Day Of The Dead

Allhelgons dag,
Day of the dead,
Thinking of things
I wish I’d said,
When You were here,
Before you passed away,
November first,
The days are dark,
Trees stand naked,
In graveyard and park,
Light a candle to your memory,
In the grey,
It was long ago,
When you left,
Still I feel sad and bereft,
As I visit with your soul,
Upon this day,
But seasons change,
Life goes on,
Much has happened,
Since you’ve gone,
I stand here with thoughts,
I’d like to say,
So I send them to you,
Lying there,
As I stand here,
In silent prayer,
Knowing in time,
I’ll also head your way,
Though not until,
I live my life through,
But I will die,
And when I do,
A candle and a visit,
Would not go astray.

How to Buy Cheap Wine in Sweden: Go to Germany

One of the things about living in Europe is that due to the small size of some of the countries, it’s possible to leave one country, drive all the way through another, and then into a third country all in one day. That’s what we did on Saturday.

We wanted to get as early a start as possible, so Daniel and I got up at 4:45am. Hans wanted to hit the road at 5:30, although we ended up leaving closer to six. He drove the three of us through the pitch black of the early Autumn morning to the Scandlines ferry terminal in Helsingborg. It took about two hours to get there, and the sun was just rising as we arrived at about eight. Daniel paid for our return ticket to Puttgarden, Germany, and we drove our rented pickup truck onto the ferry. This was a very short crossing, only about 15 minutes, barely enough time to use the bathroom and browse the tax free shops. I only had time to purchase two bags of Halloween candy.

We got back in the truck, drove into Helsingor, Denmark, and continued on our way. Daniel took the wheel for this leg of the journey, where we passed through very flat but beautiful Danish countryside, with its endless fields of yellow rapeseed blossoms destined to be made into cooking oil. In another two hours we arrived at a second ferry terminal. Once again we drove onto the ferry, but since this was a longer crossing we had the time to do a little duty free shopping. Hans bought some red wine, which seemed rather foolish because after 45 minutes, we arrived at Puttgarden and the enormous border shop contained in a barge floating in the harbor.

It was about the size of an Ikea, four stories high, with a different type of alcoholic beverage on each floor. We started with the wine floor and began filling up our three shopping carts. Daniel and I bought forty boxes of wine equivalent to 125 bottles. Each box was at least a third, and in some cases a quarter, of what we would have paid for similar wine in Sweden. This is how you recoup the cost of the trip itself.

After we paid for our wine, we pushed our carts out to the truck and loaded it up with our combined eighty boxes. Then we headed back into the shop to fill up on beer and liquor. Everything was half the price you would pay at Sweden’s alcohol monopoly, so we stocked up on bottles for the pub in our house (the only “real” pub in Alvesta) and for Christmas and New Years. The boys are experienced border shoppers; we packed all the bottles in boxes we found in the shop, and cushioned them with pieces of cardboard for the drive home.

At this point it was about three in the afternoon, and it was time to head home. We drove our booze-laden truck onto the ferry and then, at last, we were able to relax and eat some lunch. Five hours later we arrived back in Alvesta, unloaded all our boxes and crates and bottles, and stashed them temporarily in the garage.

So now I can say I’ve been to Germany. Well, at least to a very small part of it.

Message from the Facebook Masters

(I recently tried to leave FB, and lasted a whole week. This is my imaginary response from the FB Masters, to the tune of Barenaked Ladies “One Week”)

“It’s been one week since you looked at me,
Deactivated yourself cuz you were angry,
Writing letters like a drama queen,
Thought  your luddite ways better than FB,
In five days you were abstinent,
Friends all saying “I posted, hey did you see?”
It’s okay, we’ve seen it all before,
We know we’ve got you by the short-and-curlies,
Two more days and you were back again,
You lasted one week, brave attempt, don’t be surly,
We’ll work you back into our marketing,
But don’t worry we don’t expect you to be sorry……”

THOUGHTS

You are not your thoughts,

Your thoughts aren’t you,

Not everything you think is true,

Your thoughts may give cause for reflection,

But that is quite another question,

One way to interpret it is this:

Your thoughts are self-analysis,

So if you receive them open ended,

You decide which ones are befriended,

Which thoughts you actively choose,

To reflect you, and your values,

It’s you that gives your thoughts traction,

Which ones then lead to action,

You may have a thought that you despise,

That doesn’t mean it’s where your heart lies,

Perhaps dark thoughts come about yourself,

You can leave those ones upon the shelf,

Thoughts are not right,

Thoughts are not wrong,

But sort them, and put them where they belong.

Mistakes?

Life is indeed too short, too short by far,
Oft likened to a shooting star,
Burning brightly and then gone,
We have not the luxury of getting it right,
That is our plight,
We must learn as we go,
Not because we never know,
When we move on,
But because there is no other way,
No perfect path to take,
We learn by trying,
Stumbling, crying,
We add negativity to the word “mistake”,
We must feel pain when we sometimes fall,
But the only shame lies,
In our not trying at all,
So a life littered with mistakes and missteps,
Is perhaps a life that truly has been blessed.

Anxiety

Elephants shift.

And sit on my chest,

The world pressing in on me,

Seemingly,

Weight  overwhelming,

Feelings swelling,

Compelling me to,

Retreat,

To a safer place,

To retrace,

My steps within,

As walls close in,

And I try to hide,

By turning inside,

To a small dark corner,

Where I feel,

Slightly more,

 Secure,

But not really,