• Sustainable love

    It is really not sustainable to give up the belief in love. I am absolutely convinced that love even can last a long time. The vast majority of my friends do live with love in long-term relationships. Yes, I know it may not always have been a dance on roses, but still, they stick together and seem to appreciate each other. Nowadays I feel completely convinced that there is a wonderful person also for me. A great and loving woman whom I appreciate and who can appreciate me. I am an incurable romantic and believe we can find a love that is genuine, in which I and she recognize each…

  • Love and expectations.

    I find love and expectations difficult and it doesn’t seem to get easier with age. I am a romantic and think that practical or comfortable love is boring, but what are realistic expectations? Does it mean I can forget a great love, forget that person who makes it feel like bumblebees are buzzing in my chest? Does having realistic expectations mean that I should settle for someone who is okay, and that I should be happy with a partner who isn’t great? Actually, I would generally be okay with a partner who is human, just like me, and who, like me, is imperfect. I don’t expect myself and my partner…

  • Almost completely thoughtless!

    This post did not come about after a deep thought or emotional insight! I simply had a need to photograph and was offered a walk. The fall this year started early. It has been quite warm and it has been raining. It is said that there is a lot of mushrooms this year. I myself have not been out and picked any. I feel that autumn this year is extra colorful. It is very beautiful and is pleasant to photograph. I like the picture motifs. I put on the macro lens and aimed to take pictures of withered flowers. I am not versed in botany and have no idea what…

  • Without love!

    Love is not finding someone to live with, it’s finding the one you don’t want to live without! I tend to learn stepwise. Sudden insights make me understand. This quote on love made me realize that I have been chasing love the wrong way.  I am divorced since long, and am ashamed of not succeeding in the marriage. In addition, since my divorce I have not been able to keep a lasting love relation. This adds to my guilt. But, before I didn’t have the understanding I got from the quote above. Some years ago I actually stumbled upon the kind of love that is hard to live without. I haven’t realized this before. Unfortunately, she…

  • Autumn Melancholy!

    In the autumn it is easy to feel sadness, yet many people like the autumn. Nature changes color and the air becomes cold and clear. It gets dark in the evenings and you can crawl up on the couch under a blanket, and light candles. It’s cozy! Even if you have everything important in life, and life is good, you can always find something to feel sorry for, if you really want to. Sometimes it may even feel cozy to feel a little sorry for oneself. Is it perhaps so that the cozy thing about autumn is because it attracts one to self-pity. When it is cold, dark and rainy…

  • The winter rest has begun.

    The fourth season with my boat is over. It’s been a great boating season, the Stockholm archipelago is really amazing and discovering it by motorboat suits me perfectly. The boat has everything needed for a holiday and with a reasonably large crew you have comfort. With just two on board, it is pure luxury! It has never been the idea of having a boat, but on the longer archipelago trip, I had new company, even this season. If I were the least superstitious, I would think that there is a curse on the boat when it comes to companionship. It doesn’t matter, I love the boat anyway! Mange and Lollo,…

  • With autumn comes the rain!

    You, all my faithful followers know that I have found a new way of life, I commute to work on my new electric bike! Cycling has been fine so far, but now with autumn comes the challenges. The temperature has been really low a few mornings and it is raining more and more. Luckily, I’m pretty stubborn once I’ve decided! (Some would call it pride. You are not half-Finnish for nothing!) There is no bad weather, just bad clothes! A little rain won’t stop me. It’s so much fun to ride a bike. It is refreshing and relaxing, purely meditative. I am more present when I ride a bike and…

  • Righteousness and prejudice!

    Electric bicycle, it’s cheating! Ever since I started commuting to work on an electric pedal bike, I have encountered prejudice. The cheating accusations kick off my guilt and shame issues, and I get sad whenever I proudly tell someone that I have started commuting by electric bike, and hear that it is cheating. How’s that cheating? Either way, now I’ve been commuting on my electric bike for a month. Previously, with my regular 24-speed bike, I have not been able to maintain bike commuting for such a long period. It is great fun! I get lively and happy! I am proud of myself!

  • I think, that’s how I am!

    Adam, my youngest son used to tell me I was thinking too much. Nowadays he is also a thinker. I wonder if it is bad to think too much. What is too much? Does it apply to all kinds of thoughts? Isn’t thinking a human tool that generally is far too little used? Okay, I think a lot, maybe too much. But, I like to think. That’s how I am!

  • Musical joy!

    Last night I was at a gig. Both my sons played in the band Gobi Jerboa. The music is really good but they haven’t quite made it through yet. The music can be listened to on Spotify. I had the camera with me and took some pictures. It is often difficult to shoot at gigs, especially when the venue is small and lighting is far from professional. Enough with complaints and apologies. I have collected the best pictures in a gallery below.

  • To exercise, or not!

    I regularly travel by bus to work. It’s nice to sit and think while I look through the bus window and listen to the sounds around me. By the way, smartphone headphones just fall out of my ears. It is convenient to ride the bus but I do not get much exercise. Regular job commuting by bike would definitely increase the chance of good health and a more attractive body. I have several times decided to cycle the almost 14 kilometers to work but it has never become a habit. I find great pleasure in technical gadgets with good features and a nice design. Furthermore, whenever I feel a little…

  • The second bloom!

    It is wonderful in the early summer when the roses bloom, but the second flowering in late summer is also lovely. I myself have for a long time tried to bring about a second flowering in my own life. I know, you should be careful about whining and appearing unsuccessful in social media, but this is not Facebook, and I write what I want in my own blog! Depending on how you look at it, I know I actually have a very good life, but I do miss a love partner and that lack occupies too much of my thoughts and feelings. My youngest son tells me I think too…

  • Fear is the new safe!

    We live in a time of security mania. Taking it safe before the uncertain seems to be an increasingly common mantra. But, putting yourself at risk does not necessarily have to be fatal.Lack of trust in a relationship can lead to an awkward feeling of insecurity. But, in order to build trust, we need the courage to be in uncertainty for a time.The saddest thing in this context is that the feeling of insecurity is often imagined and comes from one’s own inner fear. We need control over our inner fears to have the courage to live. Pictures from the boat trip with Adam, my youngest son, the last week-end.

  • There are many paths to the goal!

    You can reach nature in the Stockholm archipelago in many different ways. One is to hitchhike with a boat owner. When sailing, the journey often becomes the most important part of the destination. While going by motorboat, I have learned that the journey itself becomes less important for the overall experience. It is fun to discover the islands. Recently I visited Bullerö in the outer archipelago. The celebrated artist Bruno Liljefors’s studio and hunting lodge is located on this island. In the early 1900s, Liljefors regularly invited his famous artist friends, like Anders Zorn and Albert Engström to the island, for partying and hunting. Today a museum is dedicated to…

  • Comforting archipelago nights

    Nights can be scary. You might feel alone and left out to dangerous and alien beings. In the archipelago, on the other hand, at night there is a calm tranquility and you never feel alone. You feel like part of nature and the nature takes care of and protects you. We are all part of nature. Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten that insight. I think that’s why we enjoy staying in the nature. Why we feel safe at sea or in the woods, even at night. We feel that we are part of nature. We feel a connection.

  • Touring on the edge!

    Traveling the wide road is easy. Going along a narrow path is much more interesting. But, touring on the edge really is thrilling! Lately, we have had calm weather excellent for boating in the outer archipelago, on the edge of the open sea.The bare islets and the open view is balm for the soul. It is also cozy with a small bay with no other boats, except the ones passing by at a distance on the very edge.   In the coming days, we will receive high-pressure weather with really high temperatures even in the archipelago. Continued calm weather is promised so I will head out to the edge again.…

  • Trust and confidence

    Trust and confidence are essential in close relations with love. Consider the many oddities we humans are devoted to in order to avoid closeness. Do you know the expression “alone is strong”? What a nonsense! Alone is afraid of intimacy. The other day I had the confidence to watch the marina. In the boat club we share the responsibility to watch each other’s boats. Together we become safer. We trust in each other. Compare this to a single boat in a small private dock. Independent, yes but insecure.

  • Midsummer mystique!

    Last Friday, in Sweden we celebrated Midsummer Eve. It is an important feast that some people think would be Sweden’s national day. It is celebrated on the night before Midsummer Day which used to be on June 24. Since 1953 it falls on a Saturday between June 20 and June 26. It is perhaps a problem that the day varies if it were our national day. Also in Finland Midsummer is thoroughly celebrated, and the day varies. Some say the feast has pre-Christian origin but the evidence is lacking. In the 300s, the undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of St John the Baptist. The Christians…

  • New times, new needs!

    The need for shopping malls in the Stockholm area is met, the need for housing is not. In 1995, the situation was quite different when a large car sales firm’s premises were transformed into Stinsen’s shopping center. It was even expanded and reopened in 2009, and the trade flourished. Now, all but a few shops have closed, and the inside of the once proud trade palace is gradually becoming increasingly empty. Now, the whole thing is to be demolished and new buildings with new housing will be built. There are no reasons to mourn. Things change just like life itself! A brand new shopping mall is built just across the…

  • Going international!

    You may have noticed that I have added English to my website. I know, I don’t have a lot of readers but sometimes the website statistics reveal viewers from UK and the States! So, I thought I might go international and start blogging in English. By the way, why blog at all? Why do people blog? Perhaps they have something to sell, or maybe bloggers try to sell themselves. Okay, here I am, selling myself. I’ll tell you more, later!