The Beginning of Winter - 2

Borlänge, Sweden 2 P.M. 9 December 2014

Lawns white with frost
sun skirting far horizon
blinding light.
Forecasters tell us snow will wait
but they are almost never right.

Sweden - Week Three - A

Progress:

I now have my residence card and a library card which have enabled me to move a few centimeters away from non-existence. All that was known of me was left behind . . . my history and reputation, gone for better or for worse. My friends and relatives have been reduced to memories and intermittent e-mails.

Earthly possessions, things I've lived with day to day are still at sea, hopefully still afloat and destined to arrive in a few weeks: furniture and dishes, flatware, tools, computers, files and notes. Forgot to pack external hard drives - big mistake!

Car will arrive in two more weeks at Gothenburg, a seaport some three hours by train from our new home. I worry for the battery - almost a month at sea. There will be paperwork, inspections, customs declarations, licensing and fees. Gas is expensive, twice as much as I complained about in the U.S. - around nine bucks a gallon. I have yet to drive here, know where nothing is, road signs and symbols still a mystery.