Bad Luck and Good

This week started kind of abruptly for me. On Sunday at lunch I broke a tooth. It was the same tooth that also broke twice last summer, and both times I was told it was tricky to fix, as the damage went deep. For the same reason, it may also be tricky to put a crown on it, though. So when I felt part of the filling had given way now, I feared "the worst"... 

In Swedish we have a saying "ha tur i oturen" which is difficult to translate to English in an equally short catchy phrase. It basically means "to have a bit of good luck in the midst of bad luck". The first time I broke that tooth (not the very first time, but the first time last year) was on Midsummer Eve (a Friday). I had to get through the rest of that weekend on foods like mashed bananas and yogurt etc, and call the dentist first thing on Monday - when I also had a scheduled appointment for my 2nd covid jab later the same day. Luckily, the dentist managed to fit me in early though, and also to fix the tooth; and I was able keep my afternoon appointment for the covid jab as well. This was also the last week before the dentist closed for summer holidays in July, so in that respect I was also "lucky" that it happened when it did, rather than in July.

The next time that tooth broke (another corner of it) was in August. Then it happened on a Thursday and I had to call first thing on Friday morning, knowing they would be closing early that day. It also turned out my own dentist wasn't there. But luckily, her colleague managed to squeeze me in at the very end of her closing-early day. And again, managed to fix the tooth.

And now, the third time, it happened on the last Sunday of the Christmas holiday season. I decided to wait to call until an hour after they opened on Monday morning. With covid numbers sky-rocketing after Christmas, I guessed the dentist would be likely to get a few cancellations first thing at the start of the first week after the holiday season... I may have been right about that, because when I called at 9 am, the nurse was able to offer me three choices the same day. The first one was at 10:20. That suited me fine... I might not even have to reschedule my booking of the laundry room (starting at 12). The streets were icy, but the weather was okay, even offering a glimpse of sun again after a weekend of dull snow/slush/grey. I was able to walk into town without hurry; the dentist once again managed to do miracles (even if still not able to make any promises how long it may last) and I did get back home in time to get my laundry done as planned. (After  all that, I was feeling pretty exhausted in the late afternoon, though.)

Two photos snapped with my phone yesterday, on my way to and from the dentist's. The river calm as a mirror, not really reflecting all my "drama" at all!

Today, we're back to grey. I've been for a short walk to the recycling bins with some stuff + popped into the small neighbourhood shop for some bananas and tomatoes on the way back. And I packed a bunch of Santas/elves/gnomes back into their box for hibernation until next Christmas. What I did with the rest of the day I can't really say! 

Tomorrow and the next few days it's supposed to get warmer once again, and rainy. I'm hoping for all the knobbly ice on the streets to be washed away before the next round of snow (which is likely to happen at some point as we're still only in the beginning of January). Tomorrow I'll probably be staying in, packing some more Christmas things to go down to the basement. 

"Luck is the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of notably positive, negative, or improbable events. The naturalistic interpretation is that positive and negative events may happen at any time, both due to random and non-random natural and artificial processes, and that even improbable events can happen by random chance. In this view, the epithet "lucky" or "unlucky" is a descriptive label that refers to an event's positivity, negativity, or improbability." [Wikipedia]

(Feeling any the wiser? Not sure I do...)

Weekend Reflections

 

I saved some photos from yesterday for "Weekend Reflections".

Today (much as I suspected) we're snowed in again. It's been snowing all day, and still towards evening no sign or sound of a snow plow. I can only hope they're doing a better job of it on the main streets than on the side streets I see from my windows... Today is not even a holiday! But I was just reminded on the news that covid-numbers (omicron) are sky-rocketing here every day just now - I suppose that affects the snow-clearing as well.

 

 

Weekend Street/Reflections #50

The 6th, 12th, 13th or Whatever...

 Christmas was sunny, cold and snowy. New Year was grey, bare and rainy. For today, 6th January, the "Thirteenth Day" of Christmas  (as we call it here)*  - the last holiday of the Christmas season - we're back to snowy and sunny again.  

* (I know in some countries it is counted as the Twelfth rather than the Thirteenth day of Christmas. Why we've not been able to agree on the math, I don't know! )

This time, the streets and pavements are covered with knobbly "frozen slush", though; which means one has to "be careful out there"... I grabbed my camera and my walking poles and ventured out for a slow walk around noon, though. I may not have burned a lot of calories (having to walk very slowly), but at least I was out for about 1-1½ hour enjoying some sunny and wintry neighbourhood views again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(I did not go down there...)

The last photo is a "panorama view" from down by the river (which means the perspective is a bit twisted compared to real life) . It more or less covers the distance between two bridges, with the possibility nowadays to walk along the river on both sides in between. 

When I moved to where I live now, 14 years ago next summer, there were old factories along the other side of the river, and it was not possible then to walk along the water there. Since then, the industry buildings have been gradually replaced by new tall apartment buildings - but also a new public footpath along the water.

 

Back to White

 

This morning, somewhat to my surprise, I woke up to a white world again. Heavy wet snow this time, leaving the streets in a rather sorry and treacherous state between slush and ice. So not a good day for walks. On the other hand, I could congratulate myself on having chosen a perfect day for staying in and have groceries delivered to my door!! ;-)

And for the Thirteenth Day of Christmas / Epiphany / Three Kings' Day tomorrow (a holiday here), the Amaryllis in the kitchen window is showing off again, with a third flower stalk. 

I'll probably leave my Christmas decorations up over the weekend as well, but start taking them down next week. (I tend to make a gradual process of that, just as I do in setting them up.)

Hello 2022

 

Fireworks photos taken through my living-room windows about 15 minutes or so into the new year. I didn't dare open the door to the balcony as it was really intense out there for a while around midnight... Most of it at some distance, but also some explosions too close for my liking (rattling the windows). 

I have had a long-standing tradition of celebrating New Year's Eve at my place with a handful of friends - but that was back in the pre-pandemic era (which is somehow beginning to feel rather remote). Last year we cancelled (still in the pre-vaccination era). In the early autumn I thought for a while that maybe we'd be able to pick up the tradition again (if everyone had had their jabs and were symptom-free etc). But then infection numbers generally started rising again, in spite of the vaccine. So what with one thing and another (and none of us getting any younger), we decided to "play it safe" this year as well.

So I spent another New Year's Eve on my own. The "on my own" part in itself is not a problem. What makes New Year stand out is all the fireworks and (forbidden) bangers; and that with all that noise, it's no use even trying to go to bed/sleep before 1:30 pm. Ah well. After two years with this virus constantly hovering in the background, I have kind of got used to taking things one day/week/step at a time.

After New Year (even a normal one) it usually takes me another week or so to get back into more regular rhythm. On Sunday morning I slept until 10:30. I woke up earlier of course, but fell back to sleep. Thought of skipping breakfast for some kind of 'brunch', but ended up having breakfast at 11 and lunch in the mid afternoon. 

Today I was up a lot earlier, but for some reason, I've kept thinking it's Tuesday, even though it's only Monday. Another holiday - Epiphany - coming up on Thursday is not likely to help when it comes to getting this week sorted out correctly in my head! (lol)

As for the weather, the magic white Christmas we had seems like a dream now. The last week has been quite the opposite: rainy, grey, foggy, 6-7°C (43-44°F)...

Most days I've managed to get out for a short walk - but they've not been very photo-inspiring... 

Walking around the old cemetery for a bit of exercise before lunch on New Year's Eve, I snapped this shot with my phone, just to remind myself later of why I didn't take any more photos this week! (Since then, all the snow has gone away completely.) 

Indoors, I've basically alternated between binge-re-watching the series The Crown on Netflix (I heard a new season is coming up in 2022), and scanning/reading my way through old postcards from the early 20th century for my family history blog, Greetings from the Past.

Here are two Swedish New Year cards from around 1915: