Entries by TATIANA

When I still lived in Sweden I lived in Handen which is a suburb of Stockholm. It takes about 20 minutes on the commuter rail (pendeltåg) to get into the city. This is what the station looks like......is that a lake in the background?

Yes it is.....right there a lake and forest. It is called Rudan. I spent many nature days during school there. Doing orienteering, which I was really good at actually. Now when I visit I go to Rudan to just be there. There is Upper Rudan and Lower Rudan and many trails in the forest, all of that in "my" backyard (when I am in Sweden that is) basically.

Maxingeslingan takes you around Lower Rudan.

One of the many docks.

I love this place. I did not appreciate it enough when I was growing up but now I do. Priorities and interests change, I am all about nature and peace and quiet now. 

A cluster of heat has descended upon Portland. I managed to sit outside in the shade until about 11 30 today and I am now hiding inside until the sun starts going down. It is like 104 degrees F outside (40 C) right now and it might get as hot as 107 later (42) and the heat is not going anywhere until later this week. I have a small free standing AC and two fans going.
My plans for the week......? Most likely take a class tomorrow morning. I am working this week, four shifts. So tomorrow during the heat I will be hibernating inside a darkish club with AC. I have laundry planned for Thursday. One of my friends is letting me use her washer and dryer so I do not have to go to the laundromat, a place I strongly dislike. I am very happy over that. Pet Pack on Sunday and that will be the week right there.
My plans for today.....? I really should do something productive so I will try to cross a few things off my to do list.
Get something to eat later. And even later, when it is cooler outside take the kids for a walk. That is one of the kids right there in the picture, her name is Senna.

Well well......destination Portland. I am back in the US. Long day of flying. No incidents on the plane. I have been spared being subjected to unhinged people acting up while flying on my trips to Japan and back and to Sweden and back. Good.
I prefer peace and quiet while flying.

I actually made a friend on the plane leaving Tokyo. I sat down in my assigned seat next to a girl and we started talking about Japan and how much we had enjoyed ourselves there. We ended up talking non stop for three hours. One of the flight attendants even commented on how he could not believe that we did not know each other prior to getting on that plane. I sat down next to a stranger and made a friend. My new friend lives in Seattle, her name is Ari. And I made another new friend leaving Sweden, not on the plane though. I took the last train of the night into Stockholm City to get on the bus to the airport from there. I had about a week left on the travel card that I had purchased upon my arrival in Stockholm and decided that I should give it to someboby to use. So I offered it to a stranger and we started talking. Talked non stop with her for about three hours as well while waiting for the bus and then while on the bus, she was on her way to the airport as well. We exchanged emails. She lives a bit outside Stockholm and her name is Elena.
Upon approaching Portland we flew by Mount St. Helens, an active volcano. 

I really do not enjoy the emotional distress I feel when leaving family and friends in Sweden when I visit. Maybe I need to move back to Sweden at some point.....I am thinking more and more about that.
I think I am going to call my Mom now and then try to sleep.

I had the most wonderful afternoon with my friend Marie yesterday at Klockgårdens Våffleri in Grödinge. Come along, let's take a tour of the place together.
An inviting lush green path lined with lanters with live candles and a gate that reminded me of the torii gates I saw in Japan led up to the café.

Let's walk inside!

The building is from 1864. The waffle batter, fruit jams and ice cream are home made.

You see all this interesting stuff when you first enter.

So pretty!

The menu. So many delicious choices.....

We both ordered waffles with homemade raspberry jam and whipped cream. Absolutely scrumptious!
Nice decorations and flowers everywhere, this place is amazing. A real gem.

An old wooden rocking horse.

My good friend Marie.

Another way in or out. This area, Grödinge is a fairy tale land.

There is plenty of seating in the beautiful garden.

This was my first visit to Klockgårdens Våffleri but not my last. This place is too good so I must return.

Look at this amazing fika with a view! What is fika you might wonder? Look it up, it is basically a Swedish ritual that (usually) involves coffee or tea and something to eat. This fika I had at Fjällgatans Kaffestuga. If you want an amazing view of Stockholm and some fika go there or to Hermans.

Afterwards me and Carmen took a long walk.....we walked and walked and talked. I have known her since I was seven.

We hopped on a ferry from one end of town to the other, a free ferry. Kind of a fun thing to do. There are plenty of options to go out on ferrys around Stockholm or further out in the archipelago and explore the many islands......or get on a larger boat and go to Gotland where Pippi's house is amongst other things. That is something I need to do more of, explore the amazing archipelago. Perhaps next time I come here.

Check out this comic that supposedly was in some Tokyo newspaper. (I found it on Reddit).

Ok....let's see, I would much rather have a latte or a coffee than a soda (in this case Pepsi) and I am currently typing away on a Mac laptop although my very first PC was a HP desktop but since that first computer I have stuck with Apple. I am more of a rainbow flag march person than a church going person. So according to this comic I must be a democrat.
Some background, I was not born in the US, I am not a US citizen so therefore I cannot vote here. Had I been able to vote in the upcoming 2024 presidential election I would hands down without any hesitation vote for my man Bernie Sanders but wait, Bernie is not running so I would vote .....drumroll......DEMOCRAT.
Let me explain why. And most likely I will lose readers now (and that is OK) because a large amount of people are so very divided here in the US on this topic, like you are either a democrat or a republican. Well I am a HUMAN first of all, my identity is not a political party. I float around on the political spectrum but I know what I am for and what I am against. I have friends that are republican, friends that are democrat and friends that don't stand for much politically and we manage to get along. I don't like how polarized US society is, how much division there is. It is dangerous and unhealthy.
We all know by now that a 20 year old kid tried to take out Trump during a political rally. The bullet grazed Trump's ear and in his own words, he was "fine". One person in the crowd died, very tragic. Plus the shooter. Then Biden withdrew from from the presidential race. Which probably took a lot. So I admire him for that. Right now it looks like it is Kamala Harris and Donald Trump that will be battling for the votes. At this point I do not care who is the nominee for the Democratic Party, I would vote for anyone representing the democrats because I do not think that Trump should be in the White House. There are plenty of high ranking republicans and conservatives as well that oppose of him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Republicans_who_oppose_the_Donald_Trump_2024_presidential_campaign
Does this mean that these individual would vote blue? I don't know. I know that the debates between Harris and Trump will most likely be thrilling. In case you do not know, Harris used to be a prosecutor. 
I do not like how Trump has mocked Kamala's name, so arrogant.  I do not like how Trump encouraged the January 6th attack (coup attempt) on the Capitol. One police officer tragically died that day doing his job, so many officers were injured and four commited suicide within a year. Shameful. Those people that rabidly ran around the Capitol looking for Nancy Pelosi and Mike Pence and were excited to cause destruction walk amongst us in society, that is insanity. I do not like the MAGA crowd that to me come across as unhinged bullies. I do not like individuals like Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert. I do not like how the wife of the man that passed away at the Trump rally mentioned above refused a phonecall from Biden with the explanation that "I didn’t talk to Biden. I didn’t want to talk to him. My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him.” Like ??? This mindset to me is scary. What did Biden do to you and your deceased husband? Some republicans were quick to announce that it was somehow Biden's fault that Trump got shot. Mentally unstable people listen to that, believe it and that can lead to bad stuff. When Paul Pelosi got attacked inside his own house by a far right conspiracy theorist that beat him with a hammer Trump thought it was funny. There are many more I do not like Trump examples that I can think of. These reasons and more is why I am would vote democrat. Women's reproductive rights are important to me as well.
Back in 2016 when Trump won the then election I was ok with him as president until he started acting out in ways that I do not agree with. I am sure Trump has a nice side to him in private at home with his children, around friends but another four years of Trump in the White House? Absolutely not. It is enough, just go away and take MAGAs with you.