POV

The view from inside and outside stugan!

CREATIVE Writing

Well as it stands, I am without a camera, and therefore have no way of providing any visual examples of the beauty of the Swedish west coast. I guess that is my motivation for an attempt to paint a picture with the only medium currently available to me: words.

As the sun begins to set, (around 2200 hours,) one doesn't really appreciate quite how far north one is. It isn't until a couple hours and maybe a movie, or a few chapters of a book later, that you look outside to see that the first star at dusk remains the only star in the ever evening sky. Darkness is only relative to the density of the clouds during those hours around 0000.

So in the opposite way a day ends, the next begins early, well before I have woken up. Rapidly changing, unpredictable weather has been the inconstant constant: Clear evenings followed by rainy mornings, with who knows what after lunch. It keeps everything green. Abundant patches of wild blueberries, and the odd group of golden chanterelle mushrooms top the mossy carpets that thrive in the damp atmosphere sustained by the pine forests. The countless granite outcrops and cliffs, are coated with lichens, matt black to fluorescent greens and yellows. Dissecting all this into hundreds of islands and inlets are the frigid waters of the Skagerrak. Part of the body of water that divides the North and Baltic seas. Its waters, far from the crystal waters of the tropics, a deep cloudy blue.

Thats what I've seen so far anyway.

New Horizons

The time has come for a change of scenery. Rising temperatures in Spain means that the landscape is beginning to turn a shade of brown, amplifying the call of 'the greener grass', bringing me to Sweden. Along with an invitation and the prospect of new friends, new culture and new challenges made it a great choice for a summer destination.

So from here I will hopefully become more diligent with my updates, and have experiences to share. I will let you know in couple of weeks...

Down Time

Recently I became victim to a minor finger injury. Nothing debilitating, but with the potential to become so. So, after an attempt to just 'climb through it' yielded only elevated discomfort, it is time to take a break to let it really heal. Being forced to take the time off climbing has provoked some interesting thoughts.

We all have something that we tend to invest the majority of our waking hours in. Be it a passion, job, or unescapable commitment, the time it consumes is not really thought about until it has to be spent somewhere else: Normally due to obligation. Days that had once been occupied by said activity, become entirely open to countless options that we had never considered. Often the first days go to waste because of the lack of the established order we all depend on. It is so easy to adopt a routine, following it for years on end, that the first indications of change are not often welcome. We get comfortable with knowing what we are going to do day to day and the chance to plan something different is rarely relished. We should in fact be constantly on the look out for these opportunities to bring us some variety. We can get so caught up in a single aspect of our lives that we close ourselves off to any possibility of new experiences.

It is important to take advantage of this down time. We will always get better, find another job, or discover a new pursuit that will found a new routine, once again leaving few precious moments for anything else.

Today

Passing what we call "time" can be something very difficult. I was recently introduced to the idea that "time" doesn't move, only we do. With that in mind, one might be able to conclude that "time" is just creation of man. Its clear that the clock is, and that people like to have a way of "controlling" the moments that pass us by, but the reality is that there is no difference between the "minutes" in which I write this, to those in which it its read. Just what we do with them. The only measures of "time" that are not merely conceptual are the cycles of the planets, but they don't seem to offer us enough accuracy in the recording of a day, let alone a lifetime. We need to record every rotation of our planet with the ticking of a watch, and every orbit of the Sun gets the next number in a potentially endless sequence. There are also "months", with individual names, but they are such an abstract way of dividing the year that they are physically undefinable.

With these measures we try to take control of every instant, constantly conscious of those we have already lived, but taking for granted the unknown and finite amount to come. We all need to act more on the idea that this day is not a "minor, insignificant preamble to something else". It is more "time" gone. An opportunity we will never have again. It must be exploited to it's fullest. Learning, enjoying, experimenting. A priceless commodity. A non-replenishable resource that could run out when we least expect it. "Time" is not here to be passed. "Time" is here to be lived.

Field Trip

Sometimes, one is required to get into the field to directly experience certain things. Being a climber, I have read a lot of "theory" about well known subjects, and locations. On monday, I will head north in searching for beautiful lines, beautiful places, and hopefully some beautiful people. I will try to get my hands on some history as well.

I have a few ideas of destinations, but the most obvious place for some exploration through the roots of climbing is the legendary Fontainebleau, France. It is the birth place of a grading system, and probably one of the original bouldering areas in the world. It has seen most of climbings best know personages, and featured in countless movies. A place every climber has heard of, and a trip to europe isn't complete without making a visit. I have made a few trips to europe, and never managed a stop there. Finally that is going to change.

When I get back I will have a good write up of everything I discover.