Oh! How time flies! Looking through some old photos of ourselves we found these little "trophies" from Dad's early years. Above is a photo from a brief career as a troubadour. This particular photo is from Tossa de Mar, north of Barcelona in Spain, where I and my brother Martin earned a few bucks playing in local bars during one summer. We were able to pack the places night after night while we performed. Notice the fuzzbox on the table! It is not plugged in to the semi-acoustic guitar I play. ;) It belongs to the man in the corner, Tom Jones' former bass player. The guy in front is a member of the old Spanish folk/pop group Trio Montenegro. Due to some unfortunate circumstances they had to end their performances as a duo.
A well-groomed look as a boy soprano in the Gothenburg Cathedral's Boy Choir. Circa1983.
Another photo from the boy choir era. This is probably taken during one of many Sunday Mass performances. Around this time is when the choir performed the Swedish premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem. I remember it to be a gruesome experience, as an 8-9-year old, to have to memorize 64 pages in Latin.
Bow-ties will never go out of style!
My brother and I a few years later in life. Enjoying malted milkshakes during a Sunday brunch at Silver Diner near the house where Tara and I lived in Fairfax, Virginia.
Touchdown! (or something...) Three years old heading for a swim in the coastal waters near our summer cottage.
Hiking has always been a great interest of mine! Above is photo from an excursion during springtime in a nearby forest in Gothenburg. The jacket was sewn by my mom. Wellies are always a good thing to have when hiking in Sweden!
Above is the start of my first longer hiking trail experience. I was nine years and did a three day hike on the southern part of the Hallandsleden trail, in the woods near the family's summer cottage. The second day included rain, rain and more rain - and me getting stuck with my foot in a fence when walking through a farm field with caddle. If I remember it correctly my dad took out his knife and carved an opening in the wooden fence around my ankle to make it possible for me get free.
Ski training. My first pair of skis, with old bindings, similar to what Telemark skis have today.
Up on a Swedish fell mountain. One of many cross-country tours. Me, cutting out snow blocks to build a snow hut.
Me and former Prime Minister Carl Bildt (now the Secretary of State for Sweden) after a lunch meeting at a school cafeteria.
Lunch break near the bus stop at Hellasgården in the Nacka Nature Reserve.
Today the entire family went out to enjoy lots of snow and beautiful weather. We traveled across the Nacka nature reserve for five hours. At around 10 AM we took the bus outside of our apartment to go to Hellasgården. Almost as soon as we arrived we had lunch (blueberry soup) in the snow while the sun really did make us feel very warm. We then decided to go across the lake Dammtorpssjön to see the westernmost parts of the nature reserve
Dad skiing across the lake with Warren Christopher in the travel backpack.
Our Primus thermos, and hot blueberry soup, served in the snow.
Going out on the lake. Plenty of ski tracks in the snow.
Kim and WC on the lake Dammtorpssjön on a warm late winter day.
We woke up to see the start of the Vasaloppet in Dalarna, Sweden. Vasaloppet is one of the world's longest ski-runs (90 km /56 miles). 15.000 people participate in the main event race every year. This year, the snow was perfect for high speed racing, and the winner was able to complete the entire distance in 3 h 51 m! Incidentally, that is only about one and a half hour more than what it took for Kim's brother to finish a little over one quarter of the race (the distance Sälen-Mångsbodarna) in Friday's relay version of Vasaloppet. The video above shows some clips from the start of the race in 2009.
View from Hällberg's mountain pasture summer farm. The practice of transhumance has been used here since the 17th century.
Here are some photos from our recent trip to Orsa Grönklitt in Dalarna, Sweden, for a week of cross-country skiing with MomMom and PopPop, Chris and Sarah. We enjoyed some snow-packed days degrees dropping to -20C (around -5F) but most of the time the temperature stayed at a more pleasant level, between 5F and 15F. When we were not skiing we enjoyed the comfort inside our cute little cabin where Tara had prepared all the meals (for example blueberry soup and rose hip soup for lunch, and salmon and reindeer for supper).
Father and daughter in the tracks. (Click to enlarge.)
Chris, Sarah and MomMom enjoying the ski trip. (Click to enlarge.)
Nicely prepared tracks in the dense forest. (Click to enlarge.)
Built to last. The summer pasture main house at Hällberg's fäbod with plenty of snow on the roof. (Click to enlarge.)
Mom and daughter after reaching the collection of mountain pasture huts at Fryksås. (Click to enlarge.)
Grandparents Angelo and Mom Nilsson smiling for the camera. WC is sitting in his pulk to the right. (Click to enlarge.)
Waffles with cloudberries and hot mulled wine at Fryksås fäbod's café, before the ride home to Grönklitt. (Click to enlarge.)
Rudolf not needed here. Daddy pulled the pulk and got some extra exercise. WC soon fell asleep during the ride. (Click to enlarge.)
Tucked in for a ride in cold weather. (Click to enlarge.)
Tara waiting for MomMom and PopPop to catch up. (Click to enlarge.)
The view from our cabin.
And here are some action shots from one of our ski trips:
Kim: I am so happy that my wife is a person very far from Lilian Rearden. Above is a new short clip from the upcoming movie Atlas Shrugged (see earlier post on Who is John Galt?). It is the scene where Hank Rearden comes home from his steel mill with his new bracelet. The dialog says a lot about the beauty and virtue of selfishness (and at the same time how nasty and immoral any form of altruism really is). The unapologetic non-contradictory essence of Hank Rearden's argument baffles his family who can only thrive as moochers, hiding behind a veil of what they perceive as kindness and altruism.
The first trailer is out! Part 1 of Ayn Rand's famous novel is about to hit the movie theaters soon!
Did you know... that the paperback version of Atlas Shrugged was the first present Kim gave to Tara?
"I swear -- by my life and my love of it -- that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine."
Some notes about a planned ski-trip. Starting at Ljungdalen, a typical outpost in the southern/middle part of the Swedish mountain range. This is where the road ends. Skis, dog-sleds or snowmobiles are the best ways to travel here. I prefer ski touring.
Winter trails are marked by red cross signs.
My plan is to reach Helags mountain station before nightfall. The following day I will go north, and do a nice little climb up towards the second peak in the area, called The Goose (Gåsen), where there is a little mountain hut for me to stay the night in. This is the highest part of the trail that I have chosen, and it is located at an altitude of about 4.200 feet, with some glaciers just around the corner. From "The Goose", I hope to be able to cross over to the Sylarna mountain massif, where my aim is to reach the Sylarna mountain station. This is classic terrain for mountain touring people, and I might stay here for more than one night to enjoy the facilities. After this first leg of the trip I have two alternatives - either to cross over the border to Norway and end up at Storeirikvollen, an old mountain pasture farmstead from 1879, or to go along the mountain ridge to the Swedish mountain station of Blåhammaren, where they have a sauna! The last part of the ski-trip is to go down from the high elevation and across the valley over to Storulvån mountain station. From Storulvån there is a road to the nearest railroad, but it can be unreliable since the road runs right near the Snasahögarna massif where frequently a lot of snow overtakes the road, due to hard winds, and makes it impossible to travel by car. I do not think this will be anything I need to be concerned about since I will be traveling during late winter.
Gåsenstugorna - the huts near The Goose peak.
Helags mountain station.
Top of the world! ... or at least the top of the Swedish mountain range.
Herring - Or what Swedes have for Christmas dinner. The first part of the "Julbord" consists of fish. In this picture you will find that we have boiled eggs cut in half and garnished with Kalles kaviar (red cod roe caviar). On the top of the plate is Tara's homemade bread with butter and in the middle Tara's homemade Janssons frestelse (a kind of potato gratin/casserole with anchovies). The rest of the plate is packed with different versions of pickled herring: "Brantevik herring" (a rather sweet pickled herring), Dill herring (as the name suggests, flavored in a dill brine, and Onion herring (the most traditional form of pickled herring). Yum yum! Served with a glass of cold Porter and snaps (for more about the all-important Nordic snaps ritual - read this). For Christmas we prefer a very bitter dram called Gammel Dansk.
