It has been an exceptionally hot summer, dry, an extreme high-pressure system stuck, looming over our parched Nordic soils. I found it tough. Working in July, walking through the oak groves around university, seeing trees start to drop their leaves. Hearing news about the largest forest fires in Swedish recorded history, crops failing, animals havingContinue reading “living in the age of humans”
Tag Archives: the environmentalist
two seasons in the Bergius Botanic Garden
You know my thing for botanic gardens. I have a neat collection now, 28 gardens on four continents. A bit surprising, then (or maybe, absolutely not) that I have not yet written a proper post about the botanic garden just next door: the Bergius Botanic Garden, run by Stockholm University. There is one post fromContinue reading “two seasons in the Bergius Botanic Garden”
a rough diamond of Göttingen
Göttingen, being an old university town with biology and agronomy as two of their strong disciplines, has three botanic gardens. I managed to visit two. And I fell like a pine tree (as the Swedish saying goes). The old garden, situated on the edge of the old city center, is a slightly overgrown, wondrously romanticContinue reading “a rough diamond of Göttingen”
thoughts about train-traveling
[Written on September 17th, on trains between Delft and Göttingen] Traveling by train in Europe: All the changes, I have seen many stations, waited on many benches. In some ways, it is stressful. It takes a long time, it is a hassle to carry my bags around, trying to figure out where to go nextContinue reading “thoughts about train-traveling”
an alpine train ride
[Written on August 28th] Getting up when the mist still lingers over the Zürich lake, saying goodbye to Maija and taking the tram to the train station. A heaviness in my head, hoping it’s just tiredness – sensing it’s probably not. Changing trains in Geneva, the only things I see of it are some artsyContinue reading “an alpine train ride”
the green domes of Zürich & words of care
Of course I visited the botanic garden in Zürich too. I’ve been trying to figure it out. Where this interest comes from. My obsession with botanic gardens. I’d like to say there’s something profound about it – but maybe it’s just a type of collection. I come from a family of collectors, list-makers and chroniclers.Continue reading “the green domes of Zürich & words of care”
terminally lost
It was lying by the window, curled up, gleaming blue. It must have flown in on a warm afternoon, windows open to let the breeze in, and then not found its way back out. Starved. It’s a purple emperor (Apatura iris), from the right angle the wings take on the depth of the August nightContinue reading “terminally lost”
autobiographies and the need for introspection
Some time ago, I read two books. It wasn’t intentional, but they happened to be autobiographies and, coincidentally, the authors belong to the same writing group in Portland. After having read them, it kind of made sense. They were about journeys, about finding a way out of a broken past, big sorrow, drugs and destructiveContinue reading “autobiographies and the need for introspection”
our unruly paradise
On those benches in the Montpellier botanical garden in September, I read the last chapters of Edward Abbey’s “Desert Solitaire – a season in the wilderness” (1968). It is a memoir of the years Abbey spent as a park ranger in Arches National Monument in Utah, USA, in the 1950s. It took me a reallyContinue reading “our unruly paradise”
a West African interpretation of street art
I guess it depends on your definition of street art. If it’s enough to be art appearing in urban spaces, on walls and pavements. Or if there has to be an element of illegality in it too. in that case, these political messages on the walls in Monrovia couldn’t me called street art. They wereContinue reading “a West African interpretation of street art”
Katja Malmborg 