Autumnal

I’ve been pretty glib and uncommunicative this summer, gentle reader. It’s kind of you to keep coming back, under the circumstances. But I did get the floor painted, which was the main focus of my summer-burst-of-energy, and managed to extend it into making the kitchen more livable, with a full list of things still to do... next summer. Since then, I’ve been trying to re-intellectualize myself by working on the basic structure of an organization for the hundreds of photographs I’ve inherited. The results of that can be seen at Pomoto (in the sidebar). That, I think, is under control now, although there are still unopened boxes, piled in the basement. I’ve begun using MacJournal both as a place to get myself more involved in writing again, and as an informal connection to this blog, with this entry as the first official example. It doesn’t seem to handle formatting very well, although it is wonderfully fast.

Summer in Sweden is winding down. Most kids are on their way back to school and the tourist mob has dwindled to the point where, individually, they’ve become interesting again. It’s nice to walk around town without getting angry. Fall in Visby is like the pleasure of Spring in reverse. Now the astonishing beauty is tinged with apprehension of Winter. One can still leave the house in shirt-sleeves, but it’s probably prudent to carry a sweater. The rains come in a fairly regular weekly pattern, until they become the dominant aspect and the sky goes steel-gray for Winter. This is the time of year when everyone in my apartment building gathers in the garden to rake leaves, prune bushes, and store furniture - one of four annual events. Swedes are very good about this kind of cooperative rhythm - it gives the year a structure. It’s easier to face the terror of the Future together in small incremental steps.