Katja

re-growth

And there is something calming about getting dirt under your fingernails, too. I re-planted all my plants this weekend. I even went to the second hand store down the street and found three nice little pots to put the new cuttings in. I know November might not be the best time to change soils for theContinue reading “re-growth”

a different kind of starvation

The leaves have fallen to the ground now, but until a week ago, we had the most amazing autumn. And maybe it’s from all the staring at spreadsheets, the black and white world of statistics – but it’s like I’m starved for colors. I cannot remember ever being this delighted by the palette of autumn.Continue reading “a different kind of starvation”

evening, 11th

Impulse shopping at the grocery store, feeling drained from the aerobics class and forlorn, abandoned by the spatial patterns that I as a geographer have come to rely on. Today. my maps haven’t shown me anything. Instead, filling my arms with foods without plan – I just want them. The navel oranges have come. A sureContinue reading “evening, 11th”

autumn has come

All the leaves have fallen to the ground now. And as the season dictates, my body is powering down. I want to do simple things, slowly. I think it might be time to start making Christmas candies. This time last year, I was walking ten kilometers a day in the Sahelian sun, simultaneously conducting walkingContinue reading “autumn has come”

face-lift

I gave up. I have not been able to come up with a new, smart name for the blog. It’ll stay geographies of belonging. I am a geographer at heart, after all. And I’m still looking for a place to belong. The search has just turned from spatial and social, to rather more academic. There isContinue reading “face-lift”

the jungle of West African statistics

I’m cleaning data. Tracing changes to Ghana’s district divisions, trying to make different datasets match. Data collected by different ministries is not always consistent, district names are spelled differently, districts having been split means data collected at different times needs to be merged. Having several spreadsheets and a GIS open at once on my two screens,Continue reading “the jungle of West African statistics”

late, as always

I was walking down the stairs from my office the other day, the center was quiet, the sun was shining outside, and it suddenly hit me. I have a master’s degree. I don’t think it has fully sunk in. That first week in June, with thesis deadline, graduation party, presentation and then me diving straightContinue reading “late, as always”

*

I walked down to the lake. The sun was almost painful in the water, the smells of leaves on the ground intoxicating. I sat down on a cliff, read some in the book with Annika Norlin lyrics. She always manages to creep up on me. I think I know my favorite songs, the most potent of herContinue reading “*”

ride my heart

I walked down to the lake, the sun was shining through yellow leaves. I came upon the meadow where horses were eating, and I was struck by a resemblance. For a moment, I thought the brown pony that was eating by the fence was Ofelia. Ofelia was the first creature in this world, outside ofContinue reading “ride my heart”

how long does it take

I like listening to the radio. These days, they talk a lot about the “refugee crisis”. I don’t know how to deal, so I carry on with my life. I see photographs of crying children, and I start crying too. And then I pick up my smartphone and play a game of Tetris. The disconnectContinue reading “how long does it take”