Author: Tom

I am staying in an old house in Björkö that is now an Arts Residence space, with studios and apartments for artists, filmmakers and writers, but which until very recently was an elementary school. (It closed in 2017). And it seems to be an old school, perhaps from the beginning of the century, although I…

I didn’t do much today, but I had fun feeding a couple of carrots to a cow and a horse. The cows are Highland cows (a breed originally from Scotland). The horse, I am not sure. It seems to be a type of pony, with shorter legs than a normal horse, and a bit longer…

Or do they just love the new control they found? (Daily rant.) There is a pandemic going on, but it’s not a respiratory disease. It is a disease that only affects politicians and makes them create insane laws to try to “control a virus” and force an unwanted and inefficient vaccine on every man, woman…

Many wild animals live in the archipelago of Björko-Arholma. We can see their footprints in the snow all the time, one track crisscrossing another. Once you learn their basic shape, you can identify them: hares, elks, lynxes, deer, foxes, wild boars, otters — and… well, others. However, spotting the actual animals is a bit harder….

When you get to my age, you don’t expect to have many great adventures in life anymore, but, on the other hand, even daily activities can become an adventure. Especially if they are done in a different country or in an unusual way. Today was the day to buy groceries and recycle trash. We were…

We interrupt this travel documentary for a news update Finally, a bit of good news. Despite not declaring his vaccination status, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic was allowed to remain in Australia (although it is not clear yet if he will be allowed to play, or if they will cancel his visa later on). Germany…

I attended a service at the small local church today. I don’t go so often to church these days, and in fact, I hadn’t attended mass in more than a year, but today the local small church, which is almost next door, announced through a sign that it was open and there would be a…

So today the idea was to skate over a frozen lake. I went with Håkan, who is a documentary film-maker from Stockholm that is visiting up here, and a very experienced skater. He’s been making movies all over the world, from the Himalayas to Hawaii. He’s also a former Navy Seal, or the equivalent of…

Yesterday I walked all the way down to Skeppsmyra, 5 km away, which is an actual beach with sand. I tried to go by bicycle, even though the roads were covered with snow and ice, and therefore not ideal for riding, so I did most of the way on foot anyway. But it was the…

A handy guide It is difficult, but not impossible. Sure, it is cold. Days are short. It can get lonely, especially if you are, like me, in a faraway region where there are no pubs, no bars, nor any kind of social life, or if you don’t practice any winter activity and don’t like much…