Celebrating 5 Years with Duolingo

 

I'm celebrating 5 years of daily Spanish lessons at Duolingo.com

(Spanish)

You who have followed me through these five years know that along the way, I have also dipped into several other languages - some for repetition (German, French), some because they were already somewhat familiar (Norwegian, Danish, Dutch); and some just as a challenge to see how the brain would cope with something totally different (Welsh, Turkish, Russian). My latest addition to the last group is Finnish, which was introduced on Duolingo last summer. (Although Finland is a neighbouring country, Finnish is of totally different structure/origin than Swedish.) While I'm unlikely to ever learn enough of any of those last four languages to be of much use in direct communication, I still feel it's taught me a fair bit about languages in general. And I do feel rather proud of myself for having kept up my "streak" of daily Spanish lessons (+ more) through five whole years now . I would not have dared guess that when I started!

An Efficient Start to the Week

Trying to make up for my out-of-sync feeling from last week, I decided to make a fresh start today by calling my hairdresser. Every time I've seen her over the past (corona) year I've been reminded of the Catholic confession ritual (as seen in movies etc): "Bless me for I have sinned, it's been four months since my last haircut..." 

Well, I was in luck - I phoned around 9:45 am, she asked when I wanted to come, I said any time today from 11 (or else another day), and she said I was welcome at 11. (It's a very small salon, and she works alone now and only takes one customer at a time, so I had not really counted on her being able to fit me in that quickly.)

So I went for another walk downtown, and passed through the park again. Another mostly cloudy day with a little bit of light rain now and then, but no wind. The advantage of the weather still being on the "cool" side is that we get to enjoy slow progress of all the spring beauty this year (rather than a big explosion of everything all at once).

Blue Horse and red tulips - beautiful combination!

 

Pink magnolia and cherry blossom trees

Getting my hair cut never takes very long once I'm there, so afterwards I decided to try a couple of other errands as well. As I had guessed, the shops also turned out to be less busy on a rainy Monday morning than when I was last in town (on sunny Friday for the Spring Market). 

What I felt I needed most was a pair of new walking shoes, as my old ones were getting rather worn. So I went to a shop where I know they sell the same brand. (I think there was one other customer in the shop, deep in her own meditations in some corner.) I went up to the shop assistant, pointed at my feet and asked: "Do you still sell these?" She said yes, led me to the right shelf, and informed me that besides black (as my old ones) they also had them in blue and beige. I said I'll try them in blue, and told her my size. I tried them on, they felt right, and I bought them. It all took about five minutes...

Left: Old shoe in black. Right: New shoe in blue.

The shoe shop is situated upstairs between two clothes shops - one has to take the escalator from the ground floor of one of those to get up there. When I came back down again, a pair of thin (viscose) summer trousers caught my eye. Pretty much what I'd also been thinking that I needed, and in a colour that would go with other things in my wardrobe... I grabbed a pair of medium size, and bought them (with the right to return them if they didn't fit). That did not take more than 5 minutes either. (And I won't be returning them, as they turned out to fit me comfortably enough - a loose fit rather than tight was what I wanted in this case). 

I had left home around 10:30 to walk into town. By 12 o'clock, I was back home again, my hair neatly cut, and with new shoes and trousers. 1½ hour well spent! :)

No "before" picture, but this is "after"!

A Colourful Sunday Walk

Today was cloudy, with a certain risk of rain. I decided to go for a walk before lunch, as it was more likely to rain in the afternoon. I really only had in mind a turn around the old cemetery (where I walk almost daily). But the weather turned out so pleasant (no wind, and neither too hot nor too cold) that I ended up walking  back and forth on randomly chosen paths there for quite a while; and after that also down to the riverside. 

While walking randomly around the cemetery, I kept meeting another elderly lady doing the same thing. The fourth time our paths crossed, I could not help laughing and stating the obvious: "So we meet again!" She laughed too, and we exchanged a few words about it being a pleasant place to walk in, and we both lived nearby (she pointing in one direction and I in another). Then we continued each on her own way. Normally, stopping to talk to strangers is not really a habit of mine (and I suspect not of hers either) - but the way we kept meeting, it just seemed ridiculous to keep looking away every time! 

The flowerbeds of daffodils lining the birch tree avenue through the middle of the cemetery are still gorgeous.

This (above) reminded me of all the "spot the one that is different" challenges that seem to be eternally circulating on Facebook (like one A among rows of X:s) - often claiming that only 3% of the world's population will be able to find it within so-and-so many seconds. Astonishingly, most of my friends seem to belong to that world elite of geniuses (and sometimes even I) - so I don't think I have to explain this line of thought any further!

 You know I cannot resist water reflections!

Marsh marigolds, I think (zoomed in with the camera).

From the bridge, across the river and dam/waterfall, I also spotted some flowerbeds in bloom in the little park... That seemed worth exploring a bit closer!

 

The dandelions are in bloom, too.

One Day At A Time

It's been an out-of-sync kind of week. For one thing: Spring arrived, then took a step back, then moved forward again, then suddenly threw a massive violent thunderstorm with rain and hail at us, then surprised us with a sunny smile again - only to change its mind once more and pour more water on us today... Not all easy to keep up! 

Thursday (with rain and thunder in the afternoon) was Ascension Day, which is still a public holiday here, in spite of always falling on a Thursday. A bit odd really, as most people nowadays probably don't even know why we celebrate it (even though its name in Swedish is really a lot clearer than both Easter and Pentecost, as it does literally refer to "the day Christ went up to Heaven"). - In the morning, I read a post on Facebook written by the arch bishop of the Church of Sweden, Antje Jackelen. She quoted a comment she had had about this holiday last year (when we were in the beginning of adjusting our lives to various corona restrictions): "Is this the day we celebrate that Jesus started working from home?" and she went on to develop that theme a bit. (Quite a clever take on it, which wouldn't have made half as much sense in 2019; but feeling very contemporary in 2021, with most of us now used to relying more on other kinds of communication than physical meetings.) 

On Friday (sunny), I got up a little bit earlier than usual, as I had an appointment at the hospital for a routine breast screening. (I think these check-ups work basically the same in Britain; and probably in many other countries as well.) I had decided to take the bus there, and perhaps walk back. It would have been my first bus ride in 15 months. However, it did not take place, because I got a text message on the phone that the appointment had been cancelled because of a "stoppage",  and I'd get new invite later. (I think "stoppage" is the best translation of the Swedish word used. I interpreted it as a technical problem, but I'm not quite sure.) Anyway, it meant that quite unexpectedly, I suddenly I had a "free" Friday with no plans at all.

The sun was shining, the air fresh after the rain, and my local newspaper told me that there was going to be a mini version of the traditional spring market in the town square. (B.C. - Before Corona - the spring market used to be a Big event, taking up not only the whole square but also several of the nearby streets.) So I decided on a walk downtown, just to have a little peek. I didn't have the camera with me, but snapped a few photos with my mobile.

The town park was clad in lovely shades of fresh spring greens.

In the square there were a few market stalls giving a "whiff" of Spring Market, but really nowhere near the traditional B.C. atmosphere. (See for example a post from 2015)

I think more people were really attracted to / tempted by the nearby shops surrounding the square. So was I; but I know we're still in a bad situation here with the virus (still too many people in intensive care in the hospital etc). I bought some socks at one of the outdoors market stands, though (one of my spring market traditions). I also went into one clothes shop very briefly to buy a pair of leggings (petrol green), to go with some existing tops in my wardrobe. But further "browsing" for summer clothes will have to wait a while longer.

On my way back home, I passed through another part of the park.

My first ice cream will have to wait until a day when there's no queue! But I was happy to see the white magnolia tree on a sunny day in all it's glory.

So far, not much to complain about, you may be thinking. I agree. The "out-of-sync" feeling didn't really hit me until today, when for one thing it was raining again, and for another, the washing machine in the common laundry room turned out to be broken when I came down to do my washing. Also a kind of "stoppage". (The machine would not open, it seemed to have water left in it, and the problem could not be solved by turning it off and on again). I reported the fault and re-scheduled my booking; it was a bit of extra nuisance, though, since I had already had to postpone my washing this week because of other out-of-sync things. 

Ah well. Now today is almost over; and tomorrow will be a new one!

 

Spring Has Sprung

Today, for the first time this season, the outdoors temperature rose above the indoors temperature (and it wasn't even very sunny). I saw the numbers on the thermometer, but my brain refused to take it in, and failed to translate the fact into what clothes might be suitable for a walk. Although I did choose a thinner jacket than my winter coat (which I still needed only a couple days ago), even that proved too warm.

I did not go very far; but soon noticed that I wasn't the only one surprised by the sudden change of temperature. These ladies, for example, were also obviously over-dressed...

A sea-gull swimming in the river seemed perfectly happy, though.

 

Some wood anemones still in bloom down by the riverside.

Daffodils in the old cemetery, doing their best to make up for being late... (We associate those with Easter here, the Swedish name for them is "påsklilja" = Easter lily.)

And in the little playground park close to where I live, the cherry blossoms are out.