14/2 - Happy Valentine's Day.

An old post from my favourite comics web site. I have no idea who you are Randall, but thanks for making me smile three times a week.

9/2 – Flash Back to Plastic Fantastic and Mountain Countdown.

1985 - the year of sockiplast – the brilliant invention that we all had to wear as soon as it came to running around inside. Socks, which were either too small or too big, with rubber thingies underneath to stop you from slipping on the dusty green sports hall floor. I had almost forgotten they still exist, until I opened the red, cylindrical, little Delta toilet bag on the plane. And there they were, dark blue sockiplast. How convenient. No risk of slipping and falling in the carpeted aisle on my way to the lavatories. How safe I was going to feel the whole flight. Not sure the tombola tactics during the safety demonstration made me feel the same way. Life jackets, oxygen masks and seat belts seemed to pulled up by the steward in no relevant order whatsoever to the message being read, while he was chatting along with the passengers on the front row. Could never have guessed that it was that hard to learn what goes when.

Well in Salt Lake City, UT, the first thing that struck me was the mountains surrounding the flats and the lake. Clear blue sky and a beautiful afternoon outside the terminal windows and thus not very tempting to get on another airplane instead of going outside. But better be patient, only eight more sleeps and it’s my turn. A couple of weeks with homework up to my ears and Green Chile Double Whataburger for lunch in Albuquerque, NM, and then I’m off.

Except for the mountains, it was also hard to miss the two main Utah symbols during the hours in Salt Lake; The massive Mormon church just in front of the mountain side, slightly above the rest of the city and glistering nice and white in the late afternoon sunlight. And the cowboy hats, they seem to go with everything. Baggy jeans, hoodie and sneakers – perfect match with the hat. Snake skin boots, weirdly shaped jeans as only Americans can wear them, and a belt with a buckle the size of a saucer – perfect as well. T-shirt and track pants – the hat brings it all to life. Would it go with Icebreaker and Haglöfs gear? Probably. Superdry speedway jacket? No doubt about it. Think I need to sort out a proper cowgirl hat before my return to average land.

24/12 – Winter Wonderland or Christmas Chaos?

It all depends on if you’re already where you want to be, or if you’re still trying to get to that particular place. And now we’re talking strictly geographically. Europe seems to be in chaos because of the white fluffy stuff I was so missing last year. 13 centimetres of snow in England and the radio stations are running “walk-on-snow” courses for the citizens who have to leave their castles. 

Somehow, I managed to sneak through the European airports and train stations on my way from Copacabana to Uppsala last week without much of a hassle at all. Sure, got an hour delayed from the French capital, but considering the airline’s past record, that can almost be classified as “better than expected” than as a delay. Another hour from Kastrup – easily killed with coffee – and some 20 minutes from Stockholm central station – more coffee. It feels like I’m the only one in Europe being that lucky at the moment though. A bunch of colleagues on their way home to their dear ones, got stuck in Paris a week before me, another bunch in London a few days ago and friends seem to be stuck in various trains, buses and airports all over the place. Only worry in my life at the moment is that it’s still a bit too cold to expose my warm weather spoiled lungs with a cross-country skiing session through the glistering fairy tale land. A month with +35 degrees and sunshine does not really prepare your body for -22 degrees and snow. It’s 1 year, 8 months and 28 days since I last put my well-worn Fishers on, grabbed my favourite poles and had to accept how much I’ve lost in the tracks during the last 10 years. Can’t wait to check if I’ve managed to get some of it back by magic during the last while, or more likely, get totally exhausted, frustrated and extremely sore absolutely everywhere the day after.

Except for my body being way out of place with the cold climate, watching dolphins in the water during the afternoon coffee breaks didn’t really bring on the Christmas spirit. Not even Charles de Gaulle gave any hints of the holidays being around the corner last Wednesday.

To cure this, the last few days have been spent on high efficiency Christmas shopping, daily intake of saffron bread and glögg, peeling potatoes for Janssons frestelse and making sure the herring gets pickled the right way. 

Ginger bread house is now in place, tree decorated with red baubles and candy canes, front porch cleared from snow for Santa, all treats for loved ones wrapped and the first slice of Christmas ham was served last night with a glass of red. Think I’m ready – let’s bring on a real Swedish winter wonderland holiday.

Merry Christmas!