I’m at the end of the first week of my summer vacation and already the days are starting to blur together. I’m sitting on my balcony while writing this, the smell of rain in the air. It’ll be good to get some rain after these last days of heat. My roses are really feeling the strain of the heat - I’m seeing drying leaves on the Rosa Helenae rambler, and some dry heat-loving spider mites on the Rosa Camelot.

Running

I’ve been running, exploring, writing, trimming the cats, and just generally being out and about. We’re in a bit of a heat wave right now, but I still dragged myself out yesterday morning for my longest-ever run: a 2 hour ’economy run’ as prescribed by TrainAsOne.

I let YouTube Music do an auto-playlist for me and it turned out pretty great. Started nice and chill, fell into a good steady groove, then got a bit more high pace and aggressive toward the part of the run where I needed to push a bit more. I’ve saved it for next time.

A few days before this I went for a run from Kronparken along Gula Stigen to the new 100m swimming dock at Skarholmen. We took a little break there and then ran back toward the city along the Fyris. Last year they had goats in Kronparken, but this year we were greeted by even friendlier sheep! What a nice way to start a run.

Uppsala Half Marathon is drawing ever-closer. I have no other races planned until then this year, but might have some cheering duties for Kung Björn Loppet och 6 Sjöar.

Writing

I finished the first rough draft of the novella I had started working on ages ago. Unfortunately, while it is meant to be sci-fi romance, there is very little actual romance arc development in this first draft. It’s hard to write an enemies-to-lovers story and make it feel authentic, especially in a shorter novella format. I’m now going back through the story and trying to build out a believable romantic connection.

Reading

Jag tog mig igenom Skammen vi Ärvde. Det var min första svenska roman för vuxna, och jag tyckte att den var väldigt intressant. Utöver att det var en bra berättelse som utspelade sig i Uppsala, fick jag lära mig mer om nazistympatiernas historia inom det svenska akademiska värld.

Jag har länge varit intresserad av Sveriges neutralitet under andra världskriget och funderar över hur den diskuteras i svenska klassrum. Handlade neutraliteten främst om att överleva Hitlers regim och undvika en invasion? Eller var det faktiskt ett ‘moraliskt’ val att vägra välja sida? Jag hoppades på det första.

Det var också en ögonöppnare att läsa om hur respekterade akademiker öppet stödde Hitlers regim och i vissa fall fortsatte att förneka Förintelsen ända fram till sin död. Å andra sidan fanns personer som Torgny Segerstedt, som öppet motsatte sig Hitler och kämpade för att få Sverige att hamna på rätt sida av historien. Idag bor jag precis intill Torgny Segerstedts allé.

In other reading-related news, I have recently (shamefully recently) discovered the Rosendal library. I mean, I knew it was there, but I didn’t really take advantage of it properly until now. Aside from just being a nice neighborhood library, it also has extended opening hours. Members can come up to 22.00, when there is no staff there, to browse, study, and check out books.

Road trips and old crypts

Other than that there’s been a fun road trip, an old crypt tour (that is only opened once every ten years!), and just general shenanigans. And balcony chilling, of course.

Ingbo Källor

Said to give good health and longevity if you drink from these springs, we of course did so.

Sätuna gravkor

This crypt in Björklinge Kyrka is opened for two weeks every ten years. It was a bit of a surreal experience to be standing among so many people…

Baking Dr. Westerlund cake

I didn’t know this was a thing until I was buying the plant at Blomsterlandet and the store attendant asked me if I was going to make a cake. What? You can make cake from these?!

Well, you can. But I’m not so sure that you should. This was a one-time experiment.

That’s it for now. I’m going to write a more detailed update about the balcony later, including reflections on the inglasning and the cat-friendly outer perimeter I’ve put together (Rigel loves it).