I heard Isabelle Demers play the Åkerman organ at Uppsala Domkyrka last week. As far as first organ recitals go, this was a beautiful one to have gotten the opportunity to start with - even though the instrument did not seem to particularly resonate with me. Or maybe I just need to hear more of it to properly appreciate it.

This was also my first time exploring the cathedral.

I’m still fascinated by the intersection of science and religion in this city. The cathedral sits a stone’s throw away from Gustavianum’s anatomical theatre and the main university building, and I’ve gone to several talks that either as a primary topic or in passing tangle with reconciling scientific pursuits with spiritual ones.

Snowdrops

Snowdrops were my mom’s favorite flower, and the botanical gardens here had an entire weekend dedicated to them. In Ukraine snowdrops were the primary flower associated with the coming of spring - when the world starts to melt and the first tiny white petals break through frozen soil. They look so small and fragile, and yet they’re the first to be brave and strong enough to arrive.

Aside from seeing the snowdrops growing in the garden and displayed inside, it was also our first time exploring the orangeri. Soft light filtering from the huge windows and then through the branches of the different tree species inside gave the entire place a kind of fairytale feel.

I’m pretty sure my mom would have loved Uppsala.

There is one world only

Another one of David Whyte’s poetry collections arrived last week - The House of Belonging. Just like last time, I started with opening the book to a random page.

Innocence is what we allow
to be gifted back to us
once we've given ourselves away.

There is one world only,
the one to which we gave ourselves
utterly, and to which one day

we are blessed to return.

• Excerpt from Ten Years Later by David Whyte