Foggy Head, Foggy Future

 

I'll let this foggy photo from Sunday morning represent two different things. 

First, the fact that over the past week the inside of my head has been feeling rather foggy as well; as during the previous weekend I managed to contract a cold, involving all the usual ingredients, from a sore throat and headaches to running nose and a barking cough. No point in trying to pin down exactly where I might have caught it from, as last weekend, with my brother here, we spent three days visiting several different restaurants, shops, museums - and public restrooms...

Second, the foggy view may also represent the fact that we have a general election coming up in Sweden next Sunday. As usual (every four years) we have three elections at the same time: National (parliament), regional and local. So both national and local media lately have been full of political debates, and little else - and that will continue for a while yet!

In our parliament we currently have eight parties, divided into two opposing "blocks". The previous election result four years ago took a long time to sort out and ended in a right-wing government. We're probably in for a similar situation once again this time - i.e. that it may again take time to sort out the results, and who is willing to cooperate with whom, to form a new government.   

While nursing myself through the various foggy stages of cold symptoms this week I've also personally spent a bit of time looking at "vote compasses" online.  I actually did five of them (three national, one local and one regional). As they all came out rather alike for me, I decided yesterday that I'm not likely to change my mind, but might as well go and vote early (which we're allowed to do). I've made use of that a few times in later years, to avoid the queues on the final election day; and did so again today. It's still a week of "wait and see" ahead until votes are counted - and even longer until we have a new government sorted. But at least for my own part I won't have to worry about whether it will be raining or not on Sunday...

If anyone would like more details about the election as such, see Wikipedia: 2026 Swedish general election

The Sun Has Gone Away on Holiday

 "Sun so far in December"

The weather has been so extremely grey so far in December that Swedish Television has taken to show daily statistics of the number of hours of sunshine. Note that this (above) is not the number of hours per day, but for a period of 15 days... 

Over the past two weeks, our capital Stockholm on the east coast only had 30 minutes of sunshine altogether. Karlstad, situated on the north shore of Lake Vänern (and generally known as a town where the sun always shines) saw the sun for 2 hours and 18 minutes in total; while our 2nd largest city, Gothenburg (Göteborg) on the west coast, can brag about getting 3 hours and 48 minutes. (Borås, where I live, is only an hour inland from there, but I think our statistics would probably be closer to Stockholm's.)

Viewers can send in their own weather photos. The background above is not a blank screen, but a fog photo from Boden, far up in the north. 

Below, a silhouette photo from the province Hälsningland, in the middle of our oblong country. Beautiful, but kind of spooky - like an island appearing "out of nowhere"...

 

And as for the next couple of days - not much hope of improvement...
 

Fog and Frost

 

Friday ~ 10 a.m.

Yesterday (Friday) was a very grey, dampt and foggy day here, even if the rain had stopped pouring down. Sunnier weather was forecasted for today - but also risk of frost and ice. 

Having given my knee and feet plenty of indoors rest for a couple of days, I decided to try my (in "normal" life) habitual Friday afternoon "recycling" walk. (It's often a good time to go, because then the bins have usually been recently emptied.) It went well, so no regrets.

Saturday ~ 10:15 a.m.

This morning, I woke up to sun and blue skies - but also frost-covered ground. Past noon, it's still frosty in shadowy places. I'm not sure if we're ready for that yet ("we" as in me and my knee!) Not sure yet if I'll be going out at all - but if I do, it won't be far, and I'll try to keep in the sun...

 

Foggy

 

The rest of the week after Christmas Eve can be summarized "grey and foggy". Somehow the fog outdoors seems to creep into my brain as well. I'll be back when it clears up... 😉

Fog & Frost

Today a combination of fog and frost made my surroundings more interesting again... I'll leave you to your own contemplations while browsing through my photos - just as I tend to let my own mind wander while out walking!

 

 

 

 

Linking to

 

Winter Fog (2)

 Walk continued from my previous post...

"Narnia" scene from the old cemetery (which I walked across to get down to the riverside).

I'm kind of fascinated with the 'skyscrapers' almost disappearing in the fog, until you start getting close enough...

 It had been cold enough for a while for the river to freeze along the shores.

"Hey, guys... I see a human on the shore... Maybe she's brought food?" 

 

"Pfft... No food... We turn our backs on you, then..."

 

Can you spot the birds sitting on top of the tree in the background? My camera was able to zoom them in... Crows or jackdaws, not sure which...

Closeup of hoarfrost on the thin hanging twigs.

 Railway disappearing off into the Unknown...

Winter Fog (1)

The day after I was out taking photos of "white open spaces" in the sun (previous post), we had a different variety of winter weather: It was still cold (around -10°C in the morning), but at the same time foggy. A rather unusual combination - which made me take the camera for another walk around the neighbourhood. 

It was very still, with everything covered in a layer of frost on top of the snow, and the fog made the distant background blurry...

My primary "goal" for the walk was the main post office down by the railway, to post my last few Christmas cards. Passing some streets with old houses on the way.

Someone had been cutting down or trimming a tree, but had not had time to clear away the branches before the snow came.

At this house, they always have a "Christmas Goat" made of spruce twigs beneath this tree.

My goal: The special red letter box, only for Christmas cards within Sweden. 

Our usual letter boxes are yellow. I also intended to take a photo from further away of the whole row of them (this red one standing next to three yellow ones) - but there was a never-ending queue of cars waiting to stop next to them (and blocking the view)... Never mind!

Frosty spider web on a fence

I noticed a nice new iron fence in front of one house

Getting back to the old cemetery, I decided to extend my walk by a turn down to the riverside as well. I think I'll save the rest of the photos for another post, though!