Tidholm and Parkman at Svanö

Yesterday I went to Svanö outside Kramfors for an interesting event. It should have taken place in May, but as most people know, something happened in between.

Po Tidholm gave his lecture “The Map”. Interesting but at the same time it gives a rather hopeless picture of the future, at least if you want to live and work outside the big cities.
Where will the government invest and where will the companies investments end up? How does the media portray the city and the countryside, what does it do to us? Is there a future in the countryside?

After a short break, Sara Parkman goes on stage with her band. Absolutely wonderful and I don’t think there is anything like it. Hard to describe but feel free to listen here.

Helene Schmitz at Meken

A few days ago I visited Meken in Smedjebacken. Meken is an art gallery housed in an old smithy. Helene Schmitz had a vernissage and showed a selection of pictures from her work “Thinking like a mountain”.

Helene’s words: “In this work, I wanted to portray the violent transformation of nature in northern Europe in our time. My experience is that during my lifetime, the notion of the wild, and man-untouched nature, has broken down. My photographs can be seen as meditations on man’s relationship to nature’s resources – a global, highly industrial and automated transformation of landscapes. Something that has been going on in large parts of the world for the last three hundred years at an ever faster pace”.

The exhibition is open until November 8, 2020
Opening hours: Thurs – Fri at 12 – 17, Sat – Sun at 12 – 15 | closed: 31/10 – 1/11
The next stop for the exhibition is Washington …

Rostberget nature reserve

Long time since I wrote something here. Don’t know why, perhaps because not much happens… But I’ve managed to get out into the woods a couple of times during this autumn. Here are some pictures from a visit at Rostbergets nature reserve in the western part of Dalarna, Sweden. Decided to make it monochrome this time, I do like the feeling you get when you remove the colours.

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Morningwalk, Sept 6’th 2020

Took my Fuji x100f on a walk, Södermalm, Sundsvall…

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Ensillre limestone forest (NR) June 10

On Wednesday I went to Ensillre lime stone forest north of Ånge to check out the Fairy slipper. It was three years ago since last time, then I was there on June 6th and they bloomed in full. Now I did not see a trace of them, probably I was too late. Plenty of mosquitoes were also there so the visit lasted not so long but I took the opportunity to catch some other impressions anyway.

The first picture shows what it looks like there. Much of the forest is like jackstraws after a storm some years ago, but the trails are cleared anyway.

 

May 5’th, 2020

Everything is as usual, yet nothing is normal.
Halting the train commuting ticket, will use the car until November.
8000 kilometres commuting by car in front of me, at least.
I enjoy being behind the steering wheel, but I miss life with the train commute.
Every second week job at home, the other week on site…
For how long will it be like this, to late autumn, next autumn 2021, or…
Nothing can be planned, new decision for November.

Instead of..

This is what it looks like now…

 

Good Friday in corona times

After a bit of dither  we decided to visit the Sofieberg hill outside Eskilstuna on Good Friday. Quite special times, so it was not entirely obvious to make the trip. But we packed both coffee and lunch from home and did not intend to come close to a single person on the trip. On the way down I had to take a tour in Eskilstuna for old memories sake. At half past nine we arrived at Sofieberg and we were alone at the parking lot. Started with a cup of coffee before we went up to experience the pasque flowers and the fine pasture with their junipers. After half an hour, it started to drop in cars and crowds of 70-plus mixed with families with children occupies the hill. Did not see any signs of social distancing here. We started to feel uncomfortable with all the people and on the way back to the car we had to take turns around people to avoid the worst.

It was a little early for lunch so I made my way up to Björsund and out on Fogdö. Also here old memories from the time when I cycled here and took the ferry… From Strängnäs towards Västerås we found that we could go out to Ängsö and have the lunch there. Once out there it looked like half of Västerås had come up with the same idea but in the end we found a place for ourselves. After that, it was just to go home on the usual roads. A pretty nice trip after all.

Some pictures from Sofiebergskullen

 

A very strange year 2020

It’s a very strange feeling now. A couple of months ago life passed on as usual, but a few weeks ago most of that was changed in it’s foundation. It feels unreal, like a dream… But it’s the reality. Spain and Italy report nearly a thousand deaths every day. It’s not possible to plan more than for the day, tomorrow may be completely different conditions.

Virtually all events are cancelled and if not I’m extremely hesistant to attend anyway. Easter’s exhibition, which I have planned for will be postponed to Easter 2021. I hope to be able to spend more time in the nature instead. Maybe a trip to the pasqueflowers at Sofiebergskullen some time next week. I hope for a different and better world when this has passed by, although I’m afraid that everything will go back to “business as usual” in a few years, with continued environmental devastation, more threatened nature and less biodiversity.

A picture from Utanmyra taken a couple of weeks ago.

 

March 2020

Long time since last, but that’s how it is sometimes. Feeling unwell and tired. I would actually have been to Ski at the Nature Photo Festival this weekend but felt that I would not be able manage that, sad but that’s how it is. Christmas feels very distant and now I’m longing for the spring, although winter finally arrived in Sundsvall. The photo activity is on a alltime low, but I have done some other tings. Went to Umeå for a meeting with Malin Sahlin from the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. Really good and informative about what’s going on in the forest issue. Then I’m thinking as it’s corona times now, how (and if) people think who still travel to areas with high infection… But I guess it’s I, me and my mind of thinking that applies nowadays.

Some pictures from Sundsvall today…

 

How will this end… December 2019

Things happens when it comes to environmental and climate issues, but the question is whether it helps when it comes to biodiversity and the conservation of our last natural forests. I’m afraid it’s “business as usual” when it comes to the forest…

It was agreed in the government to stand behind that the felling could be 92% of the growth in the forest. But it is somewhat sick to make a political decision on an issue where independent research should apply. Much like when determining the favorable conservation status of the wolf here in Sweden. Knowledge and research is not much worth when it comes to meeting the forest lobby and hunting interests.

The Swedish Forest Agency shall cease registration of key biotopes in connection with logging notification (when a new method of investigation has been found). Whatever method, key biotopes is an accepted concept that works. Here, too, I can only see that they give in to the forest lobby.

Even when it comes to the climate policy action plan that the government has just presented, I am afraid that it will be “business as usual” in the forest:

“51. The national forest program is being developed to further promote growing forestry and sustainable forestry.
52. A bioeconomic strategy that contributes to increased access to biomass and environmental and climate benefits will be developed. ”

How should the forest industry grow without infringing on biodiversity and forests worthy of protection? The forests already planted have not reached the final harvesting age. Forestry is far from sustainable as it is now.

Item 52 is pure star dust if you look at biomass from the forest. How will you increase the biomass without destroying biodiversity. Increased harvesting and environmental and climate benefits are impossible.

I finish with a couple of pictures from the bird feeding now in early December. Around here it is only me and the beavers who determine the harvest rate.