This was my summer

In a small villa of 120 square meters there is always another cupboard. That is not true, but that is what it felt like for me during all those days during this summer when I have struggled with emptying our sold parental home together with my brother. It took much longer than I had expected, so that is one of the things that have characterized this summer.

Among all the things to take care of after the fifty years that the house has been in our family’s possession, I found a gadget I made as a kid that gave us a hint of my future profession, I guess:

Round, wooden sign with three areas representing "Enter", "Knock" and "Do not disturb".

A clear way to signal to one’s family members (or colleagues) whether they are welcome to enter one’s room!

Translation from Swedish:

“Kom in” -> “Enter”
“Knacka” -> “Knock”
“Stör ej” -> “Do not disturb”

A young girl sits on a cliff by the sea, watching someone stand up paddling.

Hot, sunny days on a cliff as well

Of course, our family got many sunny days on the sea here on the west coast as well, just like any summer. When we spend an entire day on a cliff on an islet many days in a row, time stands still. Rather than distinct days, it feels like a “state”, a “mode”, continuing unmeasurably long, a “going out on the sea” bubble to enter and exit.

This year, we fell (!) for stand up paddling, which is a new hobby for us. It is fun, somewhat tricky and makes us feel free!

Collage of three photos from New England. A bandstand, a white house, a street in Boston.

A trip to New England

But, our summer began with a trip to New England for a few weeks. We were curious to see that part of the USA, since on the northern part of the east coast, we have only visited NYC as such. What does it look like outside of the city?

Well, immensely beautiful and pleasant in every way, we discovered. We enjoyed the coastal part of Connecticut and the region east of Hudson River north of NYC the best (in New York state), but also had a look at New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

A green, wooden panelled house by a street in Rockport, Massachusetts.

There are so many things I could tell you about this trip, but above all, I found it immensely enjoyable to see all the beautiful wooden panelled houses — everywhere. Horizontal wooden panel is the best panel, if you ask me.

And, hot pretzels are also amazing!

A very nice summer!

Of course we did many more things during this long summer vacation, but these three themes characterized it the most, I think.

An enjoyable summer, indeed! And now, the autumn season is here!

Sidhuvud

The blog