Maria Hammarblad's Blog, page 4

The old saw mill in the woods

 If 2020 has brought something good, it is that I have been forced to find new forms of entertainment. The things I used to do are no longer feasible, and instead the dogs and I have been exploring the woods in my area. 

Sweden is huge and sparsely populated and you can walk around for a long time without meeting anyone. (Heck, some days you can drive for a long time without meeting another car.) For a Floridian the idea of venturing off the asphalt may sound terrifying, but we don't have any really dangerous animals, and if you walk past a dilapidated building it's probably just as empty as it looks.

The other day, we came across this. I don't know if it's still used for something, I hope it is, and it's pretty cool.

The old saw in the woods

 If 2020 has brought something good, it is that I have been forced to find new forms of entertainment. The things I used to do are no longer feasible, and instead the dogs and I have been exploring the woods in my area. 

Sweden is huge and sparsely populated and you can walk around for a long time without meeting anyone. (Heck, some days you can drive for a long time without meeting another car.) For a Floridian the idea of venturing off the asphalt may sound terrifying, but we don't have any really dangerous animals, and if you walk past a dilapidated building it's probably just as empty as it looks.

The other day, we came across this. I don't know if it's still used for something, I hope it is, and it's pretty cool.

New facemask day, lol!

When I lived in Florida I once accidentally entered my bank without taking off my sunglasses. A security guard appeared in like half a second, asking me to rectify the situation. I apparently look enough like a bankrobber to make getting my whole face and eyes caught on camera vital. Hmm...

Anyway, 2020 changed all that. We don't have a mask mandate in Sweden - our government still doubts the good a mask can do and claim wearing them will just make Swedes fidget with their faces. I guess they know something the rest of the world doesn't... *cough* But from what I hear people in the USA wear them all the time everywhere.

A year ago you couldn't enter businesses with your face covered. Now you can't enter without having your face covered. Go figure...

I've been thinking of getting some cool washable cloth masks. And when I purchased a new winter coat, the company included a complimentary face mask.

I appreciate the thought, but it isn't exactly my style. 😆

Happy Halloween. Just a little early.

2020 won't be a year for trick-or-treating. Not a year for knocking on people's doors. I'm still putting some decorations up, and we're preparing for an event at my local cat rescue. It will be a ghost path through the woods, so it's outdoors and people can keep their distance to each other. Not the same as trick-or-treating, but a reasonable substitute.

One of my pumpkin vines gave a mini pumpkin. They're called "Baby Boo" and SO cute! I gave it to the dragon who sleeps in my bookshelf. If ze ever wakes up, the pumpkin will be a great snack!

Have a safe and wonderful holiday when it arrives. Live Long and Prosper! (Okay, maybe a little corny, but sounds cooler than saying "I hope you don't catch the virus.")

Before and afters

Swedish cottages and houses - and Sweden overall - look very different from large parts of the USA, so I wanted to share some photos from the vacation home I just started renting. It's off-grid, so electricity comes from a solar power with a battery bank. It works well, but is also a good lesson in preserving energy. Water comes from a well.

I found some mentions of the property on a historical site. It's mentioned in the 1830s, and at that time at least six people lived in the house. Probably more, because one is mentioned as "with family." The house is tiny! It was used as a year-round home until 1936.

The very first mention found is from 1696, but at that point it was probably another building.

I painted the kitchen. This is before...

...and after.

The dogs love the living room sofa. 




One of the previous tenant built this sauna. By hand. How awesome is that!

Fall sunset on the way down from the mountain. 

I dream of spring!

Dreams coming to fruition

Everyone has dreams, visions, and fantasies, but they differ wildly between us. The question is - which are worth turning into goals? What do you really want?

One of my dreams for many years has been a summer house. Not a big and flashy thing, but a small, red cottage in the woods. Close to a lake would be good, but still remote enough for the dogs to be able to run around, and far enough away to grant peace and quiet to read and write. With a decent road to it, so it's possible to drive there.

Sweden is a country where small red cottages are in abundance. They're everywhere. If you drive on a Swedish road, any Swedish road, you will see many. They even line the streets of many towns. 

This photo is typical us. I found it online and can't tell you which town it's from, because so many look just like this. (There's an explanation to why houses in this country tend to be red, but I'll tell you that story another day.)

Unfortunately, wanting one is genetically programmed in Swedes, and they're quite expensive. I've looked for one to buy ever since I moved back here, and they're more expensive than my house.

This year I've doubted my plan. At this point in time I may not be able to handle another house. But, if I found one to rent I wouldn't have to worry about roofs, chimneys, or other similar things an owner has to deal with.

I started browsing listings online, and at first it seemed hopeless. Most people rent their cottages out on a weekly basis, and I wanted a long-term lease. Something that would be like mine, even though it wasn't mine. 

Then, a cottage with annual rent showed up in the feed.

I went to see it yesterday, and it is perfect. It's a mile or so into the woods - but there's a drivable road to it. Bigger than I expected, but not too big. It's surrounded by beautiful nature where the dogs and I will be able to stroll around. Reasonable annual rent and really nice owners.

Even better: there is a lake nearby, and the owners have a small rowboat I'm welcome to use. The dogs will be able to go for a swim if they want to. And funny enough, great cell phone reception. 

I'll get access to it in October when the current tenant has moved out, so I will have some time to get everything in order before winter comes and my car won't be able to get there. (A previous tenant lived there year round and purchased a tractor to get to and from the cottage, but I will settle for the snow-free months for now, lol.)

I'm really excited about this. I can almost smell the forest. And, I can't wait to take my telescope out there!  I see more stars from my home in Sweden than I did in Bradenton. I bet there will be even more visible at the cottage where there aren't any city lights nearby. 

What a strange year this has been...

2020 has been long and strange, and it is far from over. Besides the obvious with COVID-19, hurricane season is just getting going, with two systems entering the Gulf at once. And, there's a US election coming up in just a couple of months. 

After Trump saying he isn't sure he'll leave the White House willingly even if he loses, attempting to not have an election but just remaining without a vote, talking about his "third term," and sabotaging the USPS to prevent people from voting, I'm both worried and curious to see what will actually happen. I've heard quite a few analysts on the news saying the USA is teetering on the edge of dictatorship. I am concerned they may be right.

Looking away from the big picture, I've been working, and enjoying time with my pets. I'm a very lucky lady, being surrounded by so much furry love. I don't think I have all that many - just two dogs and two cats - but turns out, people assume all animals in this village belongs to me. 

"Why does your dog howl so much? Can you stop it from howling so much?"

"That's not my dog. It lives over there."

"Oh, you have a new cat? You should keep it indoors."

"Yeah, that's not my cat."

Kind of funny, actually. 

At work, my current project is:

Cats and dogs in space! It will be a virtual night to remember in November. Check out www.spcaflorida.org/starpaws for information on how you can join. 

I'm also working on Conscripted - or should be - but there's mostly gardening in my head. I have a big yard, so one area has the time to get out of hand while I'm working on another. I've been clearing off a portion that used to be shrubs and nettles, trying to make it more friendly and accessible. (I know, nettles are great for insects, but there's an entire forest adjacent to my back yard, so I don't feel too bad about domesticating my little portion.)

I'll try to come back with a more coherent update soon. I just realized I haven't posted here for a long time, and I should let people know I'm okay. :-) 

That's not what "leave me alone" means...

There's a super annoying guy in my village. I've been trying to be patient with him - he has some form of brain damage - but at this point in time, my patience is wearing thin. I keep telling him to leave me alone, but I'm starting to think he doesn't know what it means.

It all started when I got a friends request on Facebook from someone in my village. I accepted and forgot about it. Then, he started sending long, rambling messages, and I felt like this was going in a direction I wasn't comfortable with, so I responded that I am a very busy person and I want to be left alone.

He kept sending messages, I ignored them, and every now and then he sent a message asking why I wasn't responding.

The first time, I explained how my life works, that I can't be the friend he's looking for, and that I want him to leave me alone.

He kept writing, I kept ignoring him, and he kept asking why I wasn't answering. Every time I wrote back, "I've have asked you to leave me alone. Please leave me alone."

I finally blocked him on Facebook.

He started showing up at my office, tried to make me invite him over for Christmas, asked me to come over and clean his windows, follows me around the stores, and lately he has started showing up at my house.

He also keeps trying to get to walk my dogs. They're too strong and wild for him - he'd lose them in about five seconds. It's not happening.

It's driving me crazy.

What do you do when a person doesn't understand "leave me alone" - no matter how many times you say/write it? How do you get rid of them?

I've had people follow me around the village before, like that guy a couple of years ago who came to my office every day, but my home is MY space. I need people to accept that.

I shouldn't yell at him, because if he doesn't have the mental capacity to understand "leave me alone" he won't understand the words shouted at him any better, but I'm going to snap soon and yell anyway.

I don't want to be his friend. I don't want him in my life. That sounds really mean in writing, but it's still true.

How would you handle this?

March had 330 days...

I saw a meme on Facebook about 2020. It's an unusual leap year: February had 29 days, March around 330, and April is five years long. Completely true - and I guess it proves that time is relative.

Even though the months are very long, I haven't been here on my blog for some time. My mom died from the virus a couple of weeks ago. She was in an assisted living facility, and they closed them to visitors the day before she fell ill. So when the nurse called to tell me, they couldn't let me come visit her. I thought it would be possible to suit up in something and be with your loved ones the last few days, at least hold her hand and let her hear my voice, but that was a firm no.

I also thought they'd take the elderly to the hospital if they fell ill, but that was in the old world. In this new and improved (???) world, elderly persons get to stay where they are. If they're strong enough to make it, they make it.

We're not having a funeral at this point in time - in Sweden you're still allowed to have groups up to 50 people, but I will not risk making this worse. Just imagine putting all remaining relatives in the same room... Not happening. There's a memorial area by mom's favorite church in her home village, and when summer comes we'll spread her ashes there. It will be outside, and maybe by then the situation will have calmed down enough for people to be able to meet.

It's surreal. I haven't even been able to go to the facility to gather her things.

In media, there are many discussions about how Sweden has chosen to handle the virus. We haven't had a major lockdown; just guidelines for social distancing. Some international media make it sound like life here goes on as usual - that is not true - but we have fewer restrictions than many others.

I think we've been right about some things - you can only quarantine people for so long, and it isn't possible to shut a society down for as long as it will take for this to blow over.

I also think we've been wrong about some things - our health officials have taken many international findings with a shrug and refused to acknowledge information until it was too late. For instance, that asymptomatic persons can be carriers and infect others.

Many try to compare other nations with the "Swedish Model." That is unfair to leaders all over the world - our societies, habits, and peoples are so different at the best of times. In Sweden, we have a certain amount of faith in our leaders, and we're fairly good at following advice from the authorities. They've told us it's best to stay a couple of meters apart, and many of us practically self-quarantine. Stores offer hand sanitizer and gloves at the entrances, and have marked out appropriate distances on the floor. Without being ordered to do so.

How are things going where you live? Are you worried about society reopening? Looking forward to it? Tell us all about it!

Apparently, I have shit for brains. Or so I've been told, lol.

I know arguing with people online is pointless, but I still sometimes fall for the temptation to try to explain. The person on the other side may be unwilling to understand, but I hope someone else will be helped.  

Yesterday, I gave up on explaining after being informed that I have shit for brains. That may be so, but the only way we currently have to contain the spread of Covid-19 is for people to limit interactions and stop traveling.

Preventing Americans from gallivanting off to neighboring nations is not done because of some form of reverse racism or to make Trump look bad - it's to stop the spread of a potentially lethal pandemic.

Seriously, during my lifetime we have never had closed borders between Sweden, Norway, and Finland. The mere idea would have been preposterous. Today, it's a fact. It doesn't mean that Finns no longer like Swedes or that Swedes and Norwegians have developed a sudden quarrel - it means that people need to stay put.

Now when that's settled... ;-)

No matter what your favorite leader says, this situation will not be resolved in two weeks, or by the end of April. Even if the virus were to "suddenly go away" it's likely to come back, because history shows us that pandemics tend to come in waves. The Spanish Flu for instance affected people on and off for three years.

No matter where you are right now, or whether you're under a shelter-in-place order or just told to practice a physical distancing to other people, try to find a mindset where you can ride this out long-term.

Absolutely hope for a vaccine, but be aware that developing vaccines is a lengthy process. (Yes, we get flu vaccines quickly, but this isn't a flu.) I don't think we'll see a vaccine this year. Maybe in 2021.

Long before that, I think and hope we'll see antiviral remedies that can help the people who fall really ill. I also think and hope we will have a convenient way to test if people already had the infection.

I personally don't think this is a type of disease where we will develop a long-term immunity, but I'm a science fiction writer and not a virologist, so what I think may not be relevant. Even if I'm right, people might be immune for at least a couple of years.

That means, if we can test to see if people already had the virus, a bunch of us may be able to go back to work - keep society going and care for those still at risk.

It is definitely tempting to call for shelter-at-home orders and quarantines - there have been times during the past few weeks where I have longed for being ordered to stay at home, because it would make it easier for me to justify my decision to do so. Though, it isn't feasible to keep entire populations locked in their homes for six months or a year. A couple of weeks, sure, but you have to know that the virus will still be out there, so life won't return to normal just like that.

This sounds like doom and gloom in writing, but at this point in time, I think realistic expectations will help all of us cope with what's ahead. We're clever beings, we can adapt and get through this!

And, there's always this great video from Lady Flufferton!