identities, journeys, fictions away from the roots
It's been two months since I was last by the sea. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I have certainly missed this friend. I'm at Horsey Gap in Norfolk to visit the grey seal colony that breeds and pups here every year. The part of the beach that I enter from the... Continue Reading →
For once, the conditions are perfect: housemates away for the weekend, no social plans, no housework, and slightly grey weather. I know I can't always wait for the perfect conditions; they come along too seldom. But now that they're here, and as I've waited long enough, it would be a waste not to use them.... Continue Reading →
It's a new year, and the same me. Still the worries and faults and uncertainties. But also, in this northern part of the world, light and happiness. The old year ended in the company of family, and the new year begun with a new love. The days between Christmas and New Years are called 'the... Continue Reading →
Snow over King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, December 2022. Photo by Jessica Zarins It snowed. It stayed. It melted and refroze and snowed some more. Nature reminded us she’s still here. Have faith, have hope. Live with her, and fight for her. Swimmers and kayaker in the river Cam by Sheeps Green, December 2022. Photo... Continue Reading →
Cold is expected this week, so I decide to go for a swim while there's still dew rather than frost in the grass. It's a couple or three degrees plus when I cycle to the river, and I wonder if the water will be warmer than the air. When I slip in to the silky... Continue Reading →
Hottest day of the year in England and Wales. And Spain and France. Unnatural. It’s still warm in the house when I go to bed, and I hear mozzies and flies and bees that mistook indoors for outdoors when they saw the light of my lamp. Yesterday’s mozzies and flies and bees lie dead on... Continue Reading →
After watching Life After Life, the TV adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s novel, I’ve been thinking about death and the circularity of time. I live in both the past and the future, as well as savouring the now. I’m back in Wendover for a couple of weeks. This means no swimming, but instead there’s the cat... Continue Reading →
I've been going to Riga almost every year since 2016 (pandemic excluded). The first time I hoped for a sense of inherited belonging, that I'd feel at home in my ancestral city. It wasn't without disappointment that I realised that I'm not Latvian, but Swedish-Latvian, and don't belong in Riga, but belong where I create... Continue Reading →
Using my old mechanical pencil for the first time in years. I bought it at the very high price of 87 SEK in 2002. My old school friend Sofia Eriksson was shocked that I spent so much money on a pencil, but I was thinking that I'd keep it forever. And I used it for... Continue Reading →
A travelling craftsman is staying in my house while they work at a fair nearby. We share stories in the evenings over food and wine, and discuss the state of the world over tea and chocolate. The traveller is from an Eastern European country which gets headlines in the west for its far-right, pro-Putin ideology,... Continue Reading →
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