An Afternoon Hike.

I'll let the pics do the talking this time ;)

Out breathing with Beefy P.

Right now I am actually home... watching Into the Wild, loving the soundtrack, the perspectives, drinking a glass of wine, cuddling with the B on a makeshift "couch". Earlier, however, we explored some of the beauty that now is in front of our doorsteps... check for yourselves:

Sweet, sweet B. (Psst.. I think he's actually a little stressed due to our current move.)





Am after these guys. Wanna pick many and make jam.







This is for Andrea. Pretty, huh?







There are reindeer in this pic. B had to be leashed after all. (In Sweden you have to leash your dog officially between sometime in March and August 20th... August 20th however, also coincides with the beginning of the hunting season. Currently they hunt bears... and have shot a 228 kilogram bear nearby. Next week is älgjakt.. poor moose...).






Fun species. I think I'll use the colour scheme in my new living room.

Views in my back yard.

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So, I have moved.

Left my old house officially today.

I have also thrown myself full force into Swedish studies after my return from the wild.

Am stressed.

Unsure.

Longing.

Seeking.

And, feeling blessed.

Start Eget.

Peacefulness... captured a few hundred yards above our home.




+++

Slowly but surely my business is being born.

One of Mr. Moose's favorite things to tell me is to "slow the *f* down and be patient".

As I have alluded to here before..., patient I am not. At least not when it's about me securing myself a future. In the end I have to be.... and eventually, things work out. May as well stop stressing over the little bits and pieces.

Here's what's been happening on the business front recently.

I have gotten confirmation that I will receive government support for the first 6 months of my business venture. Yay for being 'let in' to the Swedish world by having gotten a personnummer a while back. So, I, like most other people who 'start eget' (= start their own) will be supported by funds as entrepreneurship is understood as a positive way to not fall into the ditch of unemployment. For me that means that I will receive approximately US$ 850 (brutto) per month for free starting July 1st. In order to be granted that money I had to meet with a free (!) business consultant a few times, deliver her with a business plan and register my business (which I did today... horray!). They will take away approximately 30% in taxes (yup, that's how we roll here) and still: I get an income no matter what. Brilliant! (Particularly as I plan to create a financially secure business.... meaning I don't actually depend on this support.)

I am also a mere 10 days away from going on my first 3-week hiking expedition with my first German client. I know, I know, I announced here that I had my first client already - and I did. But this, you guys, is the real thing.

The next 10 days will be spent setting myself up for a (mostly) unsupported backpacking trip west of here. We will hike on the stretch between Sälen and Storlien, the so-called Södra Kungsleden. The distance between the two places is 349 km - obviously there are tons of ways for us to log more or less miles depending on how things go and what we encounter. I get a feeling that it will be rather mindblowing... you'll certainly hear all about it.

Parallel I am working on a web presence for the business venture... aie aie aie... so much excitement!

Recently, I was also able to make an initial connection with a local photographer who is looking to work together with others. It's rather exciting actually... she does nature photography trips with groups and is eager to collaborate in creative ways. When I shared my interest in doing so she sounded at least as intrigued as I feel. She has lived on Grönland before and done some other incredible stuff. We are planning to have fika together on Monday... am curious how that little seed will develop.

So, for now... I get to plan, prepare, and nurse Beefy back in shape. I'll still have to wait for the results of the tumor analysis... We should know by the end of next week. Either way we need to get the rather substantial cut from the surgery to grow back together seamlessly... not an easy task with us two who are movement junkies.

Better listen to Mr. Moose and be patient, huh?

Last week was all kinds of wonderful.

Having my parents here for a visit allowed me to make even more out of my days.

Early on we went to Linsellborren Naturreservat where I whipped out a Swiss Cheese Fondue.

It's my second outdoors, made on a fire.

They're good!

On another day Mr. Moose and I took a long kayaking trip. We started waaay up on the river and made it all the way to our houses. True bliss... and it will likely soon happen with clients.

I took my parents to Sånfjället Nationalpark a few days ago. We hiked to the top of Lillfjällen. Gorgeous!

I cannot get enough of the wide wide open that's "mine" all of a sudden.

Mine to play with, that is...

Beefy is still recovering. There are better and not so good days.

It will take a while for the results of his tumor to be given to me.

Until then, he's being cute...

As we left the Nationalpark area, we encountered the following family:

What's with the goat?

And yesterday... yesterday was the cherry on the pie. Not only did we see the following reindeer herd,...

... but also did we get to see my first swedish bear (and their first bear in the wild)!!!

I think I have landed.

Getting Grounded Back Home.

Yup, I almost didn't make it back to the house... Cause: "death by mud".

Sticks... The lake beds best kept secret.




We get to call all this our home?? :)




Crazy what features one can find without the snow cover!!

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Back. And loving it!

Buford and his twice-his-sice friend Rhuben.

Rhuben, Mr. Moose's Rhodesian Ridgeback, is visiting Paradise till Sunday.

Yup, we're back... arrived here last night sometimes shortly before 1 am. We won't stay long though. I got an "out" of my apartment one month early which is wonderful cause it lets me put my money where my heart is... and supports me in taking action quickly.

So, I got 10 days to move out and get organized for the move Up North. Life's a little crazy, no?

In order to distract myself I spent most of today playing with the dogs... as well as walking them and documenting the fun.

Here's some visuals for you:




And tonight... I am off to have date # 3 with Sweet Shoulders.

Later!

Why Getting B Out Kicks A#$%& in Sverige..

Cause he smiles whenever he comes back from a run...:

Cause there is beauty in the least expected places....:

Cause you can move freely on the land... Swedes called this right allemansrätten.

Cause there are mirrors to inspire you and remind you that you're a part of it...:

And cause it can happen that you find a perfect route to actually get groceries via ski just by accident... (today's exploration led us magnificently into view of town - all on minimally used paths!).

Found a Coffee Place... and an Ice Climb.

Yesterday's visit of my neighborhood village (across the Braviken) introduced me to all kinds of fun. For instance: I am now aware of the fact that I can go drink a cup of coffee with others.. by merely doing the following simple steps:

1. Gear up with winter clothing.
2. Take deep breath.
3. Call B (actually, he's ready the minute I even consider leaving the house).
4. Grab essentials (water, leash, booties, poop bag, survival snack).
5. Leave house (make sure that the boss leaves first).
6. Walk towards the ferry - choose the acres this time.
7. Start running after checking the time.
8. Have a literal 'run in' on the ferry right before it leaves.
9. Leash the B after arriving on board.
10. Nod thankfully up to the ferry gods :)
11. Turn into an icicle during the 2 minutes ride.
12. Walk past the boat storage place (where Mr. Moose's Atlantic rowing boat is stored).
13. Arrive in Kvarsebo "down town".
14. Find the coffee place.
15. Realize that it's closed.

Time frame for all this? A mere hour or so.
Plan? Come back when it's open.

B & I spontaneously decided to climb the mountain behind the coffee shop. After climbing past the section below, the boss (that would be me) decided it was too risky to proceed. There were ice sheets all over. I was writing headlines in my head (is that why they are called headlines??): "Stupid Tourist and her Cute Dog fell to Death during Monday Exploration of the Neighborhood", or "Send the Swiss Home: Tragedy on the Mountain", you get the drift...

We did find a trail after all (cause we're not giving up when there is a "utkik" for grabs).

"And where is the food, mama?"

On the way back I decided to film the progression of the ice from the ferry. The video doesn't only star Beefy, but also my glove. Cool, huh?





And today... we're going grocery shopping. By ski. Thinking about future headlines: "Silly Swiss didn't know where to Park cute Dog and Skis - Deported"... or "When will it end? Swiss having too much Fun in Sweden".

Make yourself giggle today!!

B Sporting Safety Gear.

I bet you worried if B was safe while out there playing today, no?

No need to worry, we got it all covered over here:

Yup, we now have one of those extend-able leashes that old ladies have (my own stereotype - busted!! unless you think of 32 year old me as old...). It works great when I want to let Beefy roam but not quite enough to get away with loosing another booty.

While I think it looks kinda cute I still hope for changing snow conditions... until then, we play wildly inside with remnants of the "ird".

Is it just me or does he look like he has a hangover?
~ And it's not even midnight yet (4 hours 59 to go).

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Best wishes to all for 2010 from Paradise...

from

Buford and Marlies

Re-Gathering.

These last few days with deadline and interviews were quite the thrill for me. Am still savoring the after-taste. Good thing I have B. He takes me on hikes and makes sure I gather myself and find balance... in the midst of it all. He's a master at that stuff:

He's fully present - be it observing...

... or running wild...

Nature knows the same secrets.

But B also believes in friends... even silly ones ;)

+++

So, what happened?

Well, I basically kicked a$$. For three days in a row.

I think I emphasized on here already that my application to the future refugee home was grand. I won't beat a dead horse.

I also did a mini-report on my Stockholm lunch (sushi, yay!) with the moose guy. That option could become everything I dream of. Why am I not up there yet? Maybe it's the nay-sayer within me... the part of me that has been hurt when I came here to find that I couldn't work with the people I had moved here for. Maybe it's fear of starting fresh and once more moving away from what has - in the meanwhile - become comfortable and treasured. It's also a little bit of hesitance about maybe ending up being professionally "attached" to one person. The moose guy has lots of connections. I wonder what would happen if "we" didn't work out and I was up there... in the pampa with some moose. And wolves. And bear. And mountains. And opportunities. OK, there came my dreams into the monologue again. I guess the best thing I can do right now is wait, and see if he follows through. And then head up there in January to check it out and feel the place out.

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Another thing is... I'm kinda in love with the process of exploring opportunities. It's a thrill for me to write incredible applications or suggested outlines to develop organizations, and I kinda wanna do that for a while. Silly...?

+++

And then, yesterday happened. I wrote on here that the ski guys had sent me an email to dampen my hopes (basically saying "yes, you can slave for us, but unfortunately there won't be money in return"). I also wrote that I would use the meeting to work on my skills of selling my skills. And, I gotta say: I impressed both them and myself. After a delicious lunch meeting at a noble restaurant (with me sitting there in my winter boots and my laid back clothing style and my disheveled hair... and my motivation brimming out of my eyes) the ski people are now infected with my dream of shaping their old school ski club hill into an alive and exciting environment for people to meet, learn new skills, and play. The environment is perfect: Of course there's the ski hill at the heart of the vision... and then there is a beautiful lake nearby and tons of forest (= undisturbed, unused open space). It's an ideal environment to teach people how to survive in the woods in the winter, avalanche awareness (even though rather unnecessary locally), wilderness first aid, etc. Due to it's location near a city it would be a perfect place to hold corporate events (team building stuff, snowshoeing tours with Gluehwein and Bonfire, etc., etc.). There is basically no limit. So, the ski guys listened to me and their eyes started to sparkle... Obviously they kept talking about the whole "we're a non-profit and can't pay anyone money"... but they realized that I may be their key to making their hill more sustainable which essentially is in the very core interest of their club. We finished the meeting with all of us glowing and my promising them I would send them an email to list what I could offer to them. They, in turn, were gonna share the goodness with the board. We'll see what happens. But for now, it feels very cool that I am capable to create job hope in places were there weren't even jobs before I moved into the picture. Feels really entrepreneur-y and cool.

After the meeting I visited two outdoor gear stores in town that just opened (they're the first ones of their kind - yay, progression in Southern Sweden!). I told the owners about my potential future work with Yxbacken and asked if they would be interested and willing to advertise for us. Both of them were eager and one of them immediately asked: "Can I come?" --- Call that what you want, but I call that success.

And, Yxbacken opens this Sunday. Guess who's going?

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All this being said: I really think Sweden will be my home for a while.

Favoring the Farmer.

My favorite farmer and I finally talked for a long time today. He lives on the tip of the peninsula Beef and I live on. Naturally some of our hikes lead us his way. Sounds like that may happen even more often in the future.

I have had this fantasy about him being my Swedish teacher for a while. He seems like an ideal candidate: Older (hence full of stories), Swedish-only speaking, a bit lonely (and with that possibly interested in spending some time with a Swiss straggler?), and into nature (whether by choice or not may have to be determined at a later time). Today I made a major step in my mission of hiring him (I mean, befriending him).

While B and I's interactions with him prior were minimal (i.e. I asked if it was OK for us to trespass, said "hej" on another occasion, and waved on another), today's was quite informative. Naturally it was all in Swedish (which makes the author of this post very happy and a bit giddy).

This is what he wanted to know:

- Are you unemployed? (ahem... yup, obviously I added a bit of my story and asked if he had work for me - he said that he has lots of work but not much money to pay.. [I think..., my Swedish got a bit hazy right there])
- What was your previous job? (... that's were I explained to him wilderness therapy and talked about my crazy lifestyle)
- Did your dog run away? (no, he's right up there) What kind of dog is that? (Boarder Collie / Aussie mix) Is it a male? (yup)

Stuff that I learned about him included:

- He owns the land, the stables, and all the houses (there are some too-cute-to-be-true summer homes on his property that he rents out in the summer)
- He lives a bit lonely in one of the houses with two cats (one is 18 and one some other age I didn't understand)
- He works as a farmer and as a fisherman and as a vacation rental contact person
- He has traveled extensively when he was young (all continents minus Australia)
- He was about to go read his newspaper
- He wanted for me to come back and have coffee with him sometimes..... wait, did you hear this: HE WANTED FOR ME TO COME BACK AND HAVE COFFEE WITH HIM SOMETIMES!! does that mean I just hired my Swedish teacher?
- He also said that my Swedish wasn't so bad and that he liked B.

I think my imaginary friend just moved into the realm of reality.

I wonder what his name is....