Friday Sept 1 grey and cold and rainy.
Today at the lake, we cancelled because of rain. But by the end of the day I was having a fit over my lack of wifi options, and my host’s friend, Y, and I decided a swim was necessary.
So glad that I was smart enough to disengage and change gears. A swim is always in order.
We drove to her lovely farm house in another village, then we drove to a huge lake. There was a large, maybe three-story building near the lake that housed a cafe, a community center, a hostel, and a little convenient store. We bought a few post-swim treats, then walked down to the locker room in the basement.
There was a changing area with hooks on the wall and benches to sit on and shower room, with a sauna off of one wall.
Dark, Still Inviting
It was still gloomy and dark, and it was much colder than it was been. A few of the plunging women I know form back home warned me that Sept in Sweden changed dramatically, and it did. We walked out on a huge sandy beach that had a play area for kids on one side and an exercise area on the other side. It looked like the exercise area had several structures for use in strength training exercises. Cool. There was a small rowboat tied to the dock. For lifeguards.
There was a U-shaped dock made of floating segments of wooden plank platforms. They moved with the water, but I didn’t feel unsteady. We got to the entry place, and there was a ladder leading into the water. I love that. I’m not into jumping in anymore after my accident. I’m too afraid of my leg. I also have a swim buoy on. Too tired to remove it.
Whining On the Dock
I started to lower myself into the water, but it was really cold. I said, “I think this was a very bad idea.” But we both knew we were getting in…and that we’d like it. Eventually, I stopped whining and lowered myself into the water and started swim-splashing around. I made it out into deeper water, where there was a floating dock for resting or diving.
I love the brown water here. There is something that grows in the lake that gives the bottom-up view of brown to light. I kind of appreciate not being able to see anything while I’m swimming. The lake was quite deep because even at the ladder the water was too deep for me to touch with my toes.
I swam back toward the main dock, then we swam back and forth in front of it for awhile. Then I vented back into deeper water. Y got out, and started making her way back to the building and the sauna. I had forgotten my phone, so I didn’t have a way to time my swim or make a cool GPS squiggle map.
A Chorus of Blue Birds
I noticed a beautiful little blue bird on the dock, so I swam over to say hi in case it was my grandmother. Then I swam to the floating platform dock, and she followed me there. Then she flew back to the main dock, so I took that as a sign that she wanted me to swim back to the other dock. As in – I’m swimming alone and should stay closer to the dock.
When I got there I saw lots of little blue birds, and I wondered if these were all peeps I chanted to? That would be amazing. I said hi to my grandparents, R, A, T. Then I swam the length of the dock back and forth a few times before getting out.
I really loved this lake, and it was so nice of my new friend to share her swim spot with me. I love the wooden dock, and twenty yards away there is a disabled entryway for people in wheelchairs!
While my friend took a sauna and shower I showered and got dressed, then went outside to explore. I was so bummed I didn’t have my camera because I wanted to capture the scene. The name of the village means “sacred place.”
Girl Dinner
Next, we went to her son’s house and had a “girl dinner” of apple slices, cashews, olives, and tea. It felt like a feast. Her son’s house is a lovely old farmhouse, as is hers, the house Nextdoor. I love the simple style, the wooden floors, the cows in the field nextdoor. The countryside here is mostly farmland, dotted with areas of deciduous forest. And there are rolling hills, which give the landscape a more intriguing energy than the flat, flat farmland in Skåne.
We saw seven or eight deer on the way home. They are pretty to look at, but I tend to think of them as kind of assholes since they carry the ticks that spread Lyme disease. I’m a lake bitch.