Tagged: martinbean

08
Nov
2021

GIGGLING AND GRAVESTONES

This past Saturday was All Saints Day (also known as All Hallow’s Day) here in Sweden. It was late this year, falling on November 6. A lot of older Swedes are against Halloween simply because when it falls on a Saturday, which means it is ALSO All Saints Day, the sacredness of the holiday is overshadowed by the newfangled ridiculousness of an American holiday which “doesn’t even belong here”. So I’m always glad when Halloween doesn’t hit All Saints Day. What’s really super confusing is that there are TWO All Saints Days, both of which are celebrated in Sweden. One...

18
Sep
2021

PRODIGAL SON

Martin left North Carolina on Tuesday. Mom, Sarah and Bryce drove him to the airport, a couple of hours early, so that he could get his extra bag registered and make sure everything was squared away. He had gotten a rapid COVID test the day before (negative) and downloaded 2 Audible books for the trip. Everything went super smoothly and he kept us all informed by text messages at every step of the way. When he got to London on Wednesday morning, it turned out that his flight to Copenhagen had been moved slightly and was departing about an hour...

11
Sep
2021

JUST A FEW THINGS, AFTER A FEW WEEKS

Oy! That’s what you get, I suppose, when you get back to work and regular routines. Suddenly, 2 weeks have whipped by and you haven’t written a thing. I’ve been busy, both with work and stuff at home, and a lot of work for the AIC, as well, as we’re in the beginning of the season, starting to plan the first in-person events in over a year, and preparing for the Annual meeting and board elections. I’ve been busy contacting members, finding out who is planning to continue and deactivating those who have left or don’t want to renew, as...

28
Aug
2021

AUTUMNAL PREMEDITATIONS

Hello from rainy Skåne! We had a few nice days at the beginning of last week but it’s back to rain and grey and solid cloud cover. I was really hoping for a nice weekend, but it’s not looking like I’ll get my wish. Tonight we are going (with Karin) to the annual crayfish party, hosted and attended by friends we haven’t seen since the start of the pandemic (with the exception of 1 couple). It will be weird but nice, I’m sure. Everyone is fully vaccinated, but crowds of people make me nervous these days, so we shall see....

08
Jul
2021

GROWING THINGS, GOOD THINGS

Every evening, through the spring and summer, I go out and water in the garden. I’m not a gardener, not really. I put pansies in the pots in the spring and swap them out for pelargoniums in the summer; those that don’t have year-round succulents. I’m partial to plants and flowers that are low-maintenance, that come up year after year, with the minimum of attention: water every evening, some weeding when it gets to the point I can’t ignore them anymore, and sunshine. In the front garden, we have a circle of yellow-veined hostas, interspersed with some leafy plants that...

16
May
2021

NO ESCAPE FROM REALITY

It’s forecast to rain all day and this coming week but the sun has been doing its best to stay out and I went for a walk around the village, enjoying the sunshine (had to remove my jacket!) and the greenery. The cherry trees and magnolias and spirea are blooming. The magnolias, especially the bright pink ones, are such ridiculously pretty pink popsicles of trees. Columbine and forget-me-nots and pansies are everywhere and every field looks carpet-bombed by bright yellow dandelions. Out in the fields, the rapeseed is reaching its neon-yellow heights. And I saw a pied wagtail! The first...

02
Dec
2020

MONKEY SEE MONKEY DO, MONKEY PROUD

Karin made dinner for us tonight: potato soup with carrots, leek and chicken dogs (cut-up). It’s a soup that she and her classmates made once, on an expedition to Skrylle, which is a nature reserve not too far from the school. She was about 14 at the time, and they made the soup over an open fire and she clearly remembers me asking her, when she got home, if she’d been smoking, because she smelled like smoke, and being upset with me for EVEN ASKING, GOD MOM. It was yummy, and Anders made garlic toast in the oven to go...

26
Jul
2020

NEWS FROM THE INSIDE OF MY HOUSE

Where do people go when they stop blogging? How can they stand not knowing what’s going on in the lives of the friends they’ve made online? How can they stand not knowing how the story continues? Even though I can go weeks without posting, I can’t imagine stopping forever. Or, well, I can, but I don’t want to. I like having this record of my life, my thoughts, my obiter dictum. I still think about blog friends, online friends, who left the blog world years ago. Just dropped off, stopped writing, as if no one cared that they were gone....

26
Jan
2020

FILLING IN THE NEGATIVE SPACE WITH POSITIVELY EVERYTHING*

I was waiting for a friend of mine at the mall on Friday evening, sitting on a bench outside of the store we were going to the grand opening of. I had my phone out and was checking email or Facebook or something and I glanced up to see if I could see her coming yet. But coming toward me was Karin. My daughter. And I thought, “What is Karin doing here??” Only a split second later I realized it WASN’T her at all. It was a girl her age, dressed EXACTLY like Karin dresses, with the same shape face...

24
Dec
2019

EK FAMILY CHRISTMAS LETTER 2019

We spent last Christmas in Michigan with Liz’s mom and Martin and our good friends Kathey and Russell joined us there for New Year’s so we had a very happy start to the year! We were back in Sweden by January 4 and back to work nearly straightaway, leaving Martin behind to continue his second year at CCS. At the end of January, Anders went skiing in Czech Republic with friends on their annual ski trip. He had several work trips early in the year as well, all to Italy. Karin continued working at Axis with Liz as her contract...

January 2026
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