it's all downhill from here...

It's a week after the summer solstice, which means the days are getting shorter and we may even have this thing called 'darkness' before too long. I still find myself waking up at 3 am and forcing myself back to sleep. The official Midsummer celebration in Sweden was this last weekend and ninety percent of the country will take the next month off, so it's important to make sure you have almost everything you'll need to do projects in July. We don't have the luxury to take a month off, but I'm still finding ways to enjoy myself. On sunny days like today, I usually take a kayak out and paddle around the lake for a couple hours, finding little coves and inlets to explore. I also continue my daily walks around the 'fake' island, continually checking on the progress of the wildflowers. I seem to find new ones every couple days or so. I reset the birch poles for the new dog kennel today and we'll be getting lumber for new dog houses this week, so I'll be able to start chipping away at making 30 new houses. July should be fun, as I will get to spend some time out on the Norwegian coast. The new sailboat is in Nesna and before too long, we'll go for a long weekend to Norway to make some repairs on the boat and scout out some logistics for sea kayaking trips. A new litter of puppies is expected around July 24 and before I know it, it'll be August. I'm moving into a real house soon, so Dave can have his cabin/office space back. Between all the other projects, we're going to start building a handler's cabin, similar to the one I'm in now, but better suited to stay in for the winter. I guess that's it for now, but I'll post again when something interesting happens.

out and about

The last two days have provided time to get out and discover some of Västerbotten. Turns out Slussfors has about 160 people. It consists of a couple houses, a school, and a gas station/market. It happens to be on E12, a paved road which is a rarity in these parts. Last night, we got out the cart and took Toby's greenland huskies for a little run. Through breaks in trees, you get views of snowfields on the mountains that border Norway. Today, we finished setting birch poles for the new dog pens, digging the last 3 holes by hand. The early day sun has turned to overcast with occasional rain showers. The Slussfors market proved inadequate for our dinner plans, so we drove 30 km to the larger village of Dikanäs, population probably 300. Needless to say, most of the drive was on a single-lane gravel road, with lots of ups and downs and it can get quite exciting going 70 km/h and having to swerve to miss logging trucks! Dave and Toby's wife, Susan, are currently stuck in a small island harbor off the coast of Norway. They are sailing Dave's new boat from Trondheim to a port close to Mo i Rana, but have been pinned down by bad weather. Well that's Sweden for now. Stay posted.

p.s.
GO ARGENTINA! With the 4-1 win over Korea today, looks like the world cup semi-finals are in reach!

Well I think I am still adjusting to entering a kennel with 30 loose dogs and the mayhem associated with all the excitement. It makes kennel chores a little difficult with all these dogs swarming around your feet. Swedish law is different from the US in that dogs are not allowed to be staked out. This means all our dogs get to run around in a couple big fenced areas. Surprisingly, not too many fights occur and the dogs seem to enjoy playing with each other. It can be intimidating though, opening the gate and trying to get in without dogs getting out, everyone barking and jumping on you. At about 12:30 last night, still very light out mind you, I heard the pitter-patter of feet on the deck. Looking outside, I saw three dogs running around the property and having a jolly ole time. On went the clothes and with bleary eyes we put the dogs back into the kennel and searched for the escape point. Sure enough, a hole about half the size of a dog was found and is in line to be repaired today. A new kennel will be built in the coming week, so hopefully that will put an end to the midnight escapes. We've got some exciting news with the two new additions to the pack last night! I'm still remembering names, but another brother and the mother of our six youngest dogs are now here. I'll post more when I can remember their names...

Arrived and still not speaking a lick of Svenska

The journey is over, or more so, a new one is beginning. I left Seattle with a heavy heart, leaving behind the comforts of my routine life, the ins and outs of a country I know and a way of living I understand. More importantly, I left behind friends and family. Upon take off, we passed through rain clouds, steadily gaining elevation until the plane leveled off above a sea of puffy white. Passing over the Cascades, pesky summits broke through the white barrier and rekindled the my desire to stand among the giants. Clouds covered my view until the central planes of Canada, where I saw only meandering streams, isolated lakes, and unending grass. A shoreline appeared, the land disappeared, and small white dots littered the blue expanse. A new line appeared, now white and cracked. I was over Hudson Bay and the spring breakup was far from over. Clouds once again covered my view, this time ranging in the vibrant colors of a sunset. Except the color faded to white, never to the black that has always accompanied sunsets. As I looked at the whiteness below, shapes began to form. Longs lines of a windswept landscape. Crinkles of tension. Crevasses. The Greenland Icesheet flowed out to the coastline. Rivers of ice flowed down valleys. Windblown snow and rock bands alternated on carved ridges and still more icebergs calved into the ocean. The desent into Iceland was through thick fog, with visibility limited to a couple hundred meters. At least I could see the fields of lupin-like flowers surrounding the airport. The clouds closed in until the coast of Norway, where fjords gave way to glacial mesas. Sweden arrived, looking pastoral and calm. The Stockholm airport offered a few hours of sleep, where I was able to tuck away into a quiet corner. Onto another plane, this one small, but the final leg of a journey. After one short refueling stop, I landed in the Storuman airport, walking the final stretch from plane to building. There I finally met Annette and Dave, the two people responsible for my being in Sweden. Off to the car and a drive to Slussfors, where we could finally talk without the hinderance of email and cyberspace. We grilled moose burgers for dinner and I met a couple from the UK who are also staying here. My accomodation consists of a small one room cabin, about 200 meters off the river and the land is in perpetual daylight. There are 28 young dogs in the kennel, many from good blood lines. There is also a resident cat in the vet and two strong horses out back. Work starts tomorrow, but for now it's rest and relaxation.