...like a clock whose hands are sweeping...

Öland is an island- 137 km long and 16 km long.

At one point in history the island had over two-thousand windmills.  They were apparently a sign of status.  The island is also a Unesco World Heritage site because the farm land has been in contiuous use from the Stone Age.  Although the Loppis shops here were a let down, and the day was grey with continuous drizzle, I wanted to try and find at least one-hundred of the remaining four-hundred windmills.

Zok did not agree with this plan.

True, many of the windmills were similar in model, as if someone came along with a windmill kit that could be flat-packed and delivered for assembly IKEA style.

We were not staying here but continuing on to catch a ferry from Oskarshamn to Gotland another island.

 

"...and talk is cheap when the story is good..."

Where have I been?  Where haven't I been?

Did my thirty-something self have a better ability to keep all the non-stop hours that become days that become weeks that become ones personal history straight?

Zok was home and then he was not home.

I worked two 10 - 12 hour days at a festival meant for under 25s (for sobbing out loud- yeah hi! be rude to me- I am after all your mothers age).  Mostly I was in charge of gearing kids up, and then giving them a safety lessons before their first time on quad skates.  There was also (much too long of a story) a jam skating component that immersed me into early 1980s music that sent me into a K-hole of nostalgia that I have yet to crawl out of (um yes currently listening to Rick Springfield).

I have had roller derby practice as we are back up to 3x a week.  I had a couple of roller derby committee meetings.

I met up with some friends from the roller derby league (are you sensing a theme?). I went apartment shopping with a friend (derby).

My paper for school is at a healthy word count but I am not sure that the paper makes any concrete points...

I am thinking of skipping practice tonight because Zok is home for only about 24 hours and tomorrow night is a league meeting that I can not miss.

I am sick, I say sick and tired of not understanding Swedish.  I am signing up for classes as soon as I can find someone who reads Swedish well enough to help me with the form. (!)

At the under 25 festival I had one kid say - loudly and clearly "SPEAK SWEDISH YOU ARE IN SWEDEN".  Better, late in the day after I got tired of saying "I am sorry but I do not speak Swedish".- each time someone asked me a question-therefore I just started in English I had a black teenager step into my face and start yelling (in Swedish of course)- a friend stepped between us- and afterwards explained that the boy assumed I was racist for assuming that he did not speak Swedish.

Ahhhh the joys of globalism.

"...and in a dark brown voice she said Lola..."

Stockholm has a good PRIDE week and a fun parade.

I was ready to skate in the parade this year but then Zok got the festival tickets and well a girl needs to make choices...

I did go early and sit with some league mates to cheer on our skaters.

One of our league is the effervesce Swedehurt.

Derby is of course a subculture with all the trappings that comes with-

I had heard about Swedehurt before I joined Derby in Tasmania and before I knew there was a league here in Stockholm.

At that time I think she was skating with Gotham City (New York).

Sometimes I am so trapped behind her at practice I practically have nightmares about her ass- which is always sending me flying 20 feet or in my WAY!

But as you can see from the parade pictures- she is a mighty force.  She is not the only one- there are really tens of her- that are in the same league (ha ha pun intended).

I love them from any angle- even if it is from my vantage point of the looking up at them from the ground where I landed...

 

"...as Mr. Kite flies through the ring, don't be late..."

Zok and I had to go to the part of town where most of the foreign embassies are.

As we were walking back towards the subway station- we saw elephants, camels, and horses grazing in the park.

The circus has come to town(!) 

(The exclamation after the sentence really is inside my head because in all honestly I do feel a small sharp stab of "thrilling!" in my heart.)

Recently I watched a documentary about a family circus and how hard they work to get crowds in against the competition of our more modern entertainments.

I asked Zok "Would you rather go to the circus (he has never, ever been to see the circus) or go to the opera?

It looks like next month, we are going to the circus.

(!!)

 

"I was lost, and measure for measure, love spewed from the heart of me..."

Summer days continue to be interrupted by thunder and lighting.  By torrents of rain that cause the streets to flood even as the sun breaks through.

But the thing about Sweden and weather- the weather never wins.

So the BBQ's continue, pride week goes on whether or not the make up smears and the dresses get soaked.

Zok surprised me by getting us on the list for these shows-

http://stockholmmusicandarts.com/english/ 

The first one was today.  We walked in as Marianne Faithful was performing 'The Crane Wife'- she also did 'As Tears Go By', and 'The Ballad of Lucy Jordan'.  She sat down for a smoke during guitar solos and had a glass of white wine handy, and I loved every minute.

Patti Smith opened with 'Dancing Barefoot' and closed with 'Gloria'.
She was full of energy and looked like she was having a great time.
Pretty inspirational.

Today is the PRIDE parade.  I considered skating with the group from STRD, but I had to admit, that I'd rather cheer from the sidelines.
I have my PRIDE date- and then Zok will come and get me and we will go to the festival and see Ane Brun.
http://anebrun.com 
We saw her last year at Cirkus and the show was really good.

...They were clouds in my coffee...

Summer continues even as I can feel summer slipping away.

There is a chill to midnight that wasn't there last week.

The darkness is thickening so that after midnight I need a light to see my way from room to room.

But we all ignore this and skate around the islands, not caring about the irritated bicyclists that do not think we should be sharing their lanes.

All our new skaters that wanted to take their minimum skills test passed.  I felt especially proud of a few that didn't pass last time- because I could see clearly how far they have come and how much work they put in.

I have spent a small fortune on mediocre food and good beer, because a girl needs some energy when staying out on skates from 11 a.m.- until practice at 7 p.m., and finally skating from the train stop home at 10:30 p.m.  We have also had an STRD party at a local club- I LOVE skating in places you are not sure you'll be allowed...

Although after people have been drinking- I think the sudden motion of a body on wheels really makes people jumpy...

Zok will be home for a few days- so I am taking time to put the house in order, catch up on homework 'Fictions, histories'- which is as far as the Deakin site tells me, my class which will earn me a piece of paper.

I suppose even if this did not lead to paid work- at least I have new fodder for small talk.

Not even the temptation of ice-cream will get me out of the house today.

Laundry, reading, cleaning, followed by embarrassing movie choices.

 

"...cause I'll drink to you my baby...cause I'll think to that..."

How can we explain that change from winter to summer?

Where your perspective changes so completely.

Summer has arrived in Sweden.

All the hours of light, and all the people spilling from buildings into parks and onto sidewalks.  Squares once empty are jammed with chairs, tables and people making the city a new place to navigate.

I stroll through the streets, I am crushed into trains that are full even at 1 a.m.  I suddenly believe I love all of humanity and could stay out forever.

The air is scented with wild roses that grow everywhere.

The sky never truly darkens, the colors just change.

Classic cars are all around and there are always balloons along the horizon. 

People visit from other countries and this seems normal and neighborly as if Europe is just right next door to everywhere else.

I had my first lunch party on our sunny deck.

All that is missing...is Zok.

But- of course he returns every week or so, instead of every few months or so when we are in Europe- so there is that.