Tag: sweden

A little paradise

Perhaps it is a too strong word, paradise… However there are moments when beauty reveals itself a little more than usual, the response is awe and joy. I was late with work and took the opportunity to give the cows water during the evening. Standing there while the drinking troughs were filling up, I witnessed the evening play of the lambs. I love to see them play. The sun was setting and shone with a warm yellow light on the hill while the lambs, quite unaware of the light, had found a stone of interest to climb up and jump off from. The restfulness of the windless evening the light green colour of the newly sprung leaves and the evening light, created a sense of paradise; beauty, peace, joy, and of course goodness.

Spring is close

Nature is shifting its appearance, winter is in the process to change into spring. Late winter and early spring are both present: The snow is still here and the nights are cold, but the sun warms the ground during the day, softening the ground and melting the snow, making it slowly give way to earth and dead straw.

This evening gave perhaps the most beautiful sign of spring. I was out walking with Toby, and as we were almost home I heard the blackbird a little hesitantly, in the forest. We stopped and listened, rejoicing in the beautiful song.

Yesterday he came much closer and there was no hesitation in his voice. I was out removing old fence net in the corner of a big field some hundred metres from the farm. The fence streched along the forest edge of the pine forest on the other side of the ditch. As I stood there with the sun shining on my left side, he began to sing in a tree very close to me. His song echoed in the forest and together with the sunshine, epitomized the reasons why I have chosen this life.

My little friend the blackbird.

An old man in the wood

I have a favourite trail. It stretches over fields, pastures, through forests and on country roads. Though not long, it is varied and it also takes me past one of the most beautiful little farms in the area. The house is situated far from the main road surrounded by fields and trees. A river runs next to it and passes an old broken water mill. The farm sleeps, waiting for someone to wake it up.

On my way from the farm, the river is calm after fall.

I have walked this trail for several years, but it always gives me new small surprises, as today. I passed a stone and I noticed the beautiful nuance of the red granit contrasted by the green moss that partly covered it. I kneeled down to catch it on camera. Suddenly I saw not a stone but an old man with green beard. He looked a little stern as if he was, against all odds, determined to stay there for some hundreds years more.

The old man in the wood

I came upon a tree…

I was walking along the shore, immersed in my thoughts and many things more. And I came upon a tree, that stood there whispering about the secrets of the sea. Solace for my soul, after all the tales by the tree that I was told.

While I was taking a walk today I suddenly remembered this walk I took in the south of Sweden. So many things have happened since then, but I think the tree is still there gathering still more tales of the sea.

Some walks just remain in your heart.