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Thursday, August 23, 2007

"Vacation"

A week at my mother's place meant some time to relax, but mostly we worked. At least that's how it feels. It started already the same day I arrived there, on the 17th. My mother and her boyfriend Pelle promised to help out at Play Day at Furuboda. It's an education and rehabilitation center for handicapped people. Once a year they arrange sports and games for handicapped children, and about 2000 people attend. They need large amounts of volunteers for this. I was there Friday to do something else, though. They get donations of books every year, and they needed someone to weed the collection. I sorted out about 10-12 boxes to be discarded. Saturday was the big Play Day, and I was busy handing out free ice-cream to all the kids. Part of the day I arranged the waiting list for the ones who wanted to go river rafting (not as violent as it sounds, the river here is very tranquil). After standing up for eight hours my back was sore, but the enormous response we got from parents and kids made it worth while. It is so rewarding to help out there.

Sunday my mother had to rest, but I attended an event at the local historical society at Norra Strö. They have just built a much-needed addition to the old school house they occupy. They didn't have a decent bathroom before, only an outhouse! And the large amounts of archival material needed a safe place. The new addition was properly inaugurated, and then a local celebrity gave a performance of parts of Vilhelm Moberg's works. I have compiled lists of all the emigrants from Norra Strö and some surrounding parishes, and I was selling it there for the benefit of the historical society. If any of the readers of this blog would like to have a copy (it's written in Swedish), I can send it as an attachment to an email. Let me know.

This week was a little slower, my mother and I spent time solving crossword puzzles. She even insisted on sending some in for drawing of prizes. She did that once before and won a gift certificate worth 50 SEK (7 USD). We also picked blackberries. There was quite a lot of it just 75 metres from the house. It's not the easiest berries to pick, because they defend themselves with spikes. The mosquitoes were very interested in our activities also. My legs and arms look spotted and scratched. But blackberries are very tasty, so we endure it.

Some of you might have heard of my mother's interest in slogan competitions. There are often flyers in the grocery store where you are asked to send in your best slogan/rhyme for that particular product, and there are usually great prizes to win. Sometimes they want your best recipe containing that product. My mother and sister are really good at coming up with slogans, and they sometimes win prizes. This week my mother picked up a fairly large rubber boat at the local grocery store. I wonder if she will have any use for it, though.

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