reflections – Page 5 – Katja Malmborg

where I come from

I come from a land of forests and lakes. Small fields and small conglomerates of civilization like satellites among all the green and the blue. It’s never as obvious, as when I return home, flying in over the Mälardalen landscape. The odd grove of deciduous trees have started getting yellow and red edges, on theContinue reading “where I come from”

at the end of summer – thoughts of home

During the long journey back from the Golden State, I got to thinking about home. What it really is. And sure, one definition is where I have all my stuff. Another is where I grew up. But I think a more meaningful way to look at it is the places that have left the deepestContinue reading “at the end of summer – thoughts of home”

California light

I was sitting in the loom room, spinning, and listening to Johan Rockström’s Sommar i P1 podcast. He is the director of the research center where I work and a professor of environmental science, and he was talking about all the ways in which we are screwed, climate- and environment-wise. He also said that thisContinue reading “California light”

seven shades of a pond

At the farm in Sebastopol, I slept in a stationary safari tent by the big pond. We got up before six every morning, to let out the horses and clean the stalls, eat breakfast and be out to start picking blueberries by seven-thirty. Rising up so early, the regularity, cold fresh air of dawn. Getting dressed inContinue reading “seven shades of a pond”

recycled quotes

I don’t remember now where I found it, maybe my classmate Kate posted it in her Facebook feed. But I liked it so much, I copied it and saved the document on my desktop. Now, while going through the big number of notes and other random stuff that has ended up on my desktop lately,Continue reading “recycled quotes”

the impossibility of nights

Sleep can be hard to come by sometimes. When Discussions haven’t been written and the pressure of it all causes emotional hypersensitivity. Insomnia makes me claustrophobic. I watch Becoming Jane, a costume drama about Jane Austen before she became the author Jane Austen. And I think: She created some of the most exquisitely written novels in theContinue reading “the impossibility of nights”

Easter parties

Easter party yesterday with the high school party gang. Realization: I’ve known these people for ten years now. I knew them before they met their partners. I knew them when they chose what university and program to apply to. Now, most of them are in stable, healthy relationships, with degrees and good, proper jobs. Together.Continue reading “Easter parties”

#28: My new religion (March 31st)

Dries and I skyped with Ashley, sitting in the sunny glass veranda. Ashley was sitting in a hostel kitchen in the Philippines. There are no words for the enormity of a banal conversation like the one we had, across continents and oceans. On Sunday, I had yet another Twin Peaks night with Natalia, Scotland notContinue reading “#28: My new religion (March 31st)”

#27: I drive my friend (March 31st)

It kind of lingered, in the back of my mind, while driving Dries and me down here yesterday. Here I am, moving at incomprehensible speeds, in charge of a vehicle that easily could kill us both in an instant. If handled incorrectly, that is. And I am not a very experienced driver. I passed myContinue reading “#27: I drive my friend (March 31st)”

#13: Today, sun (March 11th)

There is something about the light in this building. From the outside, the Geoscience building at Stockholm university main campus doesn’t look particularly exciting. It’s just big and green and kind of blends into the surroundings with the trees and the grass. But inside. The windows are huge, in the library and the classrooms, andContinue reading “#13: Today, sun (March 11th)”