancers on the floor are friends of mine, as is the talented fiddle player in the band.

something passed down, something handmade

2009-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

I've undertaken 2 projects as of late. One is to copy down those recipes of mom's that I can't live without and find a little vintage wooden box in which to store them. I've already hunted at the flea market one Wednesday without success, but hopefully tomorrow's early morning trip will bring victory. This small task of going through her recipe box, pulling out those well-worn, stained index cards, and copying "summer pie," "apple dumplings," "strawberry pie" ...hmm i notice a pie-theme here...will save me countless hours and probably days of my life spent on the phone, asking mom for the same recipe over and over again, which I would then copy on a minuscule scrap of paper and shortly thereafter misplace. Not that I want those phone calls to end, really. It's a nice excuse for a chat, but I feel it's my duty and delight as a daughter to copy those recipes that my mother probably got from her mother, who received them from her mother...and there you have it; family history is preserved in the simple and everyday act of cooking.

The second project is this little "gratitude wrap," as it's been named by it's deisgner. It's a handy tri-folded wrap with 3 pockets on the inside to hold envelopes, paper, and stamps. A way to take thank-you writing and old-fashioned correspondence on the go. Don't look to closely at the photo, please. I'm really only just started to sew and my skills are depressingly few. It's a lot harder than it looks to cut a piece of fabric straight and carefully hem an edge without it ending up crooked.

So what about you? What projects, even the littlest ones, have you been able to spend time on lately?

the beauty of the nearby get-away

2009-05-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday evening we scrambled to pack our bags. On my short list: bathing suit, trusty green wool sweater, books (Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, Bible, Lectures to my Students by Spurgeon), and various other things. Time of departure: 9:00 pm. Time of Arrival: 9:45. For 2 a half days the family took a mini-vacation at a friend's lake house, situated beautifully on the mountainside at the shore of lake Keowee, with a steep, leg-burning walk to the water's edge and a fantastic view of the blue ridge mountains.

Sometimes all you need is to change location to feel refreshed and filled with new energy. Even if all you do is tug your book from the porch at home to the new, awesome porch at the lake. ahem. The reading comes alive in a new way, especially as it is surrounded by such lovely activities as swimming in the still-cool May water, kayaking down long, secret coves, and exploring the local waterfalls. Oh, and eating. Why does food taste so much better after a day in the water and sun? We partook of steaks and red wine, homemade pizza with beer brewed in Greenville, and a "European breakfast" spread of cheeses and crusty bread.

Families, though they share a roof, can sometimes just miss each other during the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I haven't lived at home for any length of time for a few years now, and I'm realizing now that the dynamics of everything changed when all the kids turned into teenagers in what seems like the time it takes to turn one's head away and back again. You can't keep them in one place anymore...everyone has social plans in the evening. (except me...you can usually find me watching a movie with mom and dad or with my nose in a book:) So this lake trip was just what we all needed: family time, away from the possibility of someone leaving, with the great setting of a mountain lake as the backdrop of it all.

Memories from VA

2009-05-16T06:16:00.001-07:00

This post will be a blast from the past of sorts. This morning while on the computer I came across this report I wrote 3 years ago when I had just ended my time working on an organic vegetable farm in the mountains of Virginia. I had forgotten that I earned horticulture credit for Clemson that summer and that in order to finalize the credit I had to put together a presentation for a professor and Hort class at Clemson (during one crazy, blurry week in between returning from the farm and leaving for L'abri). It's a bit long, but I think it captures some of that excitement one has when you've come fresh off the farm in all your stained-tomato hand, strong-armed glory. If you're new to thinking about local food and small farms, maybe it'll be a bit educational too!

A Summer on a Farm in Virginia

Where I worked:

Last summer began what I see as a lifetime love of growing vegetables in a sustainable way. I worked on a 5-acre organic vegetable farm in Minnesota during the summer of 2005, and when I got back to Clemson in the fall, I immediately began looking for a farm to work on for the next summer. I couldn’t wait to get my hands dirty again and to be involved in the growing movement for locally and sustainably grown food. What I found was Waterpenny Farm in tiny Sperryville, VA. The farm is located sixty-five miles west of Washington, D.C., nestled in the Shenandoah mountains in a county famous for its rural community. The farm was started seven years ago by a young, energetic couple, Rachel and Eric, who were excited about growing healthy food for people in the surrounding area. The farm is about ten acres of vegetables, herbs, and flowers, and the farmers hire five interns each year for the duration of the growing season. I was the fifth intern to arrive, and as I turned my car down the long driveway on a dusky spring evening and took in the fields for the first time, I remember feeling so much excitement about being a part of Waterpenny Farm.

What did I do?...a LOT!

When I arrived at Waterpenny, it was mid-May, and there was a lot of planting yet to be done. The greenhouse was full of tiny plants, some more ready than others to stretch out their roots into the soil. Since the farm uses all organic growing methods and is relatively small, the work is very labor-intensive. The first several weeks I was there, the bulk of the work consisted of mulching, planting, and weeding. The farmers’ method for planting, after preparing a bed with the tractor, was to lay black plastic with a line a drip tape underneath for irrigation. Once this was done, mulching was the next task to complete. The farm bought large, 500 lb. hay bales from a nearby farmer for a discounted price, and the 5 interns, all strong women, proceeded to push these bales down the aisles in between rows for planting. The hay was often wet, moldy, dusty, prickly, and always heavy. The justification for this apparent torture (and I say apparent, because like any hard labor, once your muscles adjust and your mental side accepts the work at hand, it is quite bearable) was weed control. Waterpenny farm is surrounded by a river and the land is called “bottomland,” meaning it is low-lying and the soil is very nutrient-rich. It also means weeds thrive there, and mulching is one of the major methods of organic weed control. The benefits of mulching include the suppression of weeds, protection of soil, containing moisture in the soil, and less disease spread since rain doesn’t hit the soil straight on. Once a field was mulched, planting was done in the cool of the evening into holes in the plastic filled with a bit of a fishy-smelling liquid containing trace minerals. Weeding was also a constant presence on our list of things to do, though using black plastic and mulch eliminating much of the weeding.

Each morning, beginning around 7:30, the crew of interns met with Eric on the picnic table in between the two houses. There he would give us the morning’s duties and usually say something rather unrelated and hilarious. His sense of humor was quite necessary at times to face the hard work with a positive attitude. Once the summer really came with its long days and hot temperatures, the little plants we’d placed so lovingly and hopefully in the ground burst forth and began requiring a lot of work from us to harvest the fruits they produced. By the end of my time at Waterpenny, the schedule included harvesting on every day of the week. Some vegetables, like summer squash, required picking every day, but others, like tomatoes and peppers, were a twice a week event. Our mid-summer hours were 7:30-12 and 2:30-7, with weekends sometimes going longer.

The Marketing

The vegetables we grew were sold at 3 farmer’s markets and through a CSA program, where shareholders pay at the beginning of the season to receive a box of fresh produce each week. CSAs, and there are a few thousand in the US now, help create a relationship between farmers and their customers, they provide people with incredibly fresh food that has traveled only a short distance to them, and they give people an understanding of eating seasonally. The CSA at Waterpenny Farm generates about $50,000 during the winter and spring months, which is helpful to cover start up costs like seeds. The work involved in the CSA for the interns included harvesting the vegetables, packing the boxes, and contributing to the bi-weekly newsletter. There are 2 Saturday markets, one in Warrenton and the other in Charlottesville, where Waterpenny sells plants in the spring and produce in the summer and fall. The Sunday morning market in Takoma Park, MD, near DC, is the most profitable market, with a good day generating over $4000 in only 4 hours. I had off on Sundays, so I usually went to the Warrenton farmer’s market by myself. This was a big responsibility as it required waking up before 5 am, setting up the stand in the dim hours of the morning, and continually making change and making the display beautiful during market. To provide local people with access to the farm’s vegetables, we had a self-service stand in the barn where customers bought whatever had been recently picked and paid in a little tin on the counter. The stand required no worker to leave the fields, and often two or three hundred dollars would be generated on a weekend day. Waterpenny Farm is a great example of a farm that is not only environmentally sustainable but also economically sustainable. I believe many people think that organic agriculture is economically unrealistic. But I experienced first hand this summer a real family making real money selling to people who were eager to buy their produce. In fact, every year they have to turn people away from their CSA, and if the farm wanted to be bigger and sell more, they could, as there are farmer’s markets every day of the week in D.C. Eric and Rachel are very smart with money and keep a detailed account of how much is spent and earned on the farm. Labor is their highest cost, as five interns hired for up to nine months at $600/month adds up.

Learning

Eric and Rachel really made this internship educational, which was a major reason that I came to Waterpenny. Manual labor in the heat, cold, rain, mud, and bugs can be mentally difficult if you are not aware of the greater purpose and are not learning why you do certain tasks. A lot of the teaching took place in informal conversations in the field working with the farmers or in the van on the way to market. I had a lot of questions, and they were happy to answer all of them. We also took field trips to other farms twice a month. This showed in a big way Waterpenny’s commitment to education to stop in the middle of a busy week and drive one hour to visit a farm, even though there was endless work to be done at the home farm. It also gave the interns a greater perspective on sustainable agriculture to see the different methods employed at each farm. We visited people doing sustainable forestry, where trees are selected on a “worst-first, tree by tree” basis and hauled out by work-horses which have a minimum impact on the forest. We saw a homestead run by an industrious couple in their 70s who grow Christmas trees, an acre of vegetables, keep bees from which they make honey and candles, grow mushrooms in their woods, make jam from their berries, and host educational events at their farm. We went to a flower farm and got a whirlwind tour of exotic flowers none of us had ever seen before. We visited farms bigger and smaller than Waterpenny, and we got to make cheese and watch the milking happen at a farm in PA where the milk we drank all summer came from. In addition to off the farm field trips, Rachel and Eric gave several talks on the farm, giving more details about the CSA program, farm machinery, and the water quality in the bordering river. I learned more than I even thought I would!

Community Living

Not only did I learn about growing and selling vegetables, but living and working with 4-6 other people all summer taught me valuable lessons on sharing space and how to have healthy relationships with all kinds of people, some very different from myself. The interns lived in a small house together, most of us with our own rooms, and we shared cooking and cleaning duties. Whoever was the chef for the night’s supper got off work 30 minutes early to prepare the meal. We must have said at least a hundred times this summer while enjoying a meal, “we eat SO GOOD here!!” It was true, as we had several talented cooks who took our already tasty vegetables, threw them together with minimal other ingredients, and created amazing dishes. It certainly makes the work easier when you are personally excited for the basil to grow big enough for a harvest for pesto, the first tomato to ripen, and the winter squash to come in for soup. Every Wednesday we had a house meeting where anyone could bring up any issues, good or bad, that needed to be addressed. This communication was essential, and it helped our small community to thrive. The enthusiasm for agriculture coming from each person was unique, and it was contagious. When one of us was feeling worn out, another would be ready to go, and this helped balance everyone. Also, the interns’ relationship with Eric and Rachel was not strictly employer-employee. Each week we took turns cooking for each other and eating at each other’s houses. We all got to know and love their baby Nicholas, and it was a great learning experience to watch their family simply living life.

All in all, I can’t say enough good things about my summer internship. The location was breathtaking, the work was fulfilling and important, and the community was a joy to be a part of. I learned and laughed a LOT this summer, which is a great combination. I grew strong, got a good tan, and I ate a lot of yummy, healthy vegetables. What more could you ask for?

Where I've been

2009-05-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

In the kitchen, baking bullar with my little sister. Cinnamon and cardamon buns. It's Home-Ec week here for the homeschooler. Coming soon are lessons in sewing, cooking, and gardening.Driving on the rural roads above Greenville and happening upon Gap Creek Church, which I just read about in a book with the literature class I taught in Sweden. It felt like the story came to life, just seeing that old church.Hiking to Rainbow Falls in Jones Gap. Seeing gorgeous wild rhododendron, noticing a recent forest fire's damage and then the prolific new growth's appearance. Feeling the cool breeze of the falls and catching the evening sun rays on the hike back. Spring is here, and in the mountains you can almost feel the extra oxygen filling your lungs.

From Sweden to America: 5 things I'm noticing

2009-05-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

One of the gifts that comes with living abroad is the ability to see your homeland in a new light upon returning. It's both a curse and a blessing to be forever comparing things between the 2 countries. I've had a head full of thoughts the past 2 weeks, but a few in particular have stood out.

1. America is a car culture, and there is a serious lack of alternative ways of getting around. There are no bike lanes, precious few trails, and no way to get from one town to the next except by car. I feel trapped in my parent's neighborhood. When I want to take a walk from my doorstep, the choices are: walk on the side of the road (and get people stopping to ask if i'm lost....yes this happened), or fight through the overgrown briar patch in someone's woods behind our house. I miss the city forest and hågadalen of Uppsala immensely.

2. People in the southern United States are SO friendly and easy-going. I spent the first week trying to remember what the appropriate social behavior is here. I would go running, and up comes another runner and I'm thinking as they're quickly approaching should we wave? smile? look down? avoid eye contact? The runner passes by with a big smile and a breathless "hello!" and I smile in satisfaction to remember how neighborly we can be. I've spent the past 2 years trying to remember NOT to say hello to people I don't know. In the South, it's no big deal to wave, smile, and say a nice hi. Love that.

3. My definition of what is "bad weather" has changed. People who live in the sunny south easily complain when a rainy day comes, but they just haven't realized how bad it can be. Besides, rain is beautiful, makes things green, and we're in a drought! Compared to the winter darkness and 75% slushy days in Sweden, I feel only grateful.

4. American food can be (depending on how you cook or where you eat out) too much. My palate has become accomstumed to the plainer fare cooked and eaten in Sweden, and some of the food I've eaten here, particularly in restaurants, is just too much flavor, too much sugar, too many competing spices.

5. The native wildflowers here are beautiful and unique, and why has it taken loving those swedish wildflowers to realize that we have our own beauties? Fields of blue bachelor buttons, red sourweed, yellow daffodills, and these delicate purple ones whose name I don't know. There are no vit sippor, but the flowers and blooming trees are gorgeous here in their own right.

I'm sure anyone who has lived abroad or even traveled extensively can relate to the way you see things at home in a new light. Care to share you stories?

Flea Market Finds

2009-04-30T16:39:00.000-07:00

Continuing in my title theme of alliteration...
Every Wednesday, rain or shine, summer or winter, there is a place nestled in the foothills of the mountains where people come to find treasures, to sell junk, to haggle a price, and to chew the fat. It's name is the Pickens Flea Market, and it is one of my favorite destinations to travel to when I'm home. If my European friends ever come visiting (and you are ALL welcome) this is one of those unique cultural oases of the South that must be included in the itinerary.

There are rules to the market...unspoken, learned-over-time rules. Don't bother with the table where the vendor knows the value of their antiques. Always ask a lower price, and act pained and poor if they seem like they won't budge from 5 dollars to 4. Find that table where a woman just cleaned out her grandmother's house and is simply trying to get rid of things. Go early....at first light.

Well, now to the part you've all been waiting for...the report. This Wednesday I found a beautiful sterling silver, turquoise bracelet which I immediately fell in love with. It was $25. Hardly dirt cheap, but a deal for the quality of the piece, and when I realized that I made exactly $25 mowing my neighbor's grass last Saturday, the purchase was easily justified.

Also found were 2 ginger jars (orignally named for Chinese jars used to hold ginger) which will make nice vases for cut flowers. ($6 for the pair) A glass lemon juicer ($2). A gorgeous vintage linen table cloth, perfect for a small 2 person table, and 3 thin cotton/linen handkercheifs which will function as cloth napkins in my future life, when I actually have a home in which to put all these things ! (oh, and the total for the linens was $4).

South Carolina scenes

2009-04-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

From an evening bike ride...

And from a back porch fika. We seem to live out there these days. This is my little sister Caroline, who has grown up SO much since I've been gone. I feel I'm living the life of luxury just getting to spend so much precious time with my parents and 3 younger siblings who are living at home. We knit, we read, we visit, we make music, enjoy good food, and study the Bible together. And we TALK....my southern accent is coming back quickly. The word "y'all" has been resurrected at least.

spring knitting

2009-04-25T13:14:00.000-07:00

I used to think that knitting in the spring and summer months was unappealing. How could you have a skein of wool sitting on your lap on a hot summer's day, concentrating your energy on a big cozy shawl that you can't wear for another few months? Since February I've been working on a lace shawl ....which I'm loving and enjoying, but this warm SC weather is not motivating me towards finishing it. Instead what came to my mind is this beautiful summery knitted top I noticed way back last winter and have had a subconscious desire to knit ever since. So last week I promptly ordered the yarn (color name of sprout green...how could I resist buying that?), had my sister Becca copy and mail me the pattern since it's from a book she owns, and today as soon as my yarn arrived in the mail I started on it! Ooh, new projects are the best. Let me tell you about this one. The yarn is 70% cotton, 30% linen. The bottom half of the top is lace work, then a simple stockinette stitch, with a flattering neckline and small cap sleeves. Mmm....sounds like a perfect match for a pair of cropped linen pants. Sounds like one of those tops I'll reserve for wearing when I work at the farmer's markets on Saturdays this sumer. Check out this lady's amazing version if you want to drool. If mine turns out half as beautiful as hers I will be pleased.

Also I want to say a big HEJ! to any of you readers in Sweden. Christina, Carola, Nina, Eva-Britt, Birgitta...jag vet inte vem läsa, men jag hoppas ni alla ha det jättebra i den vackra svenska vår. Jag kan tänka mig att alla Svenskarna säger nu,"visst är det härligt med vår!"Here is a picture of a little touch of Sweden which my mother has on her kitchen table...it's so nice to walk by it every day and think of my 2nd home!

"the old and local must survive"

2009-04-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

Well I hope you readers are interested in gardening, because I can sense an overkill of gardening posts coming soon. I can't help it! It's spring and that's what is on my to-do-list and in my thoughts. Mom and I took a trip to the cutest, not entirely organically-minded, but oh-so local seed store on Monday. There's one counter for paying and one that's just for picking out seeds, where behind the counter lie 50 big metal barrels filled with seeds, and on the counter lies an old timey scale. You say what you want, the sun-burned man uses an old metal scoop to fill a simple paper bag, weighs it, and writes 25, 50 cents, or at the most $1 on it. You chat gardening with the overalled, base-ball cap wearing employee, who himself has 40 acres of land. Trucks grace the parking lot, and there's a sign "chicks for sale" out front. Sometimes these old buildings and local stores are too rare in the US, but sometimes they're right around the corner, in fact they've been there for 60 years, you just have to notice.

spring forward

2009-04-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 5:30 am. My body is 6 hours ahead and it thought it was lunch time so i woke up with a growling tummy. It was dark. Much darker than Sweden is this time of year. After tiptoeing around the house like a mouse for awhile, the sun started to rise. I went outside right away, eager to notice the springtime which i was unable to see at 9 pm last night when i arrived home. I was overwhelmed and struck with awe at the bright, new green everywhere. And mom's herb garden...chives, chamomile, oregano, thyme, fennel, dill, lavender, sage, cilantro, lemon balm, scallions, and lettuce. SO BIG ALREADY. 2 days ago I was in the land of no leaves. Today I was in 75 degrees (that's 24 for my celsius readers), SC in April heaven.

saying goodbye

2009-04-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 1 pm I leave Sweden. It's been almost 2 years of adventures in Uppsala. Of getting to know a culture and language and people. Of experiencing 4 seasons of stark contrast....those long, light summer nights, a winter spent in darkness, and a spring where each blooming flower is a miracle. Of cross-country skiing, ice-skating on the lake, and walks in the snow. Of meeting people who I will never forget...including this special 4 year old who I will sorely miss. Home awaits. 5 siblings await plus 2 wonderful parents and many dear friends. Music will be played, dances will be danced, conversations will be shared, gardens will be planted.
Goodbye to everyone who has meant so much to me in Sweden, and to those in America who count me as a friend, I look forward to being with you soon!

Suomi (or Finland)

2009-04-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I rode on a big boat from the Stockholm archipelago to Helsinki, a 15 hour trip in which one pays for a bed in a cabin and wakes up the next morning in another country. I knew Finland would look similar to Sweden in landscape and climate, so I was looking forward to noticing the differences between the 2 Scandinavian neighbors. The main reason for the trip, however, was to visit my dear friend Sofia, who is half-Finnish and completing her masters degree in Helsinki. It was a beautiful weekend of deep conversations and giggles, observing a totally unique, incredibly difficult language all around me, and trying the simple food special to this recently very poor country.
Finnish is a language in which most people, except maybe Hungarians, cannot even make an attempt at guessing what a word means. In the picture I'm displaying the utter incomprehensibility of this sign which probably says "Keep off the grass."

The biggest tourist attraction in the capital is the stone church, carved from a rock and beautiful in it's natural simplicity.

Sofia lives a walk away from the sea. It was a foggy, cold day, but the sea is always refreshing. Traveling on the train from her apartment on the day I left, I noticed people jumping into the half-frozen lake in their bathing suits. And then 50 ft. from the water's edge I spotted the little cabin with smoke coming out of the chimney....yes, the sauna. (A Finnish word which English has borrowed) This invigorating activity is much loved by Finns.And one mustn't forget this special Easter treat. It's made of rye flour, malt, and a bit of molasses-type syrup. I cannot imagine such a humble dessert being eaten where I am from, where our sweets have names like "oooey gooey brownie pudding" and have at least 2 cups of sugar in them.

the stuff of weekends

2009-04-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

(the inside of a school playground shed)

On Fridays I travel to different schools to give extra English lessons to children who have at least one English-speaking parent. I normally take the bus to to get to "Gamla Uppsala Skola," but on Friday you couldn't have paid me $100 to ride the bus. The sun was shining and I was in knickers and a shirt with no sleeves. bliss. I rode my bike way out of town (a good 45 min) to teach my final time to dear 8yr-old Eira Mooney, whose Irish father has given her an adorable accent. She spent the last 15 min. of class drawing an Easter egg for me as a going-away-present. :) On the bike ride home I took the long way past the viking burial mounds. On Sunday afternoon I enjoyed some reading in my hammock in my "new favorite" forest spot. I'm always finding a new favorite. One which somehow rises up above the rest and distinguishes itself from the other 1 million mossy, tall pine spots. And in case you're thinking geez, what a life of luxury and free time! I realize that right now is a special time in my life...if in my future I become a wife and mother these quiet moments of free time and thinking will be less frequent, i know. And I look forward to that time, sometimes too much, at the risk of wishing away the present. But mostly I feel content, and thankful for the freedom and opportunities present in the place in life I am at now. My weekends more often than not include some yeast, some kneading, and some flour-covered shirts beacuse i forget to put on my apron. I made (i think) the best homebaked bread to date yet for me. The key (thanks to Ed, my friend who is a former famous chef!) is lots of water in the oven to keep it steamy, allowing for a hard crust and chewy inside. And on a whim I decided to make a cardommon braid to go with....well, those moments when you want a little something yummy with your tea or coffee. Oh yes, I'm embracing these domestic skills. They are way under-valued in my opinon.

Uppsala by night

2009-04-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

These are some of the familiar scenes I get to see 3 nights a week as I bike home from teaching my evening english courses. 8:15 pm isn't feeling so dark these days...

what i'm loving on 4.2.2009

2009-04-02T13:01:00.000-07:00

nypon soppa. Rose-hip soup. With fun little only-found-in-sweden almond biscuits. And eaten in the SUN. I have a sore throat threatening to become a cold, so this vitamin-rich, thick, warm soup is my "medicine."melting snow. Yes, it's almost ALL gone! The once-appreciated but now-despised white stuff can now only be found in the darkest recesses of the forest and the shady corners of gardens.
Forest glens. I am trying to soak into my bones and my memory these gorgeous, inviting, peaceful forests. Today's warm weather made me just want to lie down and nap on a sunny, mossy rock.Linen. I wore linen today! Not wool (not even a hand-knit sweater), not a fleece jacket, but thin airy linen. Hardly a week ago it was winter...grey, cold, millions of layers of clothing. The first day that one can go without is so liberating.

So what are you loving these days?

shadow play

2009-03-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today I went for a run, despite feeling totally low-energy all weekend, and with the thought that I'd only go for a short time the only thing that got me out the door. The sky was utterly grey (i'm seriously about to go insane from grey skies) and the ground was slippery with ice in all the best running places (the valley and the forest). But once I was out the door, down the path, out into the open valley, and sloshing through the melted snow, I couldn't help feeling that wonderful kid-feeling of puddle hopping. First I was doing these ridiculous jumping maneuvers to avoid the pools of melted snow, then I was embracing them, feeling the ice-cold water seep into my socks and running faster just to get through them. After I ran in the valley for awhile i turned left and sprinted up the forest path, avoiding the dangerous ice patches and taking lots of alternative routes to do so. ahhh....fresh air, a fast heart beat, and a healthy ache in my legs. Everywhere I ran there was the precious sound of running water, of melting snow heading downhill in ravines and the sides of streets.
Random: i got this great thin cotten, slightly blue, longish shirt/dress from the thrift store this week. Can't believe i let myself even walk in the door knowing i have no extra suitcase room to spare! The countdown is now 18 days till the big move....how time flies!

white birches, white churches

2009-03-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

I think I've been in a car two times since Christmas. Once about a month ago to go to Stockholm, and the second time was today. I felt the need to get out of Uppsala, outside of the small radius that my bicycle can take me. On the way home from a lovely forest walk, this church was spotted. Construction began on it in 1180. It was beautiful to behold, especially in the bright sunshine. One couldn't help noticing how it stood out from the otherwise sparse countryside. A few wooden houses, fields sleeping under the snow, and then this church. Someone a long time ago obviously was moved to build this. To put so much effort of time, money, architecture, and beauty into something shows its importance. My suspicion is that the God of the Bible moved the older generations in Sweden to build such churches.
The contrast was sharp as we headed back into the city. The new IKEA is almost done being constructed, and it is so humongous that you can no longer see the steeples of the cathedral in town as you approach. I thought, hmm, looks like this is what we worship today. Material things. Stuff for our home, our wardrobe, our cars. Worship may sound like a strange word, like a "religious" word that only applies to those who bow their heads to the ground or buy a statue to place on an alter in their home, but worship is something we all do. The object of our worship can be easily discovered by observing what we spend our time doing, where we spend our money, what we aspire to get out of life.

My prayer is that I would not be one who worships and serves created things, but rather the Creator.
Much joy is found in this.

BIG steps

2009-03-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

Big steps were taken today. I mean, giant steps. Steps towards spring, towards warmth, towards light, and towards newness. I ate lunch and read a book on my front porch steps, without shoes, and only 2 sweaters on, no jacket. I took a long walk, across the snow, but without a jacket, hat, or mittens. I met a friend downtown to fika, and since we strategically chose the cafe with the best afternoon sun, we drank our cappcuccinos OUTSIDE! Incredible. Intoxicating. Life-giving.

Best of Sweden:: the forest

2009-03-16T02:33:00.000-07:00

How can I describe it? It is like a scene out of a children's book, a place where it seems trolls could very possibly live and little mushroom children could pop out from behind the mossy rocks at any moment.In the winter the forest is snow-covered and quiet. I feel like Robert Frost when I take late evening walks, finding the path by the light of the snow and the occasional lamp.

In little over a month, white flowers will cover the forest floor and the trees will bud with that fresh, new green of spring.
In late summer come the blueberries, lingonberries, and wild raspberries. What a feast! And then the mushrooms! Porcini and canterells are especially abundant. Once I was chatting over coffee with a sweet older couple. They had been married at least 5o years, and though they had lived in Uppsala for awhile, they both grew up in the far north of Sweden. I asked them what their impression of the "South" was. Their answer: "Det finns ingen skog!" Meaning, "there are no forests here!" Wow. And I thought I was living in the land of forests.

grey is the name of the day

2009-03-09T08:48:00.000-07:00

Grey is all it's been lately. A grey sky stretches out as far as the eye can see and the once-pure snow has turned grey from dirt and gravel. I know that coveting weather is silly, but it's hard to help it when on the phone with my family in SC I hear subconcious remarks like "oh, gosh, it's so hot here on the porch where i'm standing" or "well, your little sister is here in a sundress putting sunscreen on..." (all my ears pick up is sun, sun) And my favorite radio programs from home, streamed online, contain at least 10 weather reports every hour all stating how it's a glorious day with temps in the upper 60s! well, I will not succomb to the jealousy. My memory reminds me that last year, come late april and may, I experienced the most thrilling spring, the most energy-giving, joy-filled days, the forest floor covered in wild flowers, the midnight sun and the ceaseless chirping of birds. And that thrill can only come when one suffers through a lengthy grey season. So....suffering produces perseverence, perseverence character, and character hope. And on sunday night i discovered 2 frozen containers of berries from the summer in my freezer (i cannot BELIEVE they escaped my notice until now...i would have never resisted them this long if i'd known they were there) The red currents and blueberries made an amazing cobbler, reminding my taste buds of what's to come!

For now it's grey walks past the cottage which is open once a month as a cafe...reading books all day on a saturday, and bringing the hope of spring inside.

homeward bound

2009-03-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Tonight I came home at 9. Tired from a week of evening english courses. Hungry. Frustrated that my classes can't be catered perfectly to every student's need. And home was soooo perfect in that moment. A respite, a shelter, a calm place.
Does anyone else out there just have those moments when home and homey activities are absolutely the most enjoyable and pleasant and perfect thing? When you would rather be nowhere else than that rocking chair with your knitting, or chopping carrots in the kitchen? Well, I am and always have been a homebody, so my answer is yes, 90% of the time.My shawl is coming along nicely that I started a week or 2 ago. It's slow-going, but that's probably a good thing. Sometimes I race through projects too quickly. Instead I pick this up when I can, do a few rows, mark where I left off, and enjoy the slow growth. I do love knitting lace. It keeps one's mind alert. It's like training your short term memory abilities... ok P2, K3, K2tog, SKP, YO, K1, YO, P7....repeat. And at the end of every row there is a moment of suspense as I see if I end up evenly with success or with an odd number of stitches. Most of the time the suspense is followed by a satisfying feeling of relief and pride that I made it safely again to one side without a disaster. I love the way knitting relaxes me, uses my hands, and engages my eyes as I take in the progress with a watchful eye for mistakes.
I am sure these women can't have been knitting lace. It's impossible to have a conversation simultaneously...I salute any knitter who has mastered that!

Best of Sweden:: the language!

2009-03-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

In my opinion, one of the top 3 most intriguing and delightful parts of traveling or living abroad is the opportunity to hear, speak, and see another language in action. Language class in high school never does justice. Once you go from French class with a teacher who has never been to France (as was the case with my public high school Madame who was actually a Spanish major in college...don't ask) to the country roads of Provence where you first open your mouth to say bonjour! to the locals, something clicks all at once and you understand that language is the most practical of all subjects to learn, the one that has to do most with the everyday, and it is an endless source of discovery as one delves into new levels of meaning, idioms, and cultural nuances.

Needless to say, learning to speak Swedish has been a major task of mine here, and thankfully I really like the language, in an of itself, without any bias. i promise. Not every language is as beautifully melodic, or as, well, cute. It's also only spoken by 9 million people in the world, which can make a learner of Swedish feel like they are wasting their time, OR that they are learning a unique, "small" language that no one will be able to understand in the grocery stores back home. (I choose to focus on the latter) Someone once told me that being an au pair is the best way to learn another language, and I can attest to this. My vocabulary grew side by side with Alexander, as he went from a blabbering 2.5 yr old to a wordy, well-spoken 4 yr old. I had to understand him and make myself understood if we were to play a game throwing fallen apples for the dog, or get him dressed, or convince him we had to leave now on the bicycle. I have always thought children who speak another language are beyond adorable...now i find myself thinking little English speakers are cute, because that it what is now outside of my norm! This video gives you a taste of the sound of Swedish, because perhaps, like me before i moved here, you haven't really heard it before. The scene is a classic pillow fight, from the viewpoint of my bed.

If you're interested in hearing more Swedish, and perhaps you could completely care less, but check out this video of sidewalk interviews done during the summer on the Swedish island of Gotland.

and ps. the top picture is my sister, on her way home from a trip to see me here, where she carried around a stub of a pencil and a crumpled piece of paper in her pocket at all times, to learn as much of the language as she could while here. what a language lover. And may I ask, my few and faithful readers, what languages can you speak? and what is on your "wish i could speak..." list?

Best of Sweden:: cinnamon buns

2009-02-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

I had not been in this country long before I noticed a certain sweet bun showing up in cafes, cooling on racks in Erik's mamma's home, and sitting on platters waiting for children to arrive home from the first day of school. Kanelbullar is the relative of the American sticky bun, but it is a less sweet, more every-day-edible version. They go particularly well with coffee when you need a bit of something to eat. Today I got the urge to bake them, and here is the recipe I used. I made half the buns filled with cinnamon, half with cardamon (a delicious but very under-appreciated spice in my opinion).

Bullar
1 pkg (2 1/4 t) dry active yeast
3/4 c butter
1 1/2 c milk
1/2 c sugar
1/2 t salt
3-4 c flour

Melt the butter on the stove, then add the milk and heat to luke-warm. Mix in a bowl with the yeast, add the sugar, salt and flour, and knead this dough for about 8 min. by hand.
Let rise under a towel in a warm place for 30 min.

Divide the risen dough into 2 balls and knead for a couple minutes. Then roll out each ball into a rectangle, about 1/4 thick. On this place the filling, strewn evenly over:

1/3 c butter, room temp.
1/3 c sugar
2 t cinnamon or cardamon

Roll the dough long-ways and cut into 12 or so pieces. Set them on a baking sheet and let rise under a towel for 45 min.

Mix together 1 egg and a bit of water, brush over the top of the buns, then sprinkle pearl sugar over them. Bake at 425 for 5-6 minutes. Keep a close eye so they don't burn!

Brew a pot of strong coffee and enjoy with your warm bullar!

my thoughts have been of spring

2009-02-24T02:00:00.000-08:00

These are my front porch steps right now. I'm a terribly lazy snow shoveler. I just push the snow back with the door until it gets too high. Perhaps my lazniess is really just an inner hope that a warmish day (above freezing maybe?) will surely come soon and melt it all away.

I'll confess. I am really dying for spring. Thank goodness I love all-things-wool-and-knitted or else i may never make it through winter. But I find myself longing for linen and thin cotton and summer dresses like these gorgeous outfits....But it goes beyond wishes for fancy summer clothes. No, my main desire is for the garden. I loooong for those dirty knees, those sun-kissed cheeks, and those laughing fits that occur when one is weeding parallel rows with a fellow farmer. This summer I'll be joining my dearest sister and friend Rebecca and her fantasic husband Joe on their farm in Minnesota. As I write I'm listening to an interview that the 2 of them participated in recently at the annual L'abri conference held in Minnesota. What a couple. They love each other, love what they do, and their life is a real display of the truth that

"He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate--bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart." Psalm 104:14,15

2009-02-21T09:06:00.000-08:00

Best of Sweden:: fresh-air people

2009-02-19T01:12:00.000-08:00

Well, the Swedish word is friluftsmänniskor, meaning "free air human beings." oh, I think Swedish is such a funny language. So "viking" and primitive sometimes. For example, the word for "grass" is gräs and the word for "weed" is ogräs meaning "not grass." :)

Anyway, these people are so INSPIRING. Especially in the winter, when all I want to do is huddle inside in a refuge of candles and coffee, they are excited about the ice, snow, and all the wondrous winter sports now made possible. Swedes really do love nature, and they love being outside. The countryside is pristine, untouched, and accessible with trails and ski-tracks galore. Last week I had the epiphany that this love of fresh air and winter activity is indeed the only way to remain sane through the long winters here. I have never had to be told to get outside....it's my favorite place to be....but I felt a renewal to be more active and sporty. So we went ice-skating last week....2 times! Erik and I felt so hardcore, and so deserving of the coffee and chocolate and lazy evening we partook of upon returning home.We had these classic, never improved upon speed skates....simple long blades that you snap onto your boot. You go faster than a bicyle when you really get going! Half of Uppsala was on the lake when we were there. And parents with small children never let that stop them from getting out. I saw more new baby-carrying contraptions, more sheep skin lined sleds than ever before. So hard-core!! Needless to say, one cannot feel more Swedish than donning some skates, heading outside, and of course, bringing along a thermos of coffee for the essential (and let's admit it, best part) stop for fika. The picture below, snapped at a local museum, captures so perfectly these outdoor people of the North. Perhaps their lack of nice weather makes them grateful for any bearable conditions in which to head outside. :)

The 2 and 4

2009-02-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

I had such a pleasant day on the 11th of February that I must share. It included all the special touches that birthdays should have.
I don't usually splurge on buying fruit (i know buying fruit seems more like a normal, healthy part of the human diet than a splurge, but for this mostly seasonal-eater with a small bank account, it is) so a bowl of blood oranges appeared in my kitchen.

Flowers were given. Lilies that smell amazing and look nice all week.

I opened some real, non-email cards (such a rarity and such a luxury), and a set of these knitting needles (yes, a certain someone has actually been listening when I go on rants about my wish list from the knitting world). And I opened a package from Minnesota....a gorgeous hand-dyed, hand-spun, hand-knitted cowl from my talented sister Becca.
And I even got a surprise present from someone who didn't even know it was my birthday. Christina, a beautiful Swedish woman with several grandchildren, is one of my students in the English literature class I teach on Wednesday nights. At coffee break time, she wondered out loud if anyone was interested in getting a hat she had knit for herself but which didn't fit right. In .5 seconds I reasoned if i don't take the initiative here, this hat could end up being claimed by someone who doesn't really want it, but who might take it just because, and then I'd feel too awkward to admit how much I really wanted it. So I marched up with ooohs and ahhs to take a look, and once the 4 other grandmothers in the class insisted I try it on and praised how nicely it fit me, it was securely mine. I couldn't help saying, after profusely thanking Christina for this hat which was just the style I'd been wanting to knit for myself, that it was actually my birthday anyway, so how perfect! At this my ladies burst into congratualtions and birthday wishes. What sweeties.Thanks to everyone who made me feel loved and appreciated last week! I am blessed much more than I even realize to have such wonderful people as you in my life.

Best of Sweden:: röd

2009-02-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

This week, without intention, I noticed my camera filling up with pictures that contained a common theme: the color red. This color is very swedish to me. Many barns and houses are painted a certain color which is an all-natural paint extracted from copper mines in Sweden. When mom came to visit last spring her mission was to buy this paint color. Unfortunatly the locals didn't recommend it for painting her dining room walls....it's a powder and would likely rub a coppery-color onto Sunday guests' clothes.

Sometimes you just need to bake a carrot cake with cream cheese icing for no special reason. And these coffee cups are red. That's how they got into the blog. I love them and they make every fika experience more satisfying.

Some of these pictures were taken at the bus stop. When I had 5 minutes to wait. And I hate wasting time, so I tromped off into the snow, got too excited, took too many pictures and missed the bus. Dang and blast, I was really mad. But now I have these nice pictures and memories. It was worth it looking back.

how to survive winter

2009-02-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

Wear scarves. All the time. Especially of the hand-knitted variety.
And be with friends.

And even though it's tempting to keep all that knitting-goodness for yourself, knit for your sleepy, chilly friends.

Best of Sweden:: wool

2009-02-03T11:20:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start something like a series on this little attempt of a blog. I've noticed the cool bloggers do it anyway. The topic is Sweden, and it will highlight some of the things about this part of the globe that I have grown to love and appreciate in their uniqueness and "swedishness." I've been reflecting that it's easy to become so used to where you live, be it abroad or in the same town where you grew up, that you stop noticing the everyday things. The particular nature and landscape, that old building in town, the local quirks of the people. Everyplace has it's appreciable characteristics.

That intro being said, I love that there is so much wool in Sweden. In this cold climate, you find every small town has a yarn shop, and any random market is compromised of half yarn/wool/sheepskin vendors. Just today I was on the bus to go teach when i noticed a market on the big square in town. As the bus zoomed past, I was alarmed I hadn't heard that this market would be there. I let out a sharp intake of breath at the sight of piles of soft sheepskins. I was planning on heading straight by. But I made the quick decision that the school could wait. I jumped off at the next stop and entered the world of warm mittens, felted hats, and scandinavian sweaters. OK, there was also a donut stand and a lady selling spandex longjohns. But I only had eyes for the handmade. And by the providence of God I resisted buying the ridiculously cheap yarn, only because I had not one bit of cash on me. So I used the opportunity to be inspired instead. That's always free.

casting on

2009-01-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

I'm itching to cast on for my next knitting project, but I have a dilemma. Because I'm heading home in April, suitcase space is a topic frequently on my brain. I have lived in Sweden for over a year and a half. And I have accumulated. So my rule for the spring is "don't buy anything." at all. unless i can eat it and it disappears. This leaves me with an obvious problem in the knitting department, yet i suppose one can view it as a challenge as well: I may only knit with my stashed yarn. This may not sound too bad, but my stash is such a hodge podge of ends of skeins and yarn I've had forever but never done anything with because they don't have any appeal. So this is what I'm working with. Alexander, the 4 yr old I'm part-time au pairing for, complained last week "jag fryser på kinden." literally translated: I'm freezing on my chin. So I happily came to the rescue with a promised cowl....the perfect solution for his chin and for my yarn scraps. When I presented the finished item this morning to a too-tired boy, he said with a quivering voice that it wasn't like his buddy's, and that he didn't like it. oh dear.

But mostly the knitting dilemma has been in the background lately. I've been teaching a whole lot, and it can be tiring. Today alone I was on my bicycle for 2 and a half hours, going from school to school. (i counted as i puffed up the hill home) It's easy to feel stressed, rushed, and like the day is a blur. And then I arrive at an elementary school. The building is an old Swedish mansion style; tall and stately. And the playground on this grey, lifeless-looking, slushy day, is full of happy children. Clad in snowboots and head to toe jackets, they embrace the day. They find a patch of ice and are fixated for half an hour, taking turns falling. They don't seem to mind that the snow is no longer white but now grey with dirt and gravel. They remind me to laugh, to relax. My "own" child does a pretty good job of reminding me of this himself. We had a rousing pillow fight a couple evenings ago. Me and Alex versus Erik. the usual teams. :)

one thing ends, another begins

2009-01-24T01:34:00.000-08:00

What has ended is the sweater I started knitting on Christmas day. A big chunk was done on the long day of flights back to Sweden, and the rest in bits and pieces of free time. It's fun to wear something handmade....like wearing a secret no one knows about but you. It may look ordinary, even a little less than store-perfect, but there is a pleasure one gets from looking down and thinking, hmm. i made that.
What has begun is semlor season. Is that a kind of animal? you ask. Has some odd hunting season begun in Sweden? no no. Although lately i've been wanting to learn to hunt. That's beside the point. In this northern country, after New Years, a certain treat begins appearing on the bakery shelves called semla (plural semlor). A slightly sweet, fluffy bun, sliced in half and filled with marzipan and whipped cream, on which is placed the top like a hat, then is sprinkled with a bit of powered sugar. de-light-ful. Lately I have been fully aware that this season has begun, but I hadn't yet found the perfect moment to spend a few extra crowns on a semla. But alas, Erik came to my rescue and brought home this box last week:
This was a good sign. This is a nice bakery, one of the most well-respected in Uppsala. Inside were found 2 semlor, and after waiting patiently through dinner, we enjoyed the daily after-dinner coffee with these beauties. The tradition of eating semlor goes back to the 16th century in Sweden, and I doubt this one will ever die out.

sunday evenings

2009-01-18T13:17:00.001-08:00

bread and tea. knitting and a streamed sermon. sunday evenings and slowness. some things just go together.

winter walks

2009-01-17T10:54:00.001-08:00

I have been sick all week and finally had the energy today that I have been craving. It's not totally back, but at least I got to go for a couple long walks. One in the forest, and one in the valley. Both near my house and equally nice (though the forest is so dark, and in the winter I tend to not gravitate in that direction). These horses faithfully search the ground for something to eat.....something amid the rock-hard, dead, snow-covered field. poor things. I wish I had a few animals to take care of. I crave some good old outdoor chores.

I am almost done knitting a sweater/jacket which I started on this day in December:

Yes, it was Christmas day in SC, and it was gloriously warm. We played tennis later. ahh! the life. But I do love winter, and boy does it make spring SO appreciated. I've been back in Sweden for 3 weeks now, and I'm missing immensly that wonderful time with family, friends, dear church fellowship, and delightful southern accents. It's been back to the darkness, and to the teaching duties for me. But I've been able to squeeze in the knitting, and I'm lighting candles, and I have a couple new mix cds from a friend....songs for the soul.

How do you transition from the after-holiday time back to the everyday?

Sunny South Carolina

2008-12-04T04:03:00.000-08:00

I promise this is the last photo i'll snag off someone else. (but isn't it nice? edisto beach, sc) The word on the street is that i may finally be the owner of a digital camera around the 25th of this month. Then i have the lofty goal of becoming a regular blogger. I know, it may be hard to believe, because i've promised it before and always seem to end up with .....nearly a month.....between my posts. But with my own camera i feel certain everything will change. I can't wait to document more of my everyday life here in sweden both for you readers and for myself to be sure and capture this particular, special time in my life.

The point of this post is to say that i am leaving TOMORROW for SC. Sunny, south carolina that is. These days i can't seem to say one without the other. i know it's not always true, but indeed from my perspective the sky is definitely sunnier on the other side. It has been a year since i've seen dad, luke, calvin, harry, caroline. 9 months since i've seen becca and mom. a year and a half since i've seen joe. too long....far too long. though i am grateful for what i have. That I have such a wonderful family that i want to be with all the time. That both me and my älskling can afford a place ticket. That we get to have 24 blissful days in a row together....full force, focused, concentrated time together.

The snow is falling outside my window now. That makes the winter darkness a lot less dark and much more beautiful. Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a blessed season.

Sunny SC here i come!!

european boy

2008-09-27T03:11:00.000-07:00

This picture is from the wonderful film Le Ballon rouge, or The Red Balloon. It is a 34 minute short film about a boy befriending a red balloon and the 2 of them having adventures through the streets of Paris. Highly recommended. Last year when I was home for Christmas I saw this and several other short films at the Peace Center in Greenville with Cate and friends...fun times!

Last week I was reading The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson and smiled when I read a particular paragraph.....this is for all my American friends who have a hankering for Europe every now and then. These days my thoughts are on America and home and all the wonderful things about my home country. But when I am home, it happens that I long for the smaller streets, the better cheese, the bicycles.
Bryson writes about himself as a young, Iowa boy:
"From that moment on, I wanted to be a European boy. I wanted to live in an apartment across from a park in the heart of a city, and from my bedroom window look out on a crowded vista of hills and roof-tops. I wanted to ride trams and understand strange languages. I wanted friends named Wermer and Marco who wore short pants and played soccer in the street and owned toys made of wood. I cannot for the life of me think why. I wanted my mother to send me out ot buy long loaves of bread from a shop with a wooden pretzel hanging above the entrance."

The Librarian

2008-09-20T07:21:00.000-07:00

I met a librarian today. Well, a soon-to-be librarian. Alexandra is studying Library Science at Uppsala University, and she helped me track down some of Bill Bryson's books in the maze that is the humanities library in town. I was always highly confused with the Dewey Decimal system as a kid and had just started to figure it out when I moved abroad where they have a completely different way of organizing books. In our search for Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States, she asked if i was from America, and when I said yes, South Carolina, I was surprised to see her face react with excited surprise instead of the dull unrecognition I am used to getting. She is in fact leaving in 2 weeks for a library internship at the College of Charleston, and as we spoke I tried to think of what to recommend for her to see. The weather will be a highlight, as we have had fallish, greyish, cool weather since the middle of August, and I am sure the South Carolina beaches will still be warmer than a Swedish summer. Charleston is a beautiful city to explore, one i loved as a child because of those cobblestone streets that made it feel thousands of years old. (and that pinneapple water fountain....how cool was that!) I told her she ought to check out the fall colors of western North Carolina, to which she asked the logical (to the European mind) question of "Is there a good train system? ....busses?" Well, not really, i said. Unfortunatly everyone just drives cars. With some hope i suggested she rent a car since it's fairly inexpensive. She doesn't have a liscense though, having never really needed one. So, my question for my SC readers is...does anyone know of a good non-car way to get around our great state? Surely there is a bus or train I have just never looked for before?

a week with Marco the goat farmer

2008-07-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Up in the hills of the Emilia-Romagna region in Italy there lies a farm. On this farm there are several beautifully-dilapidated stone houses, about 200 chocolate-colored-brown goats, and the farmer Marco, a crazy young Italian man who transforms his goats' milk into the most delicious cheese. For the past 10 days Erik and I have been wwoofing on his farm. WWOOF is an organization which brings organic farmers who need some extra help in touch with folks who are seeking an adventure in agriculture and who want to have free room and board. (for more about wwoof check out: http://www.wwoof.it/gb/about.html)

I regret not writing about my last week in Sweden, which was spent on a beautiful tiny island called Fårö, pictured below:

I spent a lovely 10 days there with Erik's family, seeing a place so near to his heart, where he has spent nearly a month of every summer since he was born.

But now, Itlay. We flew directly from the island to Milano, then took a train to Bologna. From there we took a bus to the tiny town of San Prospero, though we nearly didn't make it since our bus driver seemed to have never heard of the town. We were helplessly lacking in the Itlalian language when we arrived and are faring only a bit better now. I do feel a bit ashamed at not preparing for this HUGE part of being in another country, called communication, yet i suppose i say my excuse was a busy spring and the fact that i'm still plugging away at my 2nd language, Swedish. So we arrived in the evening at the bus stop, got picked up by another wwoofer, and saw the farm for the first time....it is extremly picturesque as to be expected. By the end of our first evening here, we knew we were in for a good time. Before Marco got home from market, we munched on fresh bread with several kinds of goat cheese to choose from, local wine, and sweet, seasonal fruit. (finally i'm eating peaches again!!) Marco came home bringing with him another wwoofer, Emily from New Zeeland, who arrived the same evening. He gave us a friendly hello, told us to eat and drink whatever we wanted, then turned up The Police in the kitchen and made us a late-dinner of amazing pasta, bitter salad greens, tomatoes....yum. And chocolate and grappa to finish off the meal. Erik and I only had to give each other a knowing glance during the night to say, "cool.....this is going to be great."

Well, of course we have worked. We have taken turns milking about 120 goats 2x a day. We have helped make cheese, mowed the grass, cleared in the forest, weeded the vegetable garden. We have become dirty and goaty at the end of the days, but in between all this work we have laughed, ate the most delicious meals in the world (have i forgotten to say that the 2 other wwoofers are basically professional chefs?!), and taken long siestas.....so long we almost wonder if we're being lazy, then we look for the others and realize everyone is sleeping. :) The Italians are wonderful people. Full of expression, emotion, chaos....everything that the Swedes aren't. It is a refreshing change, though a little tough to get used to hearing them explode at one another, but when they make up and laugh after 3 mintues we realize maybe it's just one of those billions of cultural differences that exist between people on this earth.

A lot has happened during 10 days, but we're told it's been a typical week. Here is some of the drama that has unfolded: I cut my eye (it's better now), Carlo the worker got a nail through his foot, the dog Tommy (the sweetest, biggest, gentle giant in the world.....we love you tommy!!!) had his tail run over while taking his siesta under the market van, we threw a party for 100 of Marco's farmer friends, making homemade, brick oven pizza, listening to italian folk music, and trying out some traditional dancing. and drinking lots of wine. To continue....the inspectors came to check the cheese room so we spent a frantic day cleaning to pass inspection, the pipe broke yesterday which takes the milk to the cheese making room (do we have a word for this in english?) and all 300 liters of milk was lost, Marco's extended family stayed for 2 days and we served food for 14, and....well, that's all I can think of for now.

We are leaving today for a second farm 2 hours from here, going west heading towards the coast. We hope it can live up to our high expectations we have now, and we hope we are offered as much wine and grappa, and homemade gellato. We will miss the goats, and Marco and his crew and remember them fondly.....ciao!!

Spring soup: a recipe

2008-06-11T00:51:00.000-07:00

I realize all of you gardeners out there reading this are far ahead of me in the harvest....i am aware i'm only just now enjoying what your tongues tasted weeks ago. I heard a report yesterday that the Wrights in SC are enjoying zuccinni. yes, those days in the 90s certainly help. Nevertheless, i was in the garden yesterday evening, thoroughly loving the cool evening air and the quiet (Sweden was playing a fotball match against Greece in the European finals and every person in the country was glued to their tv but me), and I was inspired to cook a soup from my small though exciting growing garden. There is no need to wait for the big showy veggies of summer like tomatoes and squash to enjoy your garden. As I filled an empty pot with the greens and herbs I picked, the smell was intoxicating....the essence of spring. Here is the recipe, and maybe you who are in warmer climates can store this in your memory for next year

Spring Soup

Go out to the garden and harvest what you can of any green or herb. Even if the plants are small, you can take a couple leaves without harming its growth. My bowl was filled with a few leaves of the following: kale, collards, spinach, lettuce, basil, cilantro, and 1 radish.
Wash and chop finely all that was harvested. Boil this together with water (maybe 4 cups for every 2 cups of greens), some bouillon (not much, you want the flavor of the greens to take center stage), 1 clove garlic, and enough salt to taste.
Boil for just a couple minutes, then let simmer for a few more. Not much time is needed. Then sit down and enjoy this deeply green, nutrient dense, fresh soup

I also made 4, 0.5 liter bottles of rhubarb saft recently. Saft was a new thing for me when I moved to Sweden, but it is the common drink of kids and adults alike here. It is basically a condensed juice which you buy or make in small bottles, then dilute yourself every time you want a glass. Hmm......it's hard to explain. Here is a picture:

You can make saft out of any berry or fruit. Rhubarb is coming out of our ears here so that is what i chose. Here is the recipe I followed:
Rhubarb saft
2.2 pounds rhubarb
1 cup water
1.5 cups sugar

Chop the rhubarb and boil it with the water for 10 minutes, or until it is soft and broken down.
Drain this thick, fruity mixture through a cheese cloth or regular dish towel for approx. 20 min or until all the liquid has drained out.
Boil this liquid with the sugar until the sugar has disolved, then fill a clean .5 liter jar with this thick, almost syrupy looking saft!
This keeps forever in the fridge, and when ready to drink, mix about 2 T. in a glass with cold water. Just test the amount yourself and decide how sweet you want the drink to be. I think it's nice when it's not too sweet.

Other news...Erik and I leave in just 1 week for Gotland!! I'll write more on that later....and after this short trip we'll head to Italy for a month of working on 3 different organic farms there, including (we hope) drinking wine under the evening Tuscan sun. :) We are really looking forward to the education we will receive from this ancient and far under-valued method of simple apprenticeship, involving direct teaching from an experienced person to an eager learner.

Cold Frames and Warm Springs

2008-05-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

These are my home-made coldframes, built with salvaged 1930s windows and old boards. They have been delighting me with how nicely they warm up and how quickly my little seedlings germinate in there. I wish I had 10 more.....I sort of couldn't stop buying seeds this spring and planting a few in pots to see what would come up....now I have a sprawling greenhouse in my front yard (which of course isn't MY front yard but the family's I work for--hope they don't mind!) and I am excited to transplant these babies into the garden once the temperature is finally warm enough!! The days have been beautiful....and long. The sun is up sometime in the 3 am hour, and it doesn't really get dark-dark until nearly 11! Still, the nightly temps can be too close to freezing to plant the garen yet. The Swedish lifestyle is one of extremes. In the winter everyone suffers from the lack of sunlight, but now we are all recharging and getting overdoses. My hands are a nice brown already, and I’m even beating Erik in the "who's darker?" game.

So the garden has been delightfully consuming much of my free time lately. What would I do without plants to watch grow?! It is one of the best things in life, truly. Erik and I have rented a small community garden plot (about a 15x15 meter space) and so far there's not too much going on. We've added some compost and horse manure to the soil (I helped myself to the free fertilizer lying in one of a million horse pastures around here), and we have tiny spinach plants coming up, chives, oregano, rhubarb, rosemary, and mint. Unfortunately you can't make too much of a meal out of those ingredients, but we're enjoying the herbs in our omelettes, and RHUBARB is my new favorite food. This little-known plant in the Southern US is a thriver in cold climates like Sweden, and I have made several rhubarb pies, muffins, and this delightful thing called "rhubarb crème" which is basically cooked down rhubarb with sugar and a bit of water, and it is a delicious jam-like sauce you can eat in yogurt or as a dessert with hot milk! yum! anyway....a quick list of plants that will go into the ground in a couple weeks: kale, collards, squash, winter squash, tomatoes (under a plastic tunnel), beets, spicy greens, basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, cucumbers, cabbage, swiss chard, pumpkins, corn, eggplant...tehe....I’m not sure we have space for all this, but it's just a few plants of each. I have decided I need to be a small farmer of some sort one day. Well, I’ve had that thought 1,000 times already, but this time I’m sure. It suits me; the dirty pants and rubber boots, observing and anticipating growth, seeing change, eating real food, being in charge and using my own creativity and ideas....and I think if I ever have a job one day where I have to work inside on pretty days I would go ballistic. That’s that.

Well, there is too much news to report!! I should've written a post every week and reported the progression of spring here because it has been phenomenal. First, here is a picture from April:

We had snow until mid-April, and I thought spring would never get here. But then it melted and every day there came a few more leaves on the trees, more birds twittering their songs....then came the tiny flowers which cover the forest floor. First blue and purple, and then white. SOO beautiful. If anyone wants to visit me in Sweden, book a ticket for the first week in May. Daffodils came, then tulips galore, and loads of small wildflowers in people's yards which nobody mows down. Now the apple trees are blooming whitish-pink blossoms and when I bike anywhere the smells of blooming trees and flowers is a sweet delight.

Other than loving the weather, I have been learning to play the fiddle from a very nice fiddle maker in town, and this is an instrument I’ve been yearning to learn for years, and though it's difficult and all the amazing players today started when they were 3.5 years old, I am plugging away. Speaking of fiddles.......last weekend I had the great blessing of attending the Silkeborg Dance Weekend in Denmark!! It was 3 days of contras, squares, Scottish country dancing, and having a great time laughing with the fun-loving Danes. Those people know how to give a hearty laugh! I was the only one of 150 dancers under 50, and that fact plus my ashevillian contra style made me a bit of a small celebrity all weekend. It was fun, I have to say. They either thought I was that crazy American dancer or really fun. Mostly fun, I think. I met some amazing people, who within 5 minutes of chatting offered for me to stay with them in their home if I should ever some back to Denmark, and I got 75 invitations to the next dance weekend in November. :) :) I got to chat with Lissa Schneckenburger, one of my all time favorite fiddle players from Vermont, who helped us groove all weekend with her amazing talent. I talked and danced a lot with Frank, a dancer from Brasstown, NC (SMALL WORLD) who I have danced with 100 times at Warren Wilson and who moved to Denmark 3 days ago. (Coincidentally after the LEAF festival...funny:) It was refreshing to dance with a familiar face, and as he put it, "you now have an uncle in Scandinavia." I met Victor, an older man with suspenders and a beard and easily mistakable for a Danish farmer, who turns out to be one of those American transplants to Scandinavia. He's been living in Denmark with his Danish wife (who makes all her own clothes....beautiful) for 38 years but he was born in Manhattan and he talked my ears off in a thick new york accent and offered everyone american chocolate chip cookies all weekend that he had baked. He said after we danced together....in a cute, shy, but new yorker way, " I ....I like the way you move." :) :) CUTE! It felt funny to be away from Erik for 3 days (his mormor turned 90 and he was home for the party) and it was a delightful reunion at midnight when my bus finally pulled into the station in Uppsala (after a long car trip and flight). I saw him standing there looking cold by his bike, trying to see me through the bus windows. First his face was a black stare and then opened up into a big gaping smile/erik face when he saw me. what a wonderful feeling to be back with the one you love.

I ran a half marathon the weekend before in Stockholm, beating my predicted time and enjoying the racing life again in a nice and noncompetitive atmosphere. These fun weekends have been nice, especially because during the week I get to thinking and worrying about my future, and it's good to just live and enjoy life. I have decided to leave my au pair family and make it on my own here. I hope to find a job teaching english (or serving coffee or worse...I cannot be picky), and I think I have found a place to live...in a house with 5 other Americans (from the South at that!) who are coming to work for a university ministry in Sweden called Campus Crusade for Christ, or "Agape" here. (the word "crusade" doesn't help the message much unsurprisingly) The best part about this house we're renting from an Egyptian woman who hasn't redecorated since the late 80s, is the garden which has in it something I’ve been wanting so badly here.....a simple glass greenhouse!! for growing hot-loving veggies in the summer and cold loving greens in the winter. yay. and they have 3 old variety apples trees, a plum, cherry, and pear tree, and currents, raspberries, and rhubarb of course! ;)

well, i'll sign off here. I hope everyone reading this at home or abroad is doing well and enjoying the spring!

my new thing...

2008-04-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

...is to snap small branches off of anonymous trees from the forest in early spring. I bring them inside, put them in water, and wait for the suprise of their green leaves to appear. If I was better at my tree identification, I would also know what their names were. I want to get better at that.

But I've decided tree branches are the cut flowers of early spring. The natural twists and curves of the branches and the fresh green leaves make just as strong of a statement as the brightest colors of flowers.

"isn't that just 10 dollars?!"

2008-03-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

I begin this post with a quote mom must have said at least 15 times while she was visiting me in Sweden, and this is just one example of the many things we giggled over during the big VISIT. I realize i'm writing this note too long after the event, and now it feels like old news. I always do that. As I walk along the street I come up with a great little piece of writing in my head, a nice combination of words, a philosophical thought that passes through my mind, thinking i'll go straight to the computer when I get home and jot it down for the blog world to read, but then i forget to, and the thought leaves me, and whatever brilliant thing that was there is now gone and I feel i have nothing to report.

well anyway, here i am now. it's better than nothing. So....3 (or was it 4?) weeks ago my beloved mother and sister visited me, came all the way to Sweden to see me and my Swedish life. I felt really loved and special the whole 8 days they were here, just thinking of the effort it took them to make it to my little house. I found mom at the airport, head down on the cafe table, worn out like a child from the flight. We then strolled around for a few hours, awkwardly pushing mom's 2 huge suitcases through the touristy airport stores as we waited for Becca, whose flight from NY landed 4 hours later than mom's from charlotte.

How can i quickly summarize the visit?
Awful weather.
But good spirits.
Long walks in the green, mossy, evergreen forest.
Laughing at mom and Alexander playing together as she spoke English to him and he responded in Swedish, and they got along beautifully. Even when mom said "ja!" in affirmation as he said "Jag har en ont här." (I have a boo-boo here)
Becca's papper and stubby pencil kept in her pocket to write down "all the Swedish words i know"
Oohs and ahhs over cute red houses.
Mmms and yumms over hot strong coffee and tasty cafe treats.
Window shopping at the expensive stores.
Buying fun foreign cheap things at the 2nd hand stores.
Splurging on the purchase of beautiful yarn.
Getting knitting help and inspiration from Becca.
Laughing like loud americans on the city streets.
Giggling at night in my tiny room.
Meeting a small organic farmer in the middle of nowhere.
He had a wooden bowl filled with fresh brown eggs in his farm store.
Delicious dinners hosted by wonderful friends and "family" here.
Semlor!
A visit to the Carl Larsson home where we feasted our eyes on an artist's work who adored his family and home and made it beautiful.
Biking everywhere.
Through the forest.
Lingering in the grocery store and wishing america had a better cheese and yogurt selection.
Calculating the currency conversion constantly and in the end deciding we should compare every purchase to our 60 kr. kebab because, if a kebab is only 60 kr then shouldn't we buy this (shirt, yarn, candle holder, etc) since it's only (100, 200, etc) kronor?
Me remembering that I have the most gracious and wonderful mom and sister ever.

and so much more!!

Now i'm busy growing little plants for the community garden plot Erik and I have just aquired, learning to play the fiddle, planning our summer trip to farms in Italy, trying to plan next year, making new friends, and training for a half marathon in May! yikes.

anticipation

2008-03-07T01:45:00.000-08:00

I can hardly wait for tomorrow morning. I will wake up, feel excitement in my belly, eat a quick breakfast, put on something cute, and drive to the airport. There i will find my mamma, sitting at an airport cafe (having arrived very early) and we will be reunited, mother and daughter, friends together again. I will bring her breakfast and we will sit with her big black bags until we are reunited with our dearest, darling, we-miss-her-so-much sister and daughter BECCA who is arriving around noon. I feel already that this trip will be so encouraging for all 3 of us. And that it will be for lack of a better way to put it...a woman's trip...a time for being with women, giggling as women, talking as women, appreciating everything as women. Often I think all three of us wish we were like some families who settle near each other, who visit often , who can drive over for a weekend or come by for a sunday lunch after church. But we're not...somehow Becca ended up in Minnesota and now NY, I met someone from Sweden and have followed him here...and we find ourselves in different corners of the world instead of different parts of a state or city. But this is us. This is the life God has led us to. And it means we communicate a lot on the phone and through emails, and we have these visits which are not so frequent but when they happen are a whirlwind of fun and excitement.

Today there is much to do....final planning, fixing bikes for use next week, mopping kitchen floors and finishing building my cold frames so my garden doesn't look like a construction site! The first flower opened up outside my door yesterday, just in time, and it's as if it knew someone special was arriving. :) It's small and yellow and perfect. I love spring. The picture above is flowers from Becca's farm at mid-summer, when flowers have their time of glory. I can only stare at that now and think...does that really happen? do these little plants really burst with color and out of a tiny seed become something so amazing with such detailed beauty? in the winter things seem hopelessly dead, beyond revival, but i know that soon there will be renewal. ressurection.

looking out the window

2008-02-27T01:52:00.000-08:00

That's not me in the photo, or my window, and i didn't take the picture, just to put that out there. But i am looking through MY window, and the view is much cuter anyway, with some apple trees (albeit sleeping right now), raspberry plants, and pines and birches across the street. (I don't have a digital camera so it's tough to put picutres of myself or Sweden up on my blog. I ought to get with the times i suppose and buy one, but the cost stops me)

So, to back up, the Swedish family I live with moved a few weeks ago to a new house about 15 minutes by bike from our old one. This new house (called by more than more person "a carl larsson home") is a better fit for the family, and for me it is an immeasurably better situation. My old room was dark, in the basement, and not a place I wanted to spend time in. Now i have my own apartment, so to speak; a separate wing of the house with my own entrance and small hallway, my own kitchen, my own bike parking spot outside and tulips coming up by the door. If you haven't caught own, the feeling of having my "own" space has been good and helped me feel more independent here. Erik and I appreciate having dinners on our own, here and at the adorably small studio apartment he just moved into. This Spring has felt full of nice, fresh changes and as the light grows longer and the weather warmer, I begin to feel more at home here in Uppsala, with my life here in this new country. My Swedish is improving and I can hang onto conversations better and laugh with others (legitimately, not half-heartedly while thinking did i really get that joke?:) Our backdoor opens onto the city forest which is a gorgeous area full of trails, one titled "troll trail" which goes through an area completely untouched for the last 40 years and is thus full of beautiful decaying trees which display the amazing life cycle the forest. I love winding my way through the trails on my bike, then popping out on the other side in downtown Uppsala. I signed up for a half-marathon recently which is in May in Stockholm, and it feels good to have something motivating me to get out the door to run, something i always enjoy once i'm out there but which is somehow tough to start doing. Also, Erik and I are getting to know folks better here and are feeling spiritually fed by a wonderful international Bible study that is concerned with not only what we know about God but that we love others because of God's love for us.

To give some recap for the month of February: I celebrated my 23rd birthday on the 11th, and it was a pleasant day filled with Swedish celebrations here as well as calls and packages from home. The move happened= BIG accomplishment. I began growing lettuce in egg cartons in my sunniest windows, and I'm building a cold frame from old windows to set the transplants in once they are big enough. I am biking on a new (old) bike that I fixed up and so now no longer need to borrow Hanna's "mom" bike here unless I need the baby seat to carry Alexander on. (I just laughed at the though that if HE knew i just referred to his bike seat as something for a BABY he would most definitley get extremely defensive and declare what a "stor kille" (big guy) he was to me, complete with a visual display of him climbing on the tallest kitchen chair to show how tall he is. :) I love my new bike, and though it only has one gear, it is the fastest bike ever, and i'm constantly effortlessly passing Erik when we bike to town together. tehe. i call it blixten because it is as fast as a lightning flash, and because i like the sound of the word. :)

I have been reflective lately, thinking about what life means and what is important. Isn't it so easy to just breeze through the days consumed with the details and forgetting to ask what our real purpose is? I am convinced more every day that God created us for real relationships of love and joy....with Him and with each other, and that involves being involved with people....all kinds in all places. Our neighbors are next door and they are hungry children across the globe and women who are sold into prostitution in India. To love them means to pray, to act, to be aware of their situations and to do what we can about it. Life is short, often confusing, broken and yet being redeemed, a joy to live some days and a trial on others. I think these words from Isaiah 55 are beautiful..."Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!"

Mom and Becca arrive in one week! I'll try to write a post soon after their visit to record what i'm sure will be the best 10 days of the year. :) I hope all of you reading this remain well!

en konstig vinter

2008-01-25T02:38:00.000-08:00

The translation of the title is "a strange winter" and yes, even for a newbie to Sweden like myself, I realize the oddness of seeing a snowdrop flower in January instead of in late March! I have heard of how much anticipation and longing there is here for the first sign of spring, and I was looking forward to experiencing this deprivation of life in winter followed by the glorious renewal of it in spring. Yet yesterday as I biked to pick up Alexander I spotted this beautiful white flower poking out of the ground, a lovely sight, but at the same time I want more snow and I hope we have a good month or so more of winter before the flowers bloom. It's funny how many times i've had such cravings here for blooming things, fresh smells, green lanscapes. Yet when it's not the right time, it feels like cheating.

I spent a truly wonderful 3 weeks of christmas holidays at home in SC with my family; cooking food with mom (winter recipes from our favorite seasonal cookbook! and collards from the garden!), walking with Caroline, playing monopoly with my brothers, dancing my feet off with Calvin, visiting grandparents and friends, soaking in the sun, running in shorts, and feeling a little culture shock at the bigness of the USA, the unappeal of having to drive everywhere, and yet immensly enjoying speaking English with everyone around me and appreciating the easygoing, kind personality of so many Americans. I have been back for a few weeks now. Nick Elliot, a friend of mine and "brother" to Erik was here when i arrived, and it was fun to spend a week with him. He has been to Sweden several times now and feels at home with Erik's family. It's been back to work for me for the most part here. Alexander is as cute as ever (i can't even describe how great it felt when he first saw me when i arrived back here on the buss....his face lit up and he couldn't contain screaming out my name and climbing up the buss steps in unabandoned desperation). He is talking more as each day passes and always teaching me something new. We (the family i live with) and I are moving soon to a beautiful old house across town which has been in the renovating process for several months now. It was a lot of work, but the house looks beautiful, a great blend of new and old design, and we all can't wait to be there! So I do a little packing every day and little by little things are moving out.

When I was home my best friend Cate and I made a "Spring Renewal" list as we considered heading back abroad (she to Madrid) and the changes we hoped to make in our lives. On both of our lists was learning to play an instrument, and I am (sort of) in the process of finding a fiddle and someone to teach me to play it. I also hope to do some extra babysitting this spring, join an international bible study, and improve my Swedish either through a course or more self-discipline! Also on the list was traveling.... Scandinavia is all so close, so Erik and I hope to visit Helsinki, take a train across Norway, and head north in Sweden where the landscape is quite different from here. Of course my #1 excitement these days is anticipating Mom and Becca's visit here on March 7th! I have refrained from making extremely detailed lists yet...like what to cook them for dinner all 10 nights they are here, but I can't wait to plan plan plan and get that lovely looking-forward-to-something-so-good feeling in me.

Hmm...i've been knitting some lately, nearly done with Alexander's sweater and 1/3 done with a blue cardigan for myself. I got some wonderful books for Christmas that I am enjoying....I've finished Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and i highly recommend it to anyone, especially if you're interested in eating local food and growing a garden!! I will try to write more frequently and I hope all of you readers are doing well! i send love to all of you.

at the request of one of my most loyal readers....

2007-12-16T10:04:00.000-08:00

I'll write just a quick note before I head home for Christmas. My flight is leaving from Stockholm at the wee hour of 6:30, which means i'm getting up around 3 am in only a few hours. But i'm packed and have my passport handy, and it'll be nice to be tired on the flight so maybe i can sleep a bit. I could never travel so often as some business folks do, but I can't help but get that excited travel-feeling in my belly and stride through the airports feeling like i'm seeing the whole world coming and going at once. PLUS, i'm going home to my family, and this is the best feeling of all. I've been gone since the end of the summer, and i'm feeling quite ready to simply BE with the ones i love most.

December has been a busy month, and we've celebrated 3 birthdays in this house in a matter of weeks. Alexander (now 3), Hanna (50.....huge awesome surprise party), and Fredricka (sweet 16). In Sweden the birthday kid (and adult) gets an early morning delivery in bed of breakfast and presents, and everyone jumps on the bed to watch you open them. This must be the best way to celebrate, at least from a child's perspective, because there are no long waits to open the presents. :) In addition to the birthday parties, we have been visiting friends here and drinking lots of glögg (hot wine) and eating lots of pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies) and Lussekatt (saffron buns) and other swedish goodies.

Today I was delighted to attend a real Christmas smörgåsbord, called a Julbord, at a beautiful turn of the century Swedish mansion. The whole Klum family plus Erik were invited, and I have never seen such a spread of food. I can't believe i forgot the camera because it was all so gorgeous and special. There were 6 kinds of herring, 6 kinds of salmon (all with special sauces), a huge spread of sausage and ham and other meat, pickles, beet salads, potatoes cooked 10 different ways (of course!), omlettes, bread, cheese, etc, etc, and a lovely dessert spread and typically good coffee and christmas beer. We sat at a long table with candles and a view outside, and halfway through our meal a Lucia procession entered our room and we were serenaded by 6 girls with beautiful voices in white robes with red sashes and candle wreathes on their heads. Saint Lucia day was actually on the 13th, but it is a Christmas thing in general, and it was very lovely to see. Alexander was spellbound and when they left our room he kept asking for the "anglarna" (the angels) to come back!

Well, i'm off to finish the last packing details. Lots of gifts are tucked into my suitcase and other fun Swedishy things to share with family. Of course I'll miss Erik so much, and I'll miss my other favorite boy Alexander (though he's promised to call, and i can't wait to hear his little Swedish voice on the telephone). God Jul!!

snowy, sunless days sow seeds of spring-longing

2007-11-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

Ok, i'm not sure where that little diddy came from. I think i just wanted to ryhme, because actually I'm content and mostly delighted with the winter weather here in Sweden. Typical late November weather here is cold, cloudy, rainy (with some snow), and a 3:30 sunset. December should be better, with more snow brightening the landscape and with everyone wanting to be huddled inside around candles and fireplaces anyway. On December 21st the days start getting longer instead of shorter, and i'll be ready for it. The darkness makes me sleepy and gives me low-energy, and that can be tough. And mostly I just can't wait to place little seedlings in the ground and grow a garden again.

I feel i have some rather random things to say so i'll just dive in. One is that i wanted to say a late happy birthday to the beloved Astrid Lindgren, who turned 100 a couple weeks ago. In reality she died a few years ago, but her birthday is always celebratd in Sweden and other parts of the world. She created the books about the strong-willed and strong-muscled Pippi Långstrump (Pippi Longstockings), who if you don't remember, was able to lift her horse above her head with ease. :) Pippi was a little too bold for some of the readers in the man's world of the 1940s into which she was born, yet it's not surprising that she was born in Sweden since this country is still in many ways leading the world on issues of gender equality. (They were just voted number 1 in an annual ranking by a Swiss group which evaluates countries on the basis of gender equality. In case you're interested, the top countries after Sweden were Norway, Finland, and Iceland (go Scandinavia!:) Yeman was last, and the US was 31st, after Cuba and South Africa....hmm)

Anyway, Astrid Lindgren wrote many more wonderful children's tales which are worth reading and which I myself have on my long "have to read" list.

While I'm on the topic of children's books from Sweden I want to mention the artist of the beautiful painting at the top of my blog. His name is John Bauer and he illustrated many of the fairy tales that came out of Sweden one hundred years ago, which are unsurprisingly about mostly trolls and other forest creatures. I love how literature reflects the local, simple, everyday things which are common for each place it comes from. A Swedish story about little red mushroom children who live in a blueberry forest may seem exotic to an outsider but to anyone who has walked the paths of the forests here can easily see where these writers get their ideas. :) You can see more of Bauer's painints here if you're interested: http://bauer.artpassions.net/

December looks to be an exciting month for me, with the highlight of course being my trip home on December 17th, which will last for 3 long (hopefully) weeks and be filled with family, friends, and contradancing calvin's dance shoes right off his feet. But before then comes the start of Advent on the first Sunday in December, where everyone begins to light the advent candles and perhaps open a little gift every day before christmas. On December 10th the Nobel Prize ceremony comes to the palace in Stockholm where the king and queen of sweden hand out these famous prizes and all of Sweden watches a live broadcast of the gourmet dinner and ball held afterwards. On December 13th is Lucia (i'll tell more later), and in between all this there is lots of food and sweets.

Today I went sledding with Alexander and Erik, and I felt seriously like a kid again, where you are so excited about what you're doing you never take a walking (but only running) step and you find you can't get your words of delight out of your mouth without shouting them. It was a beautiful clear day, below the freezing point, and with a lovely icy snow on the ground. Now it's dark, and i think i'll go light some candles and work on my knitting.

nordic winter arrives

2007-11-07T01:29:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday the first significant snow fell in Uppsala, and though I hope to have at least a few, ok even just one, more slightly temperate fall day before it's cold till April, the snow was still beautiful to behold. Alexander and I have been talking constantly about "när snö kommer, ska vi lager en snögubbe!!" So we dressed ourselves warmly and built 2 snowmen outside.....they were pretty amature since we were too lazy to gather anything more than sticks for the body parts, but i'm sure we'll have plently more opportunities to improve our skills in that department. The weather has indeed been cold, and dark too. Now it's dark by 4 pm, which is quite an adjustment. I'm used to darkness signaling the end of the day, but now there is still 7+ more hours of DAY left after it gets dark before it's time to wind down, so you can't just shut down when it gets dark and quit being productive. However, candles make it cozy, and i think Swedes must go through more candles than any other country....when i walk down the street at night and glance through the windows of houses there are always candles burning at the kitchen table. And I am understanding better now why on a beautiful day, every person here heads outside to talk advantage of the sun and warmth....it's not an every-day experience.

There is still one apple tree in our garden here which is laden with apples still and putting up a worthy fight against the frosts. Erik and I have made a lot of äpplemås to freeze which will be gratefully eaten all winter in the mornings with yogurt and museli. We have been having fun lately, whether it's our daily routines or a weekend trip. He comes and plays with the kids and I often, and Alexander truly loves "ERIT!!" We read in the evenings, or he reads and I knit. I just plowed through 2 wonderful novels, Gap Creek and A Thousand Splendid Suns. The former set in rural SC 100 years ago and the latter taking place in modern day Afganistan. I highly recommend both. It's so amazing to travel the world through books and learn about different cultures and time periods. Erik and I just started a great new book together called Living Spirituality by Greg Laugherly of Swiss L'Abri. We also found a lovely international church here to attend, and it seems every Sunday there is a visiting pastor from Africa.....a couple weeks ago a man from Zimbabwe spoke, and it was hilarious to see his enthusiastic, flamboyant style translated into Swedish by a typical reserved, hands-in-his-pockets Swede. He tried his best, and it was certainly humorous. :)

Last weekend Erik and I heard an amazing concert by Anders Widmark, a pianist who takes old Swedish psalms and creates experimental jazz masterpieces out of them. We bought cheap student tickets but somehow landed on the front row, literally 8 feet from the piano and able to see every beautiful movement of his hands on the keys and see the almost pained expression on his face as he played. It was heaven for any piano-lover, and I had such a sense of the creativity that is flowing through this world and which, despite all the talk of a meaningless, random universe, seems to scream of purpose and beauty and source.

I miss all of you back home and think of you so often. In just over a month i'll be flying home for Christmas and will stay for a glorious 3 weeks. There is nothing like traveling, despite the exciting discoveries, to make one appreciate home and old relationships.

Råmjölk and Wrinkled Farmers

2007-10-15T03:19:00.000-07:00

We (me, erik, his brother klas) went downtown sat. morning to check out a weekly market, which now that i've been i'm ashamed to have never been before! Not that it is a super steller amazing market, but it is more than i realized uppsala had, and here i've been all along....oh where oh where do i get local food....and every week the farmers were at this market. duh! anyway, it was mostly old people (interesting comparison to the US where farmer's markets are spilling over with young farmers) selling a few things on rikity tables, but i was delighted nonetheless. beets, potatoes, carrots, carved wooden butter spreaders crafted by the potato grower's barnbarn. (grandchild.....barn=child, get it?:), eggs, dried flower boquets, lots of mushrooms.....and at the end of the market's row of tables on an almost unnoticable crooked sign which i nearly walked by i read: Råmjölk. what?! raw milk in sweden? (i had just inquired about the legal status of raw milk recently and was told i'd need to go directly to the farm for an undercover transaction) i asked the wrinkled woman behind the sign how much and eagerly handed over my money. she handed me a one liter store brand carton covered in masking tape, wrapped in an old flour sack. I walked away feeling like i was carrying a very valuable, contraband substance. I loved the simplicity of the packaging....and how she felt no need to adorn her tasty milk with a fancy glass bottle or a carton with a farm logo on it. instead she reused....a step above recyling, and something we all need to do more of. (by the way, check out www.realmilk.com if you're interested in reading more about raw milk) And to finish the story, the milk was delicious, full of healthy cream, and i enjoyed the last drop this morning with my granola.

It is getting cold in Sweden, and I'm now fully realizing just how far north i am living. It snowed last week! It didn't stick, but the puddles were frozen for a few mornings last week. Brrr....although layering is fun, and i'm loving wearing striped socks atop cotton tights under a dress which is underneath 2 sweaters and a scarf.

Erik and i have been going to Hågaby (a village of sorts with solar panaled houses and a wonderful feeling of community living) every Sunday afternoon now for lunch and free music. It is wonferful and so interesting to hear how much music with southern-roots is played and loved here in Sweden. (gillian welch covers, banjos, folksy-sounds, songs with lyrics about places i know) I feel like i'm home a bit when i am there. and the food....we pay more than we normally would for this meal on sundays because it is so amazing. all ekological, homemade, vegetarian (though i think healthy meat is good for people, still, it's important to eat tons of veggies anyway) I got so full after this meal i thought i'd pop. a delicous root vegetable soup with a dollop of goat's cheese, foccacia bread with olvies and salt, a million fun salads: cooked beets with a yogurt sauce, chick peas with red onions and herbs, shredded carrot salad with seeds of all sorts, vinagered cabbage salad with feta cheese, hummus, brown rice, etc etc!

ok, time to end this. the sun is out and i feel seriously like i'm sinning when i am inside in sunny weather! klas calls erik and i "slaves of the sun" because any time it's shining, we are pulled outside and must bask in its light. so maybe we are, but with the dark, cold winter coming, we need to absorb all we can now!

the other side of things...

2007-09-29T05:27:00.000-07:00

I am feeling a bit dishonest lately....a bit guilty of showing only the rosy side of my life. Which is in fact, like everyone's life, often unrosy. Of course. For one example, the above picture shows a sweet little boy with his bear getting ready to go on an environmentally-friendly trip to his daycare. In reality, he was probably whining about having to leave the cozy, warm house and head out in the too-cold-for-early-september-morning for a windy bike ride. And though I love to cycle more than I can say, at the same time I'm sure come winter I won't feel so romantic about heading out to face head on whatever weather the day has brought.

Shall we dive straight into other topics which need some balancing words? Learning Swedish is a constantly entertaining experience, one where I can nearly feel my brain enlarging as new words enter my vocabulary through my eyes and ears and when they exit out of my mouth in confidence, the feeling is uniquely satistfying. At the same time, I wish i could read the paper without a dictionary in hand, the trouble of it causing me to give up halfway through the first paragraph of an article. I hate having to say "talar du engelska?" so often, espcially when it's something so simple like the comment of a friendly fellow dog-walker. And once they explain in nearly perfect-english (like every swede can speak) I think, "i KNEW that!" It's easy to feel left out and like even in march I still won't be able to understand the rapid, slang-infused vocabulary of people my age.

Sweden is beautiful, but in some ways not as charming as the rest of Europe. It has its industrial parts, its cars and big roads, its modern buildings and ugly space-looking houses built by modern swedish designer architects in the 70s. Sweden has a beautiful past of farms and self-sufficient living, of raising sheep, spinning wool, and masterful carpentry-work made from the bountiful forests of birches and asps. Yet in some ways it feels like Swedes today have forgotten this not so far away past and embraced head-on an identity of a modern, fashionable, industrial country. And sometimes I think I'd fit in better with the past. :) One more note on the scenery....young Swedes have a strange desire to paint graffiti on everything from the sides of buildings in cities to the otherwise cute playgrounds scattered everywhere here.

Either it is the cold weather, the consise nature of the Swedish language, or the fact that I'm comparing things to the sugary sweet hospitality of the American South, but people can initially seem a bit unfriendly here, a little standoffish. It's uncommon to get a "hej!" from a stranger sharing the same walking path as you, and I miss that daily human-interaction from even people you don't know personally.

And finally, living in another family and being a second mom is not always easy, and I often quote to myself my self-created mantra of "an au-pair's work is never done." It's hard to expect neat blocks of "on work" and "off work" time when you are living with a family who lives a typically busy, slightly crazy at times, life. And even if I wish they ate all organic food, whole grain bread, and composted more, it's not my family and one day I'll be able to make all those choices.

All in all, I love Sweden, I love my au pair family, and I want to have an open-mind about both the good and bad parts of a new land. I just felt obliged to balance my other blog posts for all you readers out there who were starting to think things were too perfect. they're not. so there.

fall has arrived

2007-09-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I have fallen short of the aspirations I had for blogging so faithfully and reflecting so thoughtfully on my life here. But partly I feel that I really live in Sweden now, and therefore, perhaps in a good way, I no longer feel that my news is terribly exciting or worth reporting. However, I shall write a few words now and try harder to be consistent for those of you who are waiting to read something from me.

The picture shown above is not there because i have been knitting so much, but more as a representation of the strong desire I have to be knitting and hopefully as an inspiration to myself. :) There is an amazing knitting store in town called Yll och Tyll...check it out at http://www.yllotyll.com/ if you are knitter.....you'll appreciate their amazing collection of wool and tasteful hand-knitted sweaters for sale.

I am really settling into my life here, and I truly enjoy it. The days are cool now and the leaves are turning, and I'm eating apples all the time because i can't resist them when I go for walks and notice them so perfect and red lying on the ground underneath these old trees....still faithfully producing such unimprovable fruit. I started my Swedish course on Tuesday, and I'll have it twice a week in the evenings for 6 weeks. I like my class....it is a really diverse group of people from all over the world who are just as unsure of this new language on their tongue as I am, so it's a lovely unintimidating environment to learn in. Actually, my teacher asked me yesterday, "hannah, är den här kurs för let till dig?" which means "is this course too easy for you?" and i was glowing and smiling so big inside that i'm sure she must've detected how proud i felt. :) I'm staying in the class though, because it's important to learn the right things from the beginning, but I am feeling thankful for the wonderful teacher I have had the past few weeks named Alexander Klum, age 2.5. Seriously, he has taught me a lot and I am at a fun place with this language, where I notice real improvements every day and I can get away with not having to say "talar du engelska?" in every conversation with a Swede. Just a couple interesting notes on Swedish....it is a easy language for English speakers to learn because it is also Germanic and the syntax is very similar to English. Plus, the Swedes like to be concise, so phrases are short. The words for grandmother and grandfather are wonderful because there is a differentation made for your mother's mother and father's mother, for example. Mor means mother, so mormor means your mom's mom, and farmor is your dad's mom. Same with farfar and morfar. Their is also sondotter and dotterdotter to explain your grandchildren as your son's or daughter's daughter, in this case.

I've been reading a bit from the small English book sectoin of the town library, and I finally finished book 4 in the series The Emigrants by Vilhelm Moberg. If you love anything Swedish, read these books!! They tell the story of a family who emigrated from Sweden to Minnesota in the 1850s and after following this family for 4 books I feel like I practically know them and of course I shed a couple tears when......well, i won't spoil it. I just started reading How Green is my Valley about a Welsch family in the 1930s, and I still feel so lucky to be able to read fun fiction after 4 years of being an English major where you have so much to read that there's never time for your own choices.

More to come later....I hope you are enjoying this time of the changing of seasons....i think fall feels: slow, crisp, cozy.

The End of Suburbia

2007-09-06T23:35:00.000-07:00

It struck me the other day how living outside of the US really gives one a unique perspective on it. I have another place now to compare to the American way of life, and this helps fight the tendency we all have to consider our own habits and lifestyles as the "norm" that we should always be entitled to have. This is especially important for those of us who live in developed countries and whose lifestyles are dependent on consuming as if there are no limits. Recently I started a course here in Sweden called "Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures." It has been amazing so far. The class consists of 50 students from probably 20 different countries, down to earth people who all want to learn about important issues facing us today.

We saw a film on Wednesday called The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream, and I highly recommend it if you can find a copy at the library. A trailer for it can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHr8OzaloLM. I won't say more about it, just that you should watch it!!

This issue of stewardship, of how we treat this lovingly created world, has been on my mind a lot lately. Since the industrial revolution, we have seen nothing but growth in the direction of bigger, faster, globalized economic growth in Western countries, but I cannot believe that this lifestyle will last forever. For more reasons than the obvious one of limited sources of non-renewable energy, we need to start living on a more local level: in regards to food production, shortening our commutes to work and school, and reviving local industry which has been lost in many places when Walmart moved in. Wendell Berry writes in his essay "An Argument for Diversity:"
In a varied and versatile countryside, fragile in its composition and extremely susceptible to abuse, requiring close human care and elaborate human skills, able to produce and needing to produce a great variety of poducts from its soils, what is needed, obviously, is a highly diversified local economy.

Anyway....more on this later. let me know your thoughts!

an update

2007-08-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like i've become a little lazy with the blog and i really have no great excuse. My life has become a bit busier lately, and the internet hasn't been working, so i guess those count for something. As Calvin said in response to this (imagine an overdone southern accent): "Darn Swedish internet service! I just knew it couldn't be as good as the 'Mericn kind."

I can't believe I have been here for a whole month now! I feel some days quite settled here, and other days it still feels so foreign. I have been living and working with my au pair family for 2 weeks now and we already love each other so much. I can't imagine having a better family. We really fit together, and as Hanna Klum (the mamma) said the other day, "what if you were the type that wanted to go out to the casino in Stockholm in your spare time?" Instead, I work in their garden and bake them apple cakes, which suits both of us so well. Alexander is too cute for words. Even though he has no idea who I really am or why i am here, he completely embraces my presence in his life, and asks for "hannawhite" when I am not home. :)

I have been cycling a lot, and now I'm borrowing Hanna's bike with the baby seat on the back so I'm sure I'm mistaken for a young mom, especially when I'm toting Alexander around on the back. :) I'm also manuvering my way around these Swedish highways in their manual car, which I am still quite a newbie at, and it makes the confusing signs and traffic rules even more complicated. But that is nearly the extent of my stresses here, so I have nothing to complain of.

I am taking Swedish for beginners through the folkuniversitet (literally's the people's univ.) which will begin in September, and I am looking forward to studying Swedish in a more formal way. For now, I am just picking it up as I go and jotting down some words on a list we've started specially to help me understand Alexander's vocabulary. I also found a course entitled "Global Challenges and Sustainable Futures" offered at Uppsala University for free which will meet every Monday night this fall and I hope will give me some intellectual stimulation. I hope it will also connect me with some like-minded students here to have friendships with.

A couple interesting notes beyond my everyday life.....it seems that Sweden is all about learning. There are countless ways to keep learning once one is out of college. Beyond the folkuniversities, which offer music, art, language, and other courses, unique to Sweden is something called a "study circle." This is a very informal, inexpensive gathering of 10 or so people who are interested in learning the same thing. I suppose one of the people in the course is more knowledgable than the rest, but as far as I know it is very much a group-learning experience. So if you want to learn to say, speak Italien or knit, you can join one of these circles! It seems like a nice idea to me, and a way to keep aquiring knowledge and skills of all kinds as you grow older.

Another note...in Uppsala people heat their homes and run the city busses on "biogas", a product produced when everyone's trash is burned. So they solve both the problems of waste/landfills, and the overuse of fossil fuels with this system. Nice.

The days have been lovely here.....the temp. is around 75, the blåbär (blueberrys), ligonberries, and mushrooms are in the forests available for the taking, and the apples are delicious and in abundance. Tomorrow Erik and I will go to a worship service being held in the forest. Once a year Uppsala has a kind of "skogen dag" (forest day) and in addition to this service there are some family activities going on. The forests here are amazing....the above picture is typical of here (white birches), but there are also forests with lots of pines, firs, and moss-covered stones. Today I took my hammock into the woods for a nap and when walking around afterwards in a sleeply state, I felt almost as if the forest itself eminated a sort of tranquil, fairy-land like potion on it's inhabitants. I can easily imagine now where all the great children's writers from Sweden got their inspiration for their books filled with scences from nature.
More later....Hej då for now!

a preview into my au pair life

2007-08-09T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have met my family. My new family, that is, the Klums, who I will be living and working for this year in Sweden. I have become so used to living in Erik's house and enjoying a vacation-lifestyle with his family that I've almost forgotten one of my major purposes in coming here. The days of soaking in the sun and doing whatever we what whenever we want are over, yet I am full of excited anticipation over this new phase in my life here.

Erik and I rode our bikes over to my future home last Sunday afternoon to have cake, coffee, and conversation with Hanna, Mats, Jonatan (13), and Alexander (2.5). Fredrika (16) is away with a cousin for the week. It was a delightful 2 hours together, and Erik and I rode away on our bikes grinning from ear to ear and exclaiming about all the things we'd been thinking but had contained in the presence of the Klums. Let me explain. This family has to be one of the kindest and most wonderful in Sweden, and are only warm, loving, and welcoming to me. Here I am, coming to work for them, taking care of their most dearest possesions (their children) and yet they seem only concerned with making my time here a comfortable and enjoyable one. They gave us a tour of their new home, which is actually an old home from the 1930s which they are renovating enough to make it livable but still keeping its character. The floors, wooden ceilings, old iron door fixtures, and secret-looking hallways and windows are gorgeous. My room is in a little house attached to the big house, but with its own entrance and own small kitchen. Hanna asked, "here, why don't you pick out the paint color since it's your place?" Outside my door is a small white wooden table with two chairs "for your morning coffee," and "you need a bike? oh, we can fix up one of ours for you." I went to sleep smiling that night just thinking how God often gives us beyond what we need.

That was a pleasant, calm time together, spent in grown-up conversation, getting to know each other and talking about my future work for them. On Tuesday I got a real idea of what my work will include: me and the 2 boys spent the day at this huge indoor/outdoor pool in Uppsala with hundreds of crazy swedish children and potential hazards (drowning, slipping on the hard floor, etc). I realized then just how important it will be for me to learn Swedish quickly, because little Alexander has no idea I do not speak his language, and only gives me blank stares if I try a few English words on him. Just trying to get his bathing suit on him was difficult, because there I was in the changing room, searching my brain for the word "bathing suit" and the words needed to convince him that we were at this really cool pool and if he'd only put his suit on we could go swim! In just a few hours I learned countless new words as he was bubbling over with comments about all he was seeing. (he LOVES to take baths apparently, so this was the ultimate water experience)

I will move for now into the Klum's old home, just a few houses down from Erik's, while we await more renovations. This will make the transition from Erik's basement to a whole 5 minutes bikeride away a bit easier, I suppose. :)

coffee in the rain

2007-08-01T00:26:00.000-07:00

To all who read my humble blog, I hope you're enjoying the news from Sweden. I could write forever about all I am seeing and thinking, but I'll try to keep this succinct. My days here so far have been nothing but lovely. The weather has been in the 60s and 70s, with an open, sunny sky and huge, soft clouds. I adore the Swedish countryside and don't think i'll ever grow weary of drinking it in.

Erik lives in an ideal location. In one direction you can walk to the small grocery store in 5 minutes. (which we do almost every day to buy the ingredients for dinner:) In another you can hop on your bike and be in the beautiful city of Uppsala, and in another you can walk straight into fields of wheat and dark forests with endless paths. A car is only needed in rare circumstances. Everyone, from the elderly to children to the punkiest 20-something, rides a bike, complete with a large basket for your groceries and other items, and a little bell to ring when you want to pass another cycler.

We have been spending the days having slow breakfasts on the porch, taking walks in the beautiful forests (they really have a magical feel about them....i'm sure i'll spend a whole blog on them later), riding bikes to town, and we have even been swimming! yes, for about 30 seconds today I endured the cold northern waters, and I thought longingly of the lakes at home which have such a perfectly mild temperature. Erik, Siri, his Mamma, and I took the car to a little "beach" today, spread our blankets on the grass, and had a lovely time lying in the not-too-hot sun, reading and drinking the dark coffee we brought along. (because we were eager to get to our desination this morning, the coffee and mugs were tugged along with us:) I couldn't quit smiling at the beach today, just watching all the Swedish children, blond and half-naked, engrossed in their child's play; climbing trees, finding oysters, freezing in the water. Sweden is really a family-country. There are always places provided for children to be; little tables at the cafe, a spot in stores for playing, and plentiful playgrounds.

Yesterday Erik and I picked all the red currants from his mother's bushes, and after eating a delicious pie made with a few of the berries, we froze the rest for the winter. We have now picked and eaten wild strawberries, rasperries, blueberries, and currants. The blueberries here grow nearly on the ground, not at all like at home on large bushes, and they are smaller and more tart. Other food news: The Swedes do love their coffee, and I've enjoyed the daily after-dinner cup, though I'm not yet able to drink it black. The yogurt here is very delectable, and somewhat of a cross between a plain yogurt and a sweet one. With a little jam in it in the mornings it is perfect.

My Swedish is coming along, and I'm being patient for the day when it subconsciously flows out of my mouth. Every day I understand a little more of the conversations around me and I am saying what I can in Swedish. Soon I will move in with my au pair family and I would like to speak mostly Swedish with the children, so that will improve it a lot. It is a humbling thing to not understand every word spoken around you, and I think it can be healthy to be able to relate to how isolated so many people in America must feel (illegal immigrant or not) when they don't speak English.

One more bit of news...the other day Erik and I biked to the organic food/home store and I purchased lettuce, spinach, and radish seeds and am hoping to get a small harvest before the winter sets in. I planted them in pots and it feels good to again watch things grow. I miss our garden at home and the huge harvests we were getting just as I left.

More news later....hej då for now!

p.s. the picture is from Stockholm where we spent the day on sunday

first day in sweden!!

2007-07-28T02:12:00.000-07:00

There is so much to say, and i'm not sure where to begin. i am well, and i write from erik's house in sweden. i had a safe and uneventful flight here on malaysian airlines, which comes with strange meals and flight attendents who wear traditional dresses and green eyeshadow. erik was waiting for me when i arrived in the beautifully scandinavian-designed stockholm airport. we ran to catch a train out to uppsala, and his mamma picked us up in town in their blue volvo station wagon. She is very kind and we're communicating in small ways through her english and my poor swedish.
My first impression of Sweden as the train passed through the countryside was that it really is as "Swedish" as I could have imagined. Does that make sense? The houses really are wooden and painted yellow and red, and flowers abound, and birch trees dot the landscape, and there really are berries everywhere! The Brattbergs home is so darling, with lots of light wood and white walls and books and houseplants. Everything is small, and European. We had a late breakfast when we arrived of delicious "ekologisk" (organic) yogurt, with homemade current jam and museli. And Erik made an awesome round loaf of bröd (bread) yesterday and we also had that with butter and good cheese. And coffee of course.
After lunch we took a walk and not 100 meters from his house are these wide open fields of wheat and pastures where sheep graze and several acres of community gardens.....which just made me drool and i loved seeing what is growing here. unfortunately, i didn't see many (ok, any) tomatoes, but there were lots of potatoes, dill, lettuce, onions, greens, flowers, and herbs. There are countless paths everywhere, and bikes abound. Klas, Erik, and I walked to the grocery store before dinner, and I knitted while the boys cooked a delious meal of salmon, asparagus, and boiled small potatoes all smothered with a buttery leek sauce. Siri came over after dinner so now i've met everyone in the family. More than ever I can't wait to improve my swedish, and I feel it will come quickly as it is all around me.
A few more interesting notes....there are little playgrounds everywhere, and wild apple trees, and the soil is dark black, and the sun set around 11 last night! There will be more news and some pictures to come. Today Erik and I will bike to town and see Uppsala! For now, coffee calls. I love and miss you all!

lists

2007-07-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know about every else out there, but I love making lists. Activities and events of all kinds make it on to my lists. Nothing is too insignificant to be written down. The daily "to do" lists are always nice, and it feels satisfying to cross each item off as the task is completed. The meal list and grocery list is a fun one to pour over, with cookbooks strewn around to get ideas from and with the garden's bounty always in mind. I'll admit I've gone too far. In eigth grade, my first in public school, I even wrote down what I wore each day so that I could reference my list and not commit the crime of wearing the same outfit within too short a time span. Thankfully I'm over that fear and now when I find a new combination to wear I can't seem to move on and I up wearing the same thing for days. :)

These days I'm working on my packing list for Sweden, and this is indeed one of the most exciting to make. As I write my list my mind drifts to all the exciting times ahead of me and the new places I'll get to see and smell and taste and feel. I must plan for several months, in a new climate, in a fashionable society, keeping in mind that it's not a third world country (i can buy things there if i forget something, for goodness sakes!) yet remembering how expensive it is (don't forget all the basics then have to fork over extra for shampoo and undies!). I want to keep it simple, yet not constantly wish when i was there that i had brought such and such book or picture or drawing supplies. For all you world travelers out there, what are the essentials included on your lists? What are the special luxeries you always like to bring along? And advice is welcome!

children's literature

2007-07-06T06:24:00.001-07:00

I am already in love with Elsa Beskow, though we've just become acquainted. She was a Swedish author who wrote and illustrated children's books in the first half of the 20th century. Since I met my Swedish boyfriend Erik and am now soon moving to Sweden myself, I have become mildly obsessed with anything Swedish. I know the grass seems (fill in the blank: greener, more special, beautiful, interesting, European) on the other side, but it really seems that a lot of what comes out of Sweden is just plain wonderful. A friend of mine named Janke, a fellow lover-of-all-things-Swedish, first introduced me to Beskow, and she showed me the old copies of the books (translated into Dutch as she is from Holland) that she read to her children. The books drew me in. Elsa Beskow's illustrations are simple and breathtaking. Her stories are rooted in nature and inspire children to romp around in the woods and use their imaginations.
I happened to find an old copy of Pelle's New Suit in the library the other day. It tells the tale of a little boy who shears his pet lamb, exchanges weeding in his grandmother's garden for her to spin the wool, chops the tailor's wood so he will make the suit, and in the end Pelle says to his lamb:
"Thank you very much for my new suit, little lamb."
"Ba-a-ah," said the lamb, and it almost sounded as if the lamb were laughing.

This story gives children important lessons about the process of making clothing, and it shows them the value of exchanging labor for labor instead of always paying money. Pelle didn't spend a dime on his new suit. Instead, he spent the whole day helping his grandmothers and neighbors, working hard and lessening their load in exchange for their skills (carding, spinning, weaving, sewing) on his suit.
Elsa Beskow has written many adorable children's books; check out Peter in Blueberry Land and Children of the Forest to see more of her work. Her books are definitely already on my (future) children's booklist. :)

the detailed hospitality of l'abri

2007-06-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

I imagine most people, like me, have felt the desire at some point in life to take time out to really rest... in every sense of the word. To feel no guilt in taking the time for quiet reflection. To consider what you are living for and what you really believe in the deepest part of you. Rarely is this yearning able to be realized, for we are always in the middle of a million things, and people need us and school and work calls us to continue plugging away at our lives at a faster pace. L'abri fellowship, a shelter for weary souls situated in the Swiss Alps, provides those who come with a unique opportunity to rest and reflect, and the atmosphere there is a large part of l'abri's ability to facilitate such rest. I am so thankful for the few months I spent at l'abri last fall, and I often remember those months with an impossible wish to be instantly transported back to that place and time. I won't for a moment pretend that 35 people living in one chalet isn't often loud with bursts of laughter and ping pong tournaments and hectic with meals for hungry 20-somethings involving pots of soup so big you could drown in them and 7 loaves of homemade bread. Yet, even with the hectic times there exists at l'abri a feeling that sitting and reading for several hours if desired is entirely appropriate and not at all a waste of one's time. Or that spending an evening knitting and listening to someone read aloud is a perfect idea, or that stopping for long, meaningful conversations during the day should occur regularly. In fact, though in our day to day lives we often experience guilty feelings for indulging in what may not be "official" important work, l'abri makes activities like sitting and talking with friends while sharing nibbles on a bar of chocolate seem like one's calling.

I think this aspect of life at l'abri is brought about partly by the way small things are given attention. This shows that nothing is too insignificant to deserve our time and effort. When I first arrived, weary from a long flight and a gorgeous train ride that forced my sleepy eyes to stay open, I was shown where I would sleep and I was struck with the neatly made bed I was directed to with a towel folded on the foot of it with a small piece of swiss chocolate on top of that. Someone had taken the time to prepare for my coming, and I felt welcome because of their effort. As I made my way into the main gathering room at l'abri, I was invited to join the other students for tea time, which i soon learned was a twice daily occurance. No matter how much work there was to be done, at 11:00 am and 4:30 pm, hot tea (black and herbal) with milk, sugar and cookies on the side, was served on a little cart which was wheeled out of the kitchen. Whoever was on work duty gathered at Chalet Bellevue to relax for 1/2 an hour. A ping-pong game often followed tea, and usually someone picked up a guitar to strum a little or sat at the piano to play. This first tea time immediately struck me as something to note for my future...something to include in my own life own day.

One of the first meals I helped prepare at l'abri was memorable because of the details involved. Every evening meal involved candles lit and the table set just so, but this late september evening we finished preparing the food early, so my friend merrie and i were sent on the important mission of collecting wildflowers for the table. As we hiked along the small roads and trails alongside the steep cow pastures, listening to the tinkering of cow bells and carefully searching for the last few flowers before the frost, I felt that there was nothing more pressing to be doing, nothing more urgent or significant than gracing the table with flowers. I imagined that Edith Schaeffer would have done just the same thing when she was there managing the meals. I believe that Edith largely created this atmosphere at l'abri of detailed hospitality, which most importantly involved caring about individual people. This is true hospitality. No matter what material things are able to be offered to a friend or stranger, a listening, caring ear and a loving word is what we all need most. L'abri managed to provide both listening ears and an atmosphere where beauty was valued, and for that i am thankful and inspired to do the same.

The Revolution will not be Microwaved

2007-06-08T14:17:00.001-07:00

I stole this title from a book by Sandor Katz, the talented author of Wild Fermentation who has recently published this second work. I am only on page 32, but already I have learned so much and his enthusiastic writing propells me forward. The book is about food, to say it succinctly, but its message reaches in its relevance to nearly all areas of our lives. He takes a close, and therefore often disheartening, look at the current state of food production and consumption in America. But he also tells the stories of grassroots movements which are making incredible changes in the way some people are eating.

I have been interested in food and in the organic farming movement for several years now, and I have spent 2 summers working on small scale, chemical-free veggie farms. When I first entered this world I experienced a huge epiphany that as I dug my fingers through the healthy soil and ate the strawberrys from plants I had carefully placed in the ground, went something like wow, i can really grow food all by myself! this isn't so complicated....plants want to grow, and....mmmm...this [insert: pesto, tomato sandwhich, stawberry rhubard jam] tastes amazing!! i am so dirty but i feel so happy and fulfilled and i have the skills to actually do things!

Now I feel a second epiphany coming on. As I become more educated in what is good for our bodies and souls and planet and as I gain more experience in the garden, I feel more sure of the absolute importance and central role that good food should play in our lives. In the past, everyone was involved in the history of the food on their plate. Less than a century ago people could not have comprehended the ease in which we can purchase and eat food today. Everyone had a garden, and people bought what they couldn't grow mostly from local farmers. One ate seasonally: radishes in the spring, tomatoes in the summer, and home-canned vegetables and potatoes in the winter. There were no semi-trucks bringing New Yorkers raspberries from California in February. Now we have been apparently freed from this drudgery of farming. We have the luxury of fast food restaurants around every corner and an endless supply of oil and cheap labor to bring us everything we want to eat at all times. I too enjoy convience and flexibility in my diet, but I sincerely believe that each of us should return to our agricultural roots in some degree or another and become participants and not merely consumers when it comes to our food.

There are so many reasons to start caring, grow a garden, and buy your vegetables in season at the farmer's market. I'll just mention one today to keep this blog from becoming a short novel. Our health is an obvious reason. Did you know that in 1989 the money Americans spent on healthcare surpassed what they spent on food? This alarming trend has continued to grow. It is not a surprising statistic when we consider that conventional, widespread agricultural methods today involve genetically altered plants and large amounts of pesticides, designed to kill plants, insects, and soil organisms. Is it shocking that cancer rates have soared the past 50 years as our use of chemicals in every day life has increased? And it makes sad sense that our food has few nutrients left in it when we realize that our food is laregly eaten in processed form and when "fresh" is still shipped from miles away and is days and weeks old when consumed. And beyond our own health we must consider the health of those involved in bringing us the out-of-seaons luxuries. Tomato pickers in South America who bring us this late-summer vegetable in the winter are often women, including pregnant and breast-feeding mothers who transfer pesticides from their hands to their babies, resulting in birth deformities and serious health problems in their young children. To end on a positive note, where changes are made and people in an area being eating more local, organic food, the results are real and exciting. Some schools in the US have school garden programs and connections with local farms, and when children are served fresh, local food, perfomances soar and behavior problems dwindle.

Stay tuned for more posts about food as I dig through this book and get inspired by the tomatoes growing in our garden at home.

un café, s'il vous plaît

2007-05-28T05:12:00.000-07:00

This being my first post and my first blogging attempt ever, I feel a sort of pressure to write in these few paragraphs something which perfectly defines me, or at least something serious in nature. However, I came across this photo of me and two friends at a café in Geneva, and ever since I cannot get my mind off of the subject of coffee, specifically my coffee experiences in Europe. So I will give in, though this does not mean that coffee, per se, is the defining element of my life. On the other hand, it is of utter importance, and in the last several months I have grown increasingly picky in my coffee tastes and in my desire for the perfect experience surrounding its consumption.

While living in tiny Huémoz, Switzerland last fall, I came to know and love the perfect cup of coffee which was served at any café I would enter. First to note is that not once when entering a café was I served coffee in a paper "to go" cup. Instead, the delightful sound of the clinking of real cups and saucers would greet my ears when I stepped inside, and I feel that drinking out of authentic dishes really does add to the enjoyment and flavor of one's drink. These cups were never too big either, as the above photo exemplifies. Good, strong, almost creamy in nature coffee never needs a extra tall grande whatever size cup to prove its worth. Each café had unique cups, usually white but with a small, cute design of some sort painted on it. Beside the coffee on the saucer would always lie something special and small, either a tiny biscuit or even better, a piece of Swiss chocolate.

Since returning from Europe a few months ago, I began to be immediately dissatisfied with the typical coffee I was served here in the States. Too big, too watery, no cute cups, no cute foreign waiter who comes to you while you relax at your table, and no chocolate. Even when I tried to make that perfect cup of coffee at home, it just wasn't the same. I wanted something like a cross between a very strong, rich espresso, and a regular coffee. To my rescue came my wonderful Swedish boyfiend Erik, who without knowing of my dire situation, purchased a stovetop espresso maker for me for no special occasion complete with a milk frother and espresso grounds (from Sweden, so I got to look at the cool writing on the can for the....umm...2 weeks that it lasted). All semester long I never ceased to be delighted with my new morning ritual. Roll out of bed, get dressed for class, and head to the kitchen to get my espresso started. After the water and grounds are placed in the maker, it is set on the stove and after a few minutes the dark gold comes flowing into the top part of the beautiful silver contraption as a result of steam pressure. I heated whole milk on the stove to froth and add to the espresso so as to bring the creamy side out of the drink and squelch any bitterness. I know I'm a little wimpy to add milk to my espresso. In Italy I got such disappointing looks from the café workers when I would request cream.

But drinking coffee is about much more than the flavor on your tongue. Just as important is the social factor involved. Though coffee is always enjoyable in solitude, there is something so perfect about slowing down, sitting down with friends, and enjoying a few minutes of chatting over coffee. Granted there are days we don't have that luxury. But I believe that it should be more common than not to have those moments during the day where we set aside our work and enjoy the sweet fellowship of friends, only made better by the parfait café.