Health

Thursday Thoughts – Meeting The World’s Oldest Blogger

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Today I went to Health Sciences Centre, Lund, to attend the press invitation to the Gerontology Award of 2018.  My friend, Professor Susanne Iwarsson, introduced us to PhD students and their research in gerontology, and also to the award winning lady, Dagny Carlsson, aged 105.

Just imagine…she was born the same year Titanic went down…

Dagny is a witty and tough lady, who also is the world’s oldest blogger – or so we think… And her wit as well as her blogging are part of the reasons to why she won this prize. Dagny started blogging at the age of 99 – and today she has reached an almost iconic status in Sweden. Check out her blog here:

http://www.123minsida.se/Bojan/99578361

Only some of her achievements: On TV she has been a guest in at least ten shows, she was awarded ”Swede of the Week”, she was one of the Summer Talk guests on Radio P1 Sweden 2017, she was given a part in a movie last year and she has also written a book titled ”Life According to Dagny”. Two days ago she payed a visit to our King and Queen – and she said she liked them very much. Nothing strange with meeting them, Dagny smiles.

http://www.kristianstadsbladet.se/kristianstad/dagny-traffade-kungen-och-drottningen/

Dagny Carlsson was awarded also because she is an inspiration to us all. To elderly people she is the living evidence of a possible long and active life, as well as technology to be mastered even beyond the age of 100. Her experience from Swedish history through 105 years remains a valuable source from which we all can learn, and she continues to be a significant elderly person in Swedish culture.

I am proud to have met her. (Just a reminder…Dagny is the lady on the right side…)

Dagny, 103 years old, at the Skavlan show – but this spring she will turn 106!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cee’s B&W Challenge: Sculptures, Statues and Carvings

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Cigarette butt sculptures…a one man work to save the islands from this poison. All those sacks contain butts as well. Impressive. He was interviewed by media here.

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Amazonas – Almost Airborne!

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The last days at Sacha Lodge, we spent most of the time 40 metres up – above the canopy of the rainforest. In fact, ”Sacha” means ”forest” in Quichua, the local language here.

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The biodiversity is extremely rich in the Amazon, and the list of birds sighted at Sacha, for example, is at 605 species – in an area of 5000 acres. 12 species of monkeys and plants somewhere in the thousands. Trees are about 100 species per acre – no wonder my treeloving spirit soared in the canopy!

This walk offered splendid views of the canopy and of the birds living here
Luis and Pablo spotted everything of interest
most of the birds seen had to be through the tube, but some came really close. Blue Dacnis, female.
Paradise Tanager – maybe 15 fluttering neonlights all over this tree!

Climbing down again and walking back to the lodge – Luis Andi shared some of his extensive knowledge of the medicinal plants in the rainforest. We had noticed him being an excellent scout, moving soundlessly on the narrow paths, but also an excellent birdman – he knew about 400 birds (and could sound like most of them!) I do not have to say he was born and bred in the Amazon. 90% of Sacha’s staff is made up of locals from Ecuador’s Amazon region.

Pablo listening to Luis’ stories
This butterfly would not leave my arm…finally I had another guest to handle him. But some ten minutes later, he found me again!
Iron palm or walking palm
The mushrooms were lovely, these looked like flowers…
Indeed they were all heavenly small and exquisite!

We were all very impressed – to say the least – of our guides’ knowledge. There was not one single question about birds or animals that Pablo could not answer, and Luis and him were the perfect couple to guide us through the secrets of the tropical rainforest.

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But, now we were extremely hungry…knowing that a delicious lunch was waiting back at our lodge. We would need it before the afternoon and night adventures.

SL-WEEK 13: Ecology

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A very good choice of theme – ecology! Visit Sylvain Landry for more of this.

I’m now back from Riga, Latvia, where I met this young man, Janis, at Baltu Drava. He is a passionate bee keeper and sells his own healthy and totally ecological products. Not only honey, but for example bee bread too.

He also makes bee hives out of tree trunks, as of old. (To the left in the picture you will see one of them.)