Eclipse

Taking a high-speed train into the solar eclipse, I can look back on an incredible day with William in Gothenburg. Kicking things off with an hour at the gym, William challenged me to do as many chin-ups as possible. In the end, I managed 20 in one go while William did 17, but I have no doubt that he will surpass me within a few months, if not weeks.

From Järntorget, we headed over to Vapiano for lunch, followed by a swim at Pöl Harbor, which certainly reminded me how soft the heated waters of Brottet have made me. It is funny to think that many public swimming pools in Sweden originally had water temperatures of around 21 degrees when first constructed, something that many people would probably find unacceptable today. After a few refreshing laps and a visit to the sauna (all publicly available for free!), we hiked up to Keillers Park along a walkway constructed during the 1930s as part of a relief work programme.

Having had enough UV for one day, we then sought refuge at the library, where William pulled off a stunt by pretending to put his phone in my bag while in reality sneaking off to find a corner where he could play chess online. None the wiser, I was certain that he had found a good book, so I spent a couple of hours reading the latest issues of Monocle and browsing the poetry stacks before getting slightly nervous as the departure time of my train approached. Texting him, I discovered what he was up to but, obviously, I did not have the heart to be angry with him. Dropping him off at the summer chess tournament, where Anna will pick him up later, I was once again reminded that I have the best kiddos in the world.

Canvas print

Eighteen years ago in December, I was out exploring the North Island in a silvery Toyota Corolla. After landing in Auckland, I headed east to the Coromandel Peninsula, where I found peace by the Pacific. As a seasoned escapist, I could hardly think of a better motif to have on my wall here in Halmstad, now that the Northern Hemisphere is once again slowly turning dark.

For the moment, however, the sun is still very much here, so after spending all day in front of my laptop, I went for a coastal jog followed by another swim at my new favourite pool. Tomorrow, I am taking the train up to Gothenburg to be with William, and later this week, Eddie will be back here in Halmstad.

Matlådemåndag

As forecast, this Monday brought rain and grey skies – in other words, perfect weather for returning to work after the holidays. By lunchtime, I had already scheduled dozens of meetings, prepared one more lecture, and realized just how much of a crunch the coming autumn will be.

Meanwhile, Roger Pielke published a fascinating new dashboard that allows you to calculate the magnitude of the decarbonization challenge for different countries. Extrapolating into the future, it becomes clear just how important assumptions about future energy use are. On the one hand, there is spontaneous decarbonization and continued improvements in energy efficiency; on the other, there are new uses for electricity, like AI, and potentially a growing need for things like air conditioning in a climate-changed world. Running the numbers for Sweden and assuming that these opposing trends cancel each other out, replacing all fossil primary energy would require the construction of eighteen new 1 GW nuclear power plants (or a whopping 15,748 3 MW wind turbines). To achieve this by 2050, emissions would have to fall by almost 17% per year, more than twice the highest observed rate of reduction during the nuclear build-out of the 1980s.

To help with the carbon math, I at least brought my own vegetarian lunch to work today: a recipe from Tuvessonskan for mushroom ragù with white wine, thyme, and lemon zest that I will definitely make again soon.

Six issues

Despite frequently stopping my watch to drink, eat ice cream, or simply catch my breath under the pine trees, today’s half marathon out to Tylösand turned into a true nightmare. At least I got some lovely photos of the coast and plenty of sunshine to cherish tomorrow, when it is expected to rain all day.

A month ago, I subscribed to the travel magazine Vagabond, as they offered six issues and four Orrefors wine glasses for only 299 SEK. Just as I feared, however, travel magazines can quickly become expensive, and Linnéa and I now have an epic Francophone adventure ticketed for Christmas. More to follow in due time.

Calleth you

With four days together, Linnéa and I managed to swim a thousand metres at Brottet, make the complete version of my recreated SFO/Polaris salmon dish with a bottle of Dog Point from New Zealand, and drive down to Malmöfestivalen the following day for a midnight concert with The Ark.

Skolstartsluft and anticipation, with blank pages and new adventures awaiting. Right now, I am doing the laundry and planning an afternoon run out to Tylösand. Tomorrow at 8 a.m., I will be back at work, with one of the busiest Septembers on record coming up, so it feels good that Hallandsgatan now boasts a fox poster, a new bookshelf, and some ridiculously unnecessary Molton Brown hand wash in the bathroom – reinforcing that sense of home in these post-diluvian times.

Alto Molino

Transported back to SFO in 2019, I am experimenting with making pea purée with oven-roasted zucchini and salmon for dinner, accompanied by a new budget find from the Uco Valley in Argentina (available only as a 25 cl can at Systembolaget).

This afternoon, I finally cracked the code with the governance book and am now back to speed-making lecture slides for the autumn. I also managed to run out to Erikshjälpen and pick up a new lamp for the living room. Slowly but surely, Hallandsgatan is turning into a home after all the fires, floods, and separations.

Hovs hallar

 

Drinking coffee from my orange Santa Cruz mug, I am struck by the fact that I am much more familiar with the Central Coast in California than with our own stretch of coast here at home. To give just one example, I have never been to Hovs Hallar (where the blueberries are from), despite it being only fifty kilometres away and renowned for its natural beauty.

As I look towards the autumn, I hope to make up for my lack of local geographical knowledge. There are still so many places along the Halland and Skåne coast that I have never properly explored, and my run to Båstad alone gave me a couple of new favourites. For now, I am happy to put dreams of distant shores on hold. Still, it is unusual for me not to have a single trip to look forward to (Stockholm for work in September does not really count, lovely as it is), and with plenty of miles expiring later this year, something tells me that I will come up with something before long.

Reason prevailed

While still technically on vacation for another week, I have spent this Monday eating bagels and reading Elgar's Advanced Introduction to Governance for one of the courses I am teaching in September. In between, I have done the laundry, run ten kilometres in the sunshine, and ended the day with a swim at Simstadion Brottet. Open from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, it is simply incredible to have free access to a 50-metre lap pool in the neighbourhood.

In a weak moment, I briefly considered registering for the 100-kilometre edition of Halland Ultra Beach on Sunday but, fortunately, reason (and a closed registration window) prevailed. After failing to complete the Essex Way Ultra just over a month ago, I feel a bit like I did in 2022, when I simply had to run Ultravasan 90 to set the record straight.

Sydney simulator

When visiting Jon in Sydney, one of the things I appreciated most was the city's public swimming pools, like the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool next to the Royal Botanic Garden and, of course, Icebergs out in Bondi. Here in Halmstad, we have “Simstadion Brottet”, which has been temporarily closed for repairs but reopened today, something that Eddie and I celebrated with a short swim in the afternoon sunshine.

Offering free admission, it is an incredible asset to the municipality, and I hope to return a few more times throughout August before it closes for the season.

Run to Båstad

Heading out into the midday heat, I began my birthday adventure by exploring the non-fording option of Halland Ultra-Beach (HUB) across Fylleån in southern Halmstad, a body of water that I have crossed many times further upstream in the woodlands of Halland but now got to share with all the cyclists following Kattegattleden.

Keeping a steady pace around 5:45 min/km, I then crossed the birdwatchers' paradise of Tönninge Meadows and the golden fields beyond. After cutting the HUB ultra race short twice, I was eager to finally see the coast between Halmstad and Båstad in earnest. Not racing, I allowed myself plenty of stops, including at the most lovely garden cafè in Påarp, overlooking the glittering sea and wind-sculpted pines. After a smørrebrød, I felt energized to continue into Gullbranna Nature Reserve on highly runnable trails.

Nineteen kilometres into my run, the trail headed out onto sand dunes that quickly proved difficult to navigate and slowed me down considerably. The preceding two nights with only a few hours of sleep made the whole thing feel like some kind of SEAL training exercise as my mind drifted to Coronado, sand filled my trail shoes, and the sun kept blazing. At Hökafältet, I finally plunged into the cool water before continuing on towards Mellbystrand.

Talking to Eddie on the phone, he said he wanted to come down to Halmstad tonight, so instead of running along the beach, I followed the bike path all the way to the railway station in Båstad. Finishing the full 38 kilometres in just under four hours of moving time, I was reasonably happy with my performance and already planning another run on the Bjäre Peninsula.