Memories

Lens-Artists Challenge #124 – Now and Then

/ Leya / 85 kommentarer

Now and then – Then and now

Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.
― L.M. Montgomery

Amy is our host, and she says: ”For our challenge this week we’d like you to tell us about your perspective on now vs then – it could be before and after the pandemic or any other changes you have experienced.” See her perspective on what the current changes can bring to everyday life!

As I was contemplating what major differences there are in my own life now, compared to a few years ago, some things stand out very clearly to me. I will try letting the images tell most of the story, as you change between Then and now, Now and then in my series. ( A new possibility with the block editor – but you have to go to my site to see it. I found out it doesn’t show in the reader …) Somehow I wish it was just as easy to mend things that are broken…

Due to climate change, our winters here in Sweden are very different from those we had only a couple of years ago. These two images are from November 2017 and November 2020.

Two of my best loved hiking trails have been destroyed. The forest is down. Colourful grasses are now taking over, and soon the old stumps will be totally hidden in the new vegetation.

Traveling is no longer an option, due to Covid19 and the pandemic. But, also in order to save the world from more air pollution. Instead of exploring exciting new places abroad, this autumn we built my much longed for glasshouse, where we greatly enjoy a quiet lunch every day.

Ever since I was a child, the forest has been my second home. I usually walk for hours every day, often in the company of my mother and my dogs (in this photo, Mille and Totti). In Spring we always pick wood anemonies and have ”fika” with coffee and cakes in the warm sunshine. Mille left us 2014 and my mother, this unruly year, 2020.

And all the lives we ever lived and all the lives to be are full of trees
and changing leaves.
― Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)

Changes are obvious to us all this year… and now we are looking forward to seeing Your perspective! Don’t forget to include a link to Amy’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag so that everyone can find you in the WP Reader. Next week, Tina will be our host for Challenge #125 on November 28th. Be sure to visit her site.

Lastly – Thank you for sending us so many delightful walks through neighbourhoods all over the world! It has been an adventurous week, a glorious and expressive week. As always – We are grateful that you want to share your world so generously.

Thinking of you who are celebraing Thanksgiving, and to all of us – Take care, stay warm, loving and safe.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #107 – Winter

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Winter? Now? Totti would have loved it!

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.
― John Steinbeck

Lake Taupo, New Zealand. Christmas Eve, 2011

Winter is not the same in any corner of the world…and maybe most significant is the difference when you compare the Northern Hemisphere with the Southern Hemisphere.  – So, your winter is not mine, my winter is not yours.

Let’s enjoy the differences! Being different and different experiences give us more strength and brings variety to our lives. This week – Winter rules.

I decided to get nostalgic about this theme – as our winters have changed much over the years since I was a child…even in the last ten years, three years, year… Climate change has also made every season more unpredictable. We live in changing times in all aspects. A bit of nostalgia comes over me quite often these days – I guess you might feel the same?

For many years we went skiing every winter, in Dalarna, Sweden. We always stayed in Fryksås, at an old mountain farm – or Shieling (Scottish Gaelic) – overlooking Lake Orsa.

Mille, our first Lagotto (Milo look-a-like, isn’t he?) was a cone collector…he could easily run with 5 (five) cones in his mouth without dropping a single one. He loved going to Fryksås every year – knowing he could play around every day in that cold snow.

The last time we rented one of these 18-19th century cottages, was in 2010. No electricity, no lamps, no technical devices…Only open fires, candle light, reading, playing card games and board games. Knitting, crocheting, discussing… The children (18 and 20 by then – and still loving this concept!) slept in the beautifully painted box-beds.

In Skåne, where I live, (the most southern part of Sweden), winters used to have at least a month of snow, and skiing was often possible. Today’s winters offer only forest walks. And this last winter, for the first time in my life, we had no snow at all.

– And no ice breaking up, letting the brooks sing and the smooth, velvety stones reflect the sun. But I am deeply grateful that we all have these wonderful memories – and that the children share them too. We still talk about going to Fryksås again. Together. Just the four of us. Maybe some day…

 

Announcement: We are happy to welcome Xenia of Tranature as our Guest Host for August 1 !

And thank you, Patti, for hosting a beautiful Autumn week! Thank you for so many colourful and beautiful posts from friends all over the world!

Despite the fact that winter will come to all of us – whether we like it or not…we are looking forward to seeing Your Winter! Meanwhile – stay safe and well out there.

 

Have you seen these:

Thursday Thoughts – Friends

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We had our yearly outing at Wanås castle, Viveka and I. Finally. This is something we look forward to every year – and even this ”lost” year,  2020, we made it happen.

 

Much of the art work and installations are the same, but each year there are new interesting artists and art on display. The forest linen and the mirror barn 2020.

These days the importance of friends is even more highlighted. What would our distanced lives be without them? And we can still visit exhibitions that are mostly outdoors.

Viveka (of Myguiltypleasures) is an inspirational and avid photographer, and her Oscar is always going warm when we are out. So, what is she photographing now?

 

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Laetiporus sulphureus – or sulphur shelf. A very beautiful species of fungus growing on tree trunks and branches.

You can easily lose sight of Viveka as she often gets lost in her photography – but there is one unmistakable sign that helps me finding her again…her bag. Her striped bag. Whose bowels contain anything needed for a day out…including Oscar.

https://www.wanaskonst.se/sv-se/ Artist: Kimsooja, South Korea

A friend to go on adventures with, a friend to chat with, and to share your thoughts with, a friend to hold your hand when you need it. Even virtually.

Thank you, Viveka, for being my friend – and Cheers – for future adventures together!

Thursday Thoughts – Happy Birthday Sweet Mum!

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Photo from last year’s birthday, when you turned 84.

 

Today you turn 85, and you two have been married for 55 years! The sun is shining, and we will make it a memorable day for you – despite the difficult times we are living in.

Thursday Thoughts – Hiking, but not 2020

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For so many years we have hiked this beautiful national park during April…

…but not this year. We used to go the whole family, and all our dogs have made it to the top of the mountain at least a dozen times each. We follow the water for about an hour,

then the track turns around the bend and for a while we walk the footbridges.

I searched my archives to find some memories from years gone by,

and here is something of the early spring loveliness as we struggle up the tough slopes.

On the plateau, old trees have come to rest, and younger ones softly lean over the precipice. We stop to admire before the long walk down to the pond where we started.

I miss this hike, but this is 2020, the year of corona and covid-19.

I will be back though – I promise…maybe next spring.

 

 

 

Tuesday Photo Challenge – Back Catalogue

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For Frank this week – a memory. ”…find an image in your back catalog that still grabs your attention and share it!” This is the only time in my life that I have seen snowy apples…our neighbour had not finished his autumn harvest, and suddenly, one morning, it was snowing heavily. I can say I was fast getting my camera out. I still love the sight of those snow capped apples!