Just a couple of things that are on my mind today...
First, I am blown away by the kind and generous people I know! As you know, I'm raising money for St. Baldrick's Foundation - for cancer research. I ambitously set my goal at $1500 thinking that I might not make it but would give it a good try. I started to fund raise on January 1 and as of today, January 18th, I'm over half way to meeting that goal! I feel confident that I will make it and I have just been amazed at how many people have stepped up to back me on this! It's been overwhelmingly gratifying so far and I can only imagine that when March 16th comes and I get my head shaved it will be one of the best days of my life! I'm so looking forward to it. And if you had asked me last year at this time if I would ever look forward to having my hair shaved off I would have thought you were insane!
Second, my last trip to Sweden was one that was kind of up and down. I wasn't feeling that great while I was there - bad pain in my shoulder and an infected toe! But there were some parts of it that were amazing. Seeing my father in law and driving through the countryside where Alex grew up was the best! After coming home, I was thinking it would be a while before I would want to go back but now I'm longing to be there again. I've been reading the Local - Sweden and looking at old photos and chatting with my Swedish friends. My friend Gittan is there right now. She was born there and now live in Port Alberni, Canada and this is the first time she's been home in a long time. I can't wait to see her photos. She's a professional photographer and I'm sure they'll be spectacular and I'm sure they'll make me want to get back to Sweden sooner rather than later!
So that's what's on my mind! What's on yours?
Showing posts with label longing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label longing. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2013
Thursday, August 9, 2012
It's what's on my mind so it's what you get...
In two days I will be going to Sweden. I'm so damn excited I can think of little else and, frankly, these last two days are going to be a blur. Though we're going there for a very serious reason - to help my father-in-law pack up his apartment as he moves into an assisted living place - I'm still looking forward to being in, what I believe, is one of the most wonderful countries on the planet.
I fell in love with Sweden the very first time I ever went there. That was back in 2006, I think. It was November so it was the dark season. In Sweden, they get dark winter days and nights. All of my pictures from that trip look like they were taken at night but most were taken in the afternoon. Still, I fell in love with how beautiful the place was. Every single window, from every apartment, had a lit star hanging in the window. The lights illuminated the winter night and with quiet snow falling it was the coziest winter scene I've ever seen. I was hooked.
I was also taken aback by the cleanliness of the entire place. I didn't really see any garbage in the streets and very little graffiti. In fact, I kind of got the feeling that the Swedes themselves would never graffiti up a building but rather the graffiti was there by the hand of newer immigrants. I was amazed to walk through the subway stations and see complete murals and statues, close enough touch, without a mark on them. That would never happen in the US.
I returned to Sweden a couple of years later. This time, in the summer months. As beautiful as my winter trip had been I have to admit my summer trip was breathtaking! Stockholm is built on 14 islands in an archipelago. Everywhere I went there were open green spaces and water lit by glistening city lights. You can swim right in the city center and the water is clean. Really clean. Swedes pride themselves on being one of the "greenest" countries in the world. Water and air pollution are at a minimum. Swedes recycle with a vengeance. And the penalties for not recycling are harsh. But the thing is, the people understand that it is for the good of all so there is not a problem with people choosing not to do it. They just do it. Because it's the right thing to do.
During my summer trip I was lucky enough to really get to explore. I went to the island of Gotland and visited the ancient Viking city of Visby where Swedish history is so thick you can feel it. It was green and lush and surrounded by the Baltic Sea where I got to swim in it's cold waves and laughed my ass off at being tossed about by those waves. I marveled at the blueness of the Swedish summer sky. In the summer, Sweden has long sunlit days and Swedes know how to take advantage of every single minute of that daylight. I was awed by Sweden's natural beauty and I vowed that one day I would live there.
Lucky for me, I married a Swede! Of course my interest in Sweden begins with meeting my husband. But once I embraced the Swedish way, the land and language, the beauty and the city life, I knew that it was the place for me. I felt at home in Sweden right away, from that very first trip. I felt like I belonged there. I don't have a single drop of Swedish blood in me so I don't know exactly where these feelings come from but I do know that Sweden is calling me.
And so, on Sunday, I'm boarding a plane. I'll be there for ten days. Not long enough but it will have to do for now. IN the meantime, we work to save what we will need to finally call Sweden our home. It's a big dream but I feel deep down that we will get there.
I fell in love with Sweden the very first time I ever went there. That was back in 2006, I think. It was November so it was the dark season. In Sweden, they get dark winter days and nights. All of my pictures from that trip look like they were taken at night but most were taken in the afternoon. Still, I fell in love with how beautiful the place was. Every single window, from every apartment, had a lit star hanging in the window. The lights illuminated the winter night and with quiet snow falling it was the coziest winter scene I've ever seen. I was hooked.
I was also taken aback by the cleanliness of the entire place. I didn't really see any garbage in the streets and very little graffiti. In fact, I kind of got the feeling that the Swedes themselves would never graffiti up a building but rather the graffiti was there by the hand of newer immigrants. I was amazed to walk through the subway stations and see complete murals and statues, close enough touch, without a mark on them. That would never happen in the US.
I returned to Sweden a couple of years later. This time, in the summer months. As beautiful as my winter trip had been I have to admit my summer trip was breathtaking! Stockholm is built on 14 islands in an archipelago. Everywhere I went there were open green spaces and water lit by glistening city lights. You can swim right in the city center and the water is clean. Really clean. Swedes pride themselves on being one of the "greenest" countries in the world. Water and air pollution are at a minimum. Swedes recycle with a vengeance. And the penalties for not recycling are harsh. But the thing is, the people understand that it is for the good of all so there is not a problem with people choosing not to do it. They just do it. Because it's the right thing to do.
During my summer trip I was lucky enough to really get to explore. I went to the island of Gotland and visited the ancient Viking city of Visby where Swedish history is so thick you can feel it. It was green and lush and surrounded by the Baltic Sea where I got to swim in it's cold waves and laughed my ass off at being tossed about by those waves. I marveled at the blueness of the Swedish summer sky. In the summer, Sweden has long sunlit days and Swedes know how to take advantage of every single minute of that daylight. I was awed by Sweden's natural beauty and I vowed that one day I would live there.
Lucky for me, I married a Swede! Of course my interest in Sweden begins with meeting my husband. But once I embraced the Swedish way, the land and language, the beauty and the city life, I knew that it was the place for me. I felt at home in Sweden right away, from that very first trip. I felt like I belonged there. I don't have a single drop of Swedish blood in me so I don't know exactly where these feelings come from but I do know that Sweden is calling me.
And so, on Sunday, I'm boarding a plane. I'll be there for ten days. Not long enough but it will have to do for now. IN the meantime, we work to save what we will need to finally call Sweden our home. It's a big dream but I feel deep down that we will get there.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Longing for my beloved Sweden...
So here I am married to a full blooded recently displaced Swede who I would have thought by now would be somewhat homesick for the mother land. Maybe he is but Swede's don't always talk about how they feel. I, on the other hand, am absolutely DYING to book a flight and get the heck outta Dodge! I want to go to Sweden so badly right now that I find myself spending time scouring the Internet for Swedish news, Swedish information, Swedish pictures, Swedish real estate, etc. I've been looking over the photos I have from past trips and remember each moment fondly.
Dammit, I want to be there.
I can't really explain why I love Sweden so much. From the first time I was there, for a short two week trip in the winter when it was mostly dark, I loved it. My love was amplified when I returned in the summer months when it was warm and the bright days lasted well past bedtime. There is such a blend of old and new there. Such an appreciation for culture and art and literature and creativity and self expression yet there is a sensibility there too that keeps things practical, clean and useful.
You'd be hard pressed to find anything you could describe as excessive in Sweden. Except for perhaps the excessive natural beauty of the landscape - even in the big cities. There is a melding of the green and growth and civilization that is important to everyone. I did not see any blight when I was there. I saw urban areas surrounding by parks, trees and water. I saw trains running past open sky and over water. I rode buses into the wooded areas which existed right next to the residential areas. The Swedes just get it, you know? They don't tear things down and make things sterile. They celebrate their heritage and make the new stuff work alongside the old. All while looking to the future.
Yeah, I love the place. I love the people. I wish I was leaving tomorrow!
Dammit, I want to be there.
I can't really explain why I love Sweden so much. From the first time I was there, for a short two week trip in the winter when it was mostly dark, I loved it. My love was amplified when I returned in the summer months when it was warm and the bright days lasted well past bedtime. There is such a blend of old and new there. Such an appreciation for culture and art and literature and creativity and self expression yet there is a sensibility there too that keeps things practical, clean and useful.
You'd be hard pressed to find anything you could describe as excessive in Sweden. Except for perhaps the excessive natural beauty of the landscape - even in the big cities. There is a melding of the green and growth and civilization that is important to everyone. I did not see any blight when I was there. I saw urban areas surrounding by parks, trees and water. I saw trains running past open sky and over water. I rode buses into the wooded areas which existed right next to the residential areas. The Swedes just get it, you know? They don't tear things down and make things sterile. They celebrate their heritage and make the new stuff work alongside the old. All while looking to the future.
Yeah, I love the place. I love the people. I wish I was leaving tomorrow!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
A sigh of relief and dreams of far away...
I'm in one of my moods. We've been going through an audit at work and blah blah blah...I spent so much time dealing with that today I can't even write about it. The real thing on my mind is that I just don't want to be here anymore. No, not not here as in not existing...I mean not here as in not here in Wisconsin anymore.
Now that there is a definite plan to eventually move to Sweden I want it to happen now. But it can't. So my very impatient inner child is having a temper tantrum. I know, I know...we're getting closer. But closer means it's still a couple of YEARS away and, dammit, that's too long!! I mean, it's in sight but still so far out of touch. So I scour the net for Swedish news and music and articles and photos and contact my Swedish "family" and watch the DVDs they send me and talk to my Swede several times each day and then...wait.
I have pictured in my mind how it will be so many times that it is almost palpable. I can see it. I am there. At least in my thoughts. And my heart. I can tell you, the day we pack up the last of whatever it is we will send ahead of us and then get on that plane will be the happiest day of my life. I want it now. NOW!
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