Since last Monday, I have been mostly in Kristine­hamn, Sweden, which lies at the northern end of the Vänern Lake. Kristine­hamn was orig­i­nally one of the most impor­tant iron towns in the world, because it was from this harbor that so much of this high-​​quality Swedish iron was sent out into the world. Oddly, this sleepy little town controlled the price of iron for over 400 years. Here’s my friend Lorraine and me as we sit in front of the Picasso sculp­ture which he drafted and someone else erected so that K-​​hamn could say it was famous for having a Picasso sculpture!

It has held a large part of my heart for the 40 years since I arrived here as an exchange student. I discov­ered a lot in this town about who I was, how I commu­ni­cated and how I made friends and family. The year has stood me in good stead my entire life.

Mostly this week I visited my dear friend Lorraine and her partner Kjell. Their two boys (young men, I should say: Niklas is 25 and Åke is 22) came to visit at the end of the week. Although we actu­ally had to drive to Oslo on Wednesday to fetch Åke and all his stuff. He’s moving from Oslo to Stock­holm. Sunday Lorraine and Kjell drove to Stock­holm to dump him and his stuff at his new home. We’re all waiting on tenter­hooks to see if his new job as a hotel bellhop mate­ri­al­izes! Hold your thumbs, as they say here.

On Tuesday, we drove out and took a fika (a little picnic with coffee/​tea/​sandwiches and sweet bread. um yum) to their little cabin. We sat right on that porch. Kjell and Lorraine are great at taking their fika along wher­ever they go. Sweden is filled w/​ lakes. Here’s Kjell sitting by one.But it’s not all picnics. Some­times they go out and pick mush­rooms so visi­tors from far away can have mush­room soup when they get there. Here are the 4 kilo (8.8#) chanterelles they picked for soup and freezer.This means it’s the end of summer. The picture below: Lorraine, Ann, Bean Soup and Pancakes means it’s Thursday in Sweden!And that’s plenty of picnics for one post! Pretty fun over here!

This crowd looked a little different when we all met 40 years ago. Two of them I hadn’t seen for almost 20 years. Almost impos­sible to think that time flies by so quickly.

I managed or will manage quiet time with everyone but my youngest sister Ulrika… we’ll have to figure that out. This is everyone (Cecelia, Louise, Per, Ulrika, Margita) outside the church. Did I ‘fess up it was built in 1748 and that only one wall was from the 1200s?

Last night I visited the church for a vespers service. Maria Otten­sten, the priest at Barbro’s mass, was preaching. It was inter­esting to listen to a sermon (how does she keep them so short?) and to watch the rhythm of things as they unfolded. It was a lovely service in the same beau­tiful church that Mamma was buried from.

Then today I took a long train ride through the coun­try­side to get to my friend lorraine’s. It’s a wonderful trip along rivers and bonds and lakes. The woods are gorgeous and so are the swedish summer houses that the train rumbles by. Pretty wonderful!