Fire Alarm!

 

Have you ever been in a building when a fire alarm went off for no obvious reason - and they say it's not just a drill? I can't recall that I have - until today...

Today, in the early afternoon, I had a vaccination appointment booked at my primary health care centre downtown. It was a sunny and crisp autumn day, so I was able to walk there - a nice walk along the river. I arrived in good time; and as they now practice online booking (rather than just "drop in"), there was no long queue. My number to register at the reception desk came up almost immediately. But just as I opened my mouth to state what I was there for, and intending to show my ID - a noisy alarm went off... 

There was a second or two of general surprise and confusion... And then we were told that it was the fire alarm, and that it was not a planned fire drill. Everyone (both staff and patients) had to vacate the premises immediately, and go out into the street to await further info.

There was no sign or smell of fire or smoke in the reception area - but it's a large building with several floors. As the autumn vaccination period has just started, the waiting room was full of patients; but we all left rather unhurriedly. At first we just gathered just outside the entrance, feeling confused - but were then told that we had to go down to the street/sidewalk down below. 

Sirens were heard, and soon a fire engine arrived, but it drove round to the back of the building, so we could not see what went on from there. I also forgot to check the time, so I really have no trustworthy concept of how long we waited. Probably not as long as it seemed! But I suppose I wasn't the only one starting to wonder whether to stay or to just leave, and re-book an appointment for another day... But then, suddenly, we were told (without further explanation) that it was "OK"; and we could all go back in.

I also didn't have to sit very long in the waiting room before my name was called. I didn't check the time then either, but I think I probably got my jabs pretty much around the time when I was supposed to. 

For several years now I've had double vaccinations, against seasonal flu + covid. This year, they had changed the recommendations here a bit; and I found myself no longer "necessarily" recommended this year's covid jab at all - but instead, besides the flu one, one against pneumococci. So that's the two I got now (and both for free). (I can add the covid one later - but getting all three at once neither felt right for myself, nor was that recommended by the nurse.)

Back home (I walked back as well) I sat down in my TV chair with a cup of tea to watch an episode of a TV-series on Netflix... No doubt nodded off for a while... And when I woke up, that was with a suspicion that the ending I then had a glimpse of probably belonged to a different episode! ;) 

Remains to be seen if my reactions tomorrow go beyond feeling a bit sore around the injection places in both arms. (As I've never had the pneumococci one before, not quite sure what to expect.)  I have absolutely nothing "booked" for tomorrow though, so am free to take that day as it comes... 

Sleeping Beauty?

For the All Saints' weekend, a kind of "flower sculpture" had replaced earlier autumn flowers in one of the public flower beds in the cemetery. I asked Google image search to identify it for me, and it says it's a Rhodochiton atrosanguineus. In Swedish it's called by a name that would translate as "Sleeping Beauty's skirt" (referring to the classic story of the enchanted princess). From what I read about it now it does not seem to be frost hardy, though - so I suppose only a temporary decoration for the past holiday. We've been very close to having frosty nights lately...

Entering November

 

The November photo in my 2026 calendar - from 24 Nov 2025. 

The past few days the moon (as well as the sun) has been hiding behind clouds and fog here, so not really sure what position or stage it's supposed to be at just now... 

Hoping the sun will be showing its face again later on this week, though! 

Halloween, continued...

 

The most appropriate Moomin tea mug for the season: "The Ancestor" (who in the stories lives in or behind the tiled stove in the Moomin house). And a tea blend named "Autumn Glow" (Swedish: Höstglöd)

 

The Halloween weekend has continued to be grey and damp. Today it seemed to be raining most of the day, and I was beginning to think I wouldn't be going out at all. But then noticed around 3 pm that the rain seemed to have stopped, and ventured out for a short walk after all. The ground/streets in most places are covered with a mess of wet leaves, though - so one has to tread very carefully. Or at least I do - even if also having my stick for support... 

 

This morning I read in my daily local newspaper (which I nowadays only subscribe to in the digital version) about a bit of Halloween chaos in the city last night, as more teens than expected turned up for a "ghost walk" in the city park. A similar event last year had attracted around 650 participants in total, and it seems they had expected the number this year to be about the same. Instead, around 2000 turned up... which the organizers didn't have the capacity to handle... So many hundreds of youngsters were denied entry (after already having been queuing for hours), and then of course some tried to enter from other corners of the park anyway... So quite a bit of hullabaloo, and the police involved... 

 

For my own part, I live about 1.5 km or 1 English mile away from the city centre. Around here all was quiet, and no Halloween Hullabaloo at all - as far as I could notice, anyway. 

 

 

In the Park-To-Be (previously a big empty football field), much closer to home, there's still quite a lot of noise going on daytime on workdays, though. (From machines rather than people, at this stage.) I dare not guess how many mountains of earth/soil have been dug up vs added and flattened out there over the past three months - or how much more of that kind may be required. (Cf a post from early August here - when they were just getting started.)  However, I noticed this week that they have now also started planting some new young trees here and there - which I take as an indication that they must be approaching the intended surface level, at least in some parts of the area... 

 

How much hullabaloo (and of what kind) to expect in this park once it's properly finished, still remains to be seen. I think it will be a while yet before it qualifies as a location for ghost walks, though. Or even ordinary hide-and-seek! ;)

All Saints' Day / Halloween

In Sweden, All Saints' Day (Allhelgonadagen) is a holiday (red day in the calendar) always falling on a Saturday - preceded by All Saints' Eve (Allhelgonaafton) on the Friday, and followed by All Souls' Day (Alla själars dag) on the Sunday.  

Traditionally, our All Saints' weekend is a more solemn affair than the American Halloween, and mostly to do with visiting and decorating the graves of our ancestors and loved ones. In later decades we have imported some of the Halloween traditions as well, though (pumpkins, ghosts, costumes, trick-or-treating etc) - which makes the whole "celebration" a lot more confused nowadays. (At least for us old enough to be aware of the change...)

Opinions also still differ about which day to best fit in the Halloween stuff. Some people argue that it should be Friday (All Saints' Eve); others that it should be 31st October, no matter what day of the week - which this year would coincide with All Saints' Day. 

So far this weekend, I haven't seen any Halloween-dressed kids around, though. But then I don't think I can recall ever having seen any typical "trick-or-treating" practiced in my immediate neighbourhood. (Quite a few of my neighbours are also of Muslim background, so I suppose even less likely to be picking up that tradition.) 

Yesterday (Friday/All Saints' Eve) I woke up to a cloudy and foggy morning. But neither rainy nor windy - which seemed to make a good setting for an "early" (as in before lunch) walk to the nearby cemetery, to light a candle on my great-grandparents' grave there. Back in my childhood we always went after dark - but personally I never really liked that. And these days I prefer even more to be able to see where I put my feet...

Judging by the amount of cars driving into the cemetery already around noon, I wasn't the only one who preferred going in the daytime.

 

 

 

At home, I've never done a whole lot of decorating  for Halloween. I have had some orange (fake) gladioli in the vase on the chest in my living room all autumn, though - and for this weekend (and probably through November) also added my Owls. The candles behind them are the dark green LED ones (with timer) that I recently bought. I feel safer with that kind now, and only sometimes light real candles when sitting still for a while.

 

And of course Barbie and Skipper wanted to dress up a bit. Skipper complained about not having anything orange in her wardrobe; but she got to borrow a skirt from Barbie. They also asked for pumpkins - but I said they had to make do with some brown horse chestnuts, and a separate LED candle...

"Happy Halloween" to all who celebrate!