Lizardek

27
Jun
2019

HOT ENOUGH FOR YA?

Today is cool and overcast with a pillowy, layered duvet of clouds above us but it’s still summer. It’s still warm enough for Capri pants and short sleeves but maybe not for sandals. Yesterday and the day before that, and the day before that, were HOT. Over 30C which is close to 90 in Monopoly temps. And humid, too, which made Barky completely flip out. Last year in Sweden it was hot early and May set records for sunshine and high temps. It was also a record year for forest fires, unfortunately, since there were so many days without rain....

24
Jun
2019

SWEDISH EVERY WHICH WAY

If the first part of this year is any indication…heck, if the first part of this LIFE is any indication, the rest of this year will fly by and I’ll be left gaping at the fact that it’s Christmas time YET AGAIN. I’ve been gone for 2 weeks and even though I managed to post quickly last Monday before we zoomed off again to Stockholm for a week of city and sun and Swedishness, it feels like I’ve not really had a chance to sit down and gather my thoughts here. We had a lovely week, despite some bobbles at...

17
Jun
2019

BLINK AND YOU’LL MISS IT

I came back to Sweden in full summer swing. It’s midsummer week and everything is full-blown green and blooming here. Even the roses started exploding while I was gone. I had a simply fantastic week in Seattle. The weather was drop-dead PERFECT (though I confess I missed most of it as I was indoors all day during the week for the conference). I came out of my flight to find mom already arrived and waiting for me last Saturday and we got to the hotel just in time to find a place to eat and then unpack and relax. I...

04
Jun
2019

PRACTICALLY PERFECT IN EVERY WAY

On Saturday, I’m flying to a place I’ve always wanted to visit but actually kinda never thought I’d make it to. I’m past 50 so you know the list of places I’d like to see is getting more and more improbable. I’m not sure why I’ve always thought it would be cool to visit Seattle. It’s a big city and it has what seems to be a cool vibe, and it’s on the west coast in the Pacific Northwest, which I’m partial too after visiting my best friend in Oregon a couple of times, but other than that, I just...

27
May
2019

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, THEN UP

We voted yesterday in the EU elections, but honestly, after hearing the results of elections all around the world, I wonder why we bother…I don’t feel like it makes any difference against the rising wave of nationalism, populism, right-wing rhetoric. Everyone I know expresses outrage and despair that the right-wing parties are gaining such ground, but SOMEONE must be voting for them. GAH. I really hope it doesn’t take a world war, climate explosion (beyond crisis) and a couple of generations to turn the tide again. Karin and I got her taxes done last week and I took them to...

20
May
2019

POPPING IN

I didn’t mean to disappear but first Karin came home and then Martin came home and we had all these things to do and here it is, only a week and a half later, but it feels like much longer. Anders was gone all last week, too…he left the day before Martin came home, on a work trip. He came home on Thursday and I’ve been kind of reveling in having all my babies at home together. We even watched Eurovision together as a family! (If you count the fact that a great deal of the time, someone was on...

08
May
2019

IF YOU WANT ME TO TREAT YOUR IDEAS WITH MORE RESPECT, GET SOME BETTER IDEAS*

I got involved in an interesting conversation the other day among a bunch of online writer friends, and have been thinking about it on and off all week. I’m putting it all down here because it’s an important conversation for me and I don’t want it lost on FB. One friend posted about someone (a friend) who had been spouting lots of rather repulsive opinions and my friend, who was only trying to relay what had happened and how he had felt about it, ended by saying that the guy was entitled to his dumb opinions. I didn’t know it...

04
May
2019

PRODIGAL

Karin’s trip to South America was 2/3’s done this past week. She and the girls were in Bolivia and heading from Lake Titicaca to La Paz for a couple of days last we talked. It’s been great that they have all been so good about posting on Instagram every couple of days and she has also texted us quite often and we’ve talked via Messenger almost every week. Helps to keep the distance a little smaller. After the mid-week holiday, we came back to crazy busy at work, as usual. Thursday felt like a Monday and one of my teammates...

01
May
2019

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

Just now, under the bird feeder, pecking up dropped sunflower seeds: a big, well-fed ring-necked pheasant strutting and bobbing his head, and a tiny-in-comparison golden-beige Eurasian collared dove. I had to look up the dove as I wasn’t sure exactly which breed it was; we don’t see them very often. We get pheasants almost daily, both the big male and a full harem of smaller, browner females that scuttle over to sweep up seeds and then dart back to the safety of the hedge. I’ve only got sunflower seeds left and not that many of them; the season for feeding...

28
Apr
2019

WHAT LIFE IS LIKE AROUND HERE

Ahhh…what is there to write about? My life seems to be sliding along. It’s already the end of April, and I continue to boggle at how quickly the time goes. I had dinner with my two best friends yesterday and all of us were kind of feeling the same way. Every year goes faster and the time spent getting from one event to the next seems to disappear. None of us could really articulate how to slow it down, either, so I guess you just enjoy the ride, in that case. It’s all the usual here, with little bits of...

May 2024
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