Spring Fatigue is in the Air *

Monday and Tuesday have been sunny here, with daytime temperatures around 10'C (50'F). Still no spring flowers to be seen, though - so we're still far behind for example Germany and Britain. And in spite of the relief to be rid of the snow, my main spring feeling so far seems to be tiredness... *

On Monday, I went for a similar walk into town and back as exactly a week ago, although I took a slightly different route. My main goal was again the police station; now to pick up the ID card I applied for last week. 

My knee seemed to be in protesting mood already when I set out, so already a few hundred meters from home I hesitated, and thought of turning around... But I have noticed before that often it actually starts to feel better after a while, so I decided to continue. (I think by now the pain is primarily in certain leg muscles rather than in the knee itself. For which I'm also experimenting with various exercises at home. But as so often, not all easy to find the right balance between activity vs rest...)

This time too it did feel better after a while (and walking slowly). And when I got to the southern end of the city centre, I got on a bus there that took me one stop (a few blocks) closer to the police station. I did not have to wait long there this time, as they had a separate booth open for people just there to collect IDs. (As I suspected, my hair in that photo looks horrible. Hopefully I won't have to use it for too many purposes...)

My second errand was a visit to the only remaining physical photography shop left in town. They recently announced via the local newspaper + social media that they will be retiring and closing the shop towards the end of this year - unless they can find someone willing to take over. That reminded me that I have some boxes of old slides that I've been thinking of perhaps getting transferred to a USB stick. So yesterday I brought one, and asked them to do that for me. They are photos from a journey to Germany way back in 1983. I don't know what condition they are in as I have no working apparatus to view them with any more; so I'll wait until I get that first lot back to I decide if maybe I'll have some more done.

Then I sat down  in the sun on a bench for a little while, to rest and drink some water. Next, I went on to visit a shop selling leatherware - bags and gloves. I was hoping to find a pair of thinner gloves to wear with my walking poles now that it's getting warmer outside. My winter ones are getting too warm, but I still feel I want some kind of gloves with the poles for a good grip. Yesterday I was wearing a pair of cheap garden gloves, but if possible I wanted to find something a little bit more elegant...

And I was happy to find these, with leather on the underside, but a "ventilated" top:

They weren't cheap, but turned out to be included in a 25% off sale, so still a good deal! (No doubt they'll still be too warm in really hot weather. But just now they're perfect.)

Then I walked via part of the city park towards home, stopping for a while at the sculpture shown in yesterday's post. I had had half in mind to perhaps try and catch a bus from the travel center - but arrived at the conclusion (for the umpteenth time) that this wouldn't really save me many steps (if any at all - and no time either). So I walked on... Sat down briefly a couple of more times along the way instead (on a stone wall vs a bench in the cemetery). 

Felt exhausted when I got home, though (even if not really in much "pain") Lay down to rest - and ended up with a two hour afternoon "nap"... *

Still tired today, I just went for a half hour slow walk close to home, including a visit to a small neighbourhood shop for a few fruits & vegs. And I don't think I'll venture much further afield tomorrow either.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springtime_lethargy

 

 

 

The Singing Sculpture

 

Found a new sculpture/installation in our City Park today. Well - new to me, anyway! But then I have not been passing by that corner of the park for at least five months... 

 

As odd as the thing looks, it sounds even odder. Yes - getting up to closer to it, one can also hear it kind of singing, or humming. 

 

Back home, I tried to seek some info about it, and Google AI obliged. It seems I missed what our local newspaper wrote about it back in early December last year, when it was inaugurated. 

 

It's official title is Currents Cast in Time: Collected Sounds of Borås, and the name of the artist/musician who created it is Jin Mustafa (female, born 1988 in Uppsala, Sweden). The work of art was made specifically for this place. It's made of aluminium and fiberglass, and the sound it gives off is a mix of city sounds recorded along the river. It also lights up from within in the dark - and you're welcome to sit on it and rest for a while, if you like. (I did not, on this occasion.)

 

A variety of this work of art (in the shape of some "singing stones") was first shown at our sculpture biennial in the summer of 2021. But it had to be reconstructed to meet the demands of a more permanent installation. 

 

You can see and and listen to the 2021 version in a blog post of mine from back then:

Smoke, Sticks and the Sound of Stones

 

 

 

Skywatch & Treewatch

 

03/03/2026, 07:08

03/03/2026, 07:19

The two photos above were taken from my kitchen window on Tuesday morning.

Since then, the rest of the week has offered clear blue sky and sunshine, but still some frosty nights. The snow and ice is almost all gone - only a little bit lingering here and there in shadowy places where it was piled up by the snow ploughs.

 In my Wednesday post, I showed a tree in the cemetery being taken down because of Dutch elm disease. The next day, I passed by the same spot again, and below is what remained of the tree trunk then. I don't know if taking down the rest just needs different tools, so will be done later, or if they intend to leave some part of it.

 

 

 

Seeing the bare tree trunk against the sky like that, I was reminded of an alternative solution that I saw last summer when visiting a park in the city of Linköping (click on the link for my full post from there). There they had saved  the trunks of some trees that died from the same disease, and turned those into wooden sculptures:

 

 

 Linking to Skywatch Friday

  

Dutch Elm Disease

 

At last, a clear blue sky again - and combined with no snow/ice on the ground! :) The ground still very soggy in some places though, so I kept to the paved paths on my walk around the nearby cemetery. 

An old tree was in the process of being taken down - no doubt because of Dutch elm disease. which sadly seems to be spreading around here. (Here in Sweden just called almsjuka - elm disease.) Wikipedia informs me that the "Dutch" included in the English name has to do with the disease first being identified in the Netherlands in 1921. It's caused by a fungus spread by bark beetles from one tree to another. And it seems a tree already infected can't be cured, but has to be taken down; while healthy trees might be saved by vaccination, but it's not guaranteed to always be successful.

It's always sad to see mighty old tree giants taken down, even if it is necessary. 

 

ID Adventures Continued

 

As some readers might remember (at least now that  I remind you), last week I found out that in order to renew my "Mobile Bank ID", I first needed to get a physical National ID card (a kind of ID card that I've never needed before). 

So for that purpose, I had booked an appointment today at our local police station - from my point of view situated in a street "across the city centre", and with no really helpful bus connections from where I live. I contemplated taking a taxi, but as the snow is gone and it wasn't really raining (just foggy on the verge of a light drizzle), I decided to walk. It took me about 40 min. My knee felt fairly ok, but I'm still far from "speedwalking"... 

The mural above is on a wall along a sidestreet near the police station. It's been there for a number of years by now, but it's not a place I usually walk by. 

I arrived about 20 min before my 12 o'clock appointment, and checked in digitally on a machine. Just then there were only a few more visitors in the waiting room, but all 'cubicles' seemed to be closed. After a while I came to the conclusion that the staff must be on their lunch break. In the meantime, more people kept arriving, so at 12, when they opened again, all seats in the waiting room were taken, plus a lot of people standing as well. As I had a booked appointment I did not have to wait long after they opened, though. (Most people were probably there to collect previously ordered IDs, which does not require pre-booking.) 

It's been almost a decade since I last visited the police station for a similar errand (then a passport), and my memories of the procedures then are vague. But what somewhat surprised me now was the absence of a couple of items that I would have found helpful: A hook to hang my coat on, and a mirror to at least be able to check my hair before having my photo taken by staring into a blank (but not reflective) screen. Fingerprinting no longer involves ink, and they only wanted my index fingers - but (interestingly) I needed to do one of them thrice before the police office was satisfied. (Do fingerprints wear out with age? Answer at the bottom of the post...) *

 And then of course I had to write my name with a digital pen, which felt oddly clumsy, and made my signature look that too. The officer then briefly showed me what the document was going to look like (too small for me to really see properly) and asked if I was satisfied. I said I was definitely not satisfied with my hair... But probably everyone says that, because he seemed to take that as an acceptance anyway, and told me I'll get a message when I can pick it up (in a week or so)... 

Walking away, I made a mental decision that when my driving license is up for renewal next year, I will make sure to do that. (I don't really drive any more, but it's accepted as ID in most everyday situations, even if not for the digital bank ID. And for the driving license one is still allowed to go to a professional photographer to have one's photo taken... 

The way back home seemed very long. I looked in at the pharmacy for a short errand (some non-prescription stuff), but then decided to see if I could catch a bus part of the way. There is no bus that takes me "all the way" these days, but I managed to catch one that shortened the way a little bit (two stops). With a little detour to a neighbourhood corner shop for some fruit and vegs, I was home again at 1 pm, amost exactly two hours after I left. 

The whole adventure had me so tired that after a quick lunch (microwaved leftovers, and salad from yesterday), I fell asleep for a couple of hours in the afternoon... 

And now it's just about bedtime for real! 

*) AI tells me:  "Yes, fingerprints can wear out or become less distinct with age, largely due to reduced skin elasticity, thinning skin, and the flattening of ridges. While the underlying pattern remains fixed, these changes often make it harder to capture clear prints in older individuals " (And I suppose I have to accept that at age 70, that's what I now am...)