I’m on vacation as of this weekend and the kids have summer break, but Eric is still working. Ingrid is busy with her group of friends, but Adrian and I are sort of on our own. And not so good at activating ourselves right now. Left to our own devices, we’d probably just laze the entire summer away on the sofa, doing nothing much. Especially with this heat.

So now we’ve made a pact between the two of us: every day, we will do at least one active thing. Going somewhere, making something, just something.

Midsummer day’s picnic in Hammarskog. Lots of food, thereafter a bit of a food coma, and after that Ingrid and Adrian prepared quizzes for us. Ingrid won Adrian’s quiz, while I won hers.



(Adrian took this last photo, after decorating me with his cap.)

Midsummer lunch, with herring and eggs and new potatoes. And a decadent strawberry and elderflower cake.

In the evening, Ingrid and Eric watched the movie Midsummer. They’re the only two in this family who like scary movies.

When I planted this elder, I hoped it would be nice focal point in the front garden, and that we would be able to use it to make extra pretty pink elderflower cordial. The bush delivered admirably on the first point, but unfortunately not at all on the second. The sweet sap attracts completely ridiculous numbers of aphids, to the point that I don’t even want to touch the bush, much less use it for anything that will get close to my mouth.

28°C all day long and I’m supposed to be getting work done. This is not turning out to be my most productive day.

Another super hot day, with around 30°C in the shade, and I am wilting. All I can do is find shade and wait for the evening.

The heat doesn’t affect the kids as much as me. Adrian and his friend wanted to go to the beach, and spent hours splashing and fooling around while I sat and read under a tree. I don’t know where they get the energy from.

For the first time ever, both Ingrid and Adrian are away on sleepovers and Eric and I are spending an evening on our own.

Cooking dinner for two feels strange and unusual: all the food suddenly fits in a single pan. (Adrian is technically not a teenager but sure eats like one.)

This whole covid isolation thing is really starting to drag me down. Nothing fun is happening. Things that should be fun aren’t. Everything takes such an effort, and most things don’t seem to be worth making one. It’s beginning to feel quite depressing.

And then I watched Bo Burnham’s Inside and realized how much worse it could be. I could be stuck in a small inner city apartment, but I live in a spacious house with a large garden. I could be living alone, but I have family around me. I could be stuck with no human contact, but I have colleagues whom I “meet” daily. I could have had my entire career aborted, but I have a job that I can still do more or less normally.

25°C outside. I tried doing my workout on the deck but it was so hot I felt near fainting. Moved inside again and aimed the fan right at me and stripped down to my sporty underwear (no, you’re not getting photos of that) and survived the workout. But if it gets any hotter than this, I’m going to have to stop my exercise sessions.