So today the idea was to skate over a frozen lake. I went with Håkan, who is a documentary film-maker from Stockholm that is visiting up here, and a very experienced skater. He’s been making movies all over the world, from the Himalayas to Hawaii. He’s also a former Navy Seal, or the equivalent of it in the Swedish Navy.

He told me that in the 1970s he was in a Swedish submarine pursuing a Russian nuclear submarine that hat entered Swedish waters, but he became afraid of being ordered to attack it and start Thord World War. So he decided to quit the Army, and became a film-maker.

Håkan told me the basics of skating in frozen lakes. “Today the temperature is a bit above zero,” he explained, “but yesterday it was -10 and thick ice takes a long time to melt, so we are PROBABLY SAFE”. He also said, “In case the ice breaks and you fall onto the water, do not PANIC, or it is WORSE.” He also explained, “You should tie your floating backpack with straps to your body, or you will DROWN.” And he added, “You should always have your isdubbs (handheld spikes used in emergencies to stab the ice and claw your way out of the water) in an easily accessible place, or you will DIE.”

After such tranquilizing words, he told me to follow him as we walked across a frozen lake.

Unfortunately it had snowed too much during the night, so the frozen lake was all covered with three centimetres of snow, and ice skating was not possible under such conditions. Then we walked across another lake, but the situation was the same.

At that point we met on the other side of the lake a nice Swedish family who was cooking a barbecue in their backyard. They invited us over. They offered us a cold beer and hot dogs to be cooked over a small fire outside. They were perfect strangers, but Swedish people appear to be very kind and spontaneous. The name of the couple was Peter and Katarina, which sounded like very Swedish names to me — weren’t those the names of one of the couples in Bergman’s “Scenes from a Marriage“?

So we ended up having a barbecue instead of ice skating. Håkan seemed a bit disappointed, but I, not so much — sitting by a fire with a hot dog and a cold beer is a much safer entertainment than skating on thin ice, and just as rewarding.

Yesterday I walked all the way down to Skeppsmyra, 5 km away, which is an actual beach with sand. I tried to go by bicycle, even though the roads were covered with snow and ice, and therefore not ideal for riding, so I did most of the way on foot anyway. But it was the day that I saw more people around, including two women in a car who stopped to ask me if I was alright (because of course only a crazy person would try to ride a bicycle in those roads).

In Skeppsmyra I stopped by a nudist camping, although the temperature was -10 degrees Celsius and I didn’t see anyone naked around (to be fair, it probably operates only in the summer, like most things here).

As I was taking pictures of the Harnäset lake, also in the nearby region, a man in his 70s approached me. He’s one of the few people who live here year-round, apparently all by himself. I told him I was just visiting, then we started to talk a bit about travelling, then he started to rant about “vaccine certificates” (only old people like us care about that issue), and about the higher costs of electricity these days.

He said it’s good to be outside doing things instead of just sitting home watching TV. As I was leaving, I asked his name. He said: Tomas. What?? I told him my name was Tomas too. Was he actually myself in the future?

A handy guide

It is difficult, but not impossible. Sure, it is cold. Days are short. It can get lonely, especially if you are, like me, in a faraway region where there are no pubs, no bars, nor any kind of social life, or if you don’t practice any winter activity and don’t like much to be outside in the cold.

So here are a few rules that I made for myself during this period and that may be helpful for you too:

1. Seize the day

Profit from the short days by going outside every day, or at least staying next to a large window and using daylight. Days are very short, sun rises late in the morning and goes very soon in the afternoon, so you have about 5 hours of daytime, it is important to be outside or seeing light at least a little bit every day. Too much darkness generates depression and lack of Vitamin D. I made a rule to try to stay away from the computer when there is sun outside (but I don’t always obey this rule, it’s true).

2. Dress for the cold

Get a good hat that covers your ears, impermeable gloves that won’t get wet in the snow, sturdy but comfortable shoes, and a warm coat. Those are the most important. Then use several layers of clothing below the coat, and too pairs of socks if you need, too. After a while, you’ll get more used to the cold, your body adapts.

3. Do not fear “Omicron” (or whatever is the latest variant)

Look, I know there’s a disease, but people are paranoid thanks to the media and the governments terrorizing their own population. Be careful, but there is no need to live in constant fear. Diseases have always existed and always will exist, but most cases are not fatal. Not even cancer is 100% fatal. Omicron is a million times less fatal than cancer. Here where I am, it is far more likely that I can die by slipping on the ice and hitting my head than from “Omicron”. In fact just yesterday I slipped and fell and my knee is still hurting. It’s not very serious, but it’s more than “Omicron”, so far, ever did to me.

4. Exercise

Walk, bike, skate. Lift weights. I don’t know. Any kind of activity, indoors or outdoors, is good for you. Try new things: in the next days, I will try ice skating with nordic ice skates, over a frozen lake, which I have never tried before, and hopefully I will survive.

5. Eat Swedish food

Again, the rule here is not to be afraid of trying new things. Smörgåstårta? Raggmunk? Köttbullar? Toast Skagen? Surströmming? Gubbröra? Ärtsoppa? Kaka? Some of the names may sound funny, but the food is nothing to laugh at. Swedes are good at preparing delicious comfort food that is especially tasty in winter. Enjoy!

Just going back to that boring issue for a little moment

I’ve been ranting like a crazy old man for almost two years against “lockdowns” and “vaccine passports”, and for the right to freedom of movement and to make your own health choices, in other words, to a life such as we had back in 2019, but I realize now that most people don’t really care. Either they really believe that “vaccine passports” are helpful “against Omicron”, or they just accept that “life is like that now, no big deal.”

I don’t really understand that mentality; I personally don’t want to live forever in a bad science-fiction movie. But many people seem to enjoy this permanent pandemic state with masks and vaccines and boosters and so on — I guess it makes them feel like they are part of something. Most people care more about their safety (even a false sense of safety) than about “freedom”. I guess they forgot what Benjamin Franklin said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor safety.”

Now, I do understand that there is a disease out there, and many people I know have been ill, even in my family (most, luckily, with mild or not too bad cases). I don’t really have a problem with people taking the vaccine, I understand it. It may be really helpful against symptoms, who knows. Most people I know took it and are fine. Two of them had “Covid” anyway, but again, a mild case — whether it was because the vaccine helped, or not, I don’t know.

My problem is really only with “vaccine passports”, and with all this new bureaucracy of control, and with people being forced to take a medication they don’t want.

The other day, a Brazilian news presenter collapsed live on TV; he was 36 years old and pretty fit. He had other 5 heart attacks on the way to the hospital. He’s still at the hospital and can barely move his hand and feet. He had taken the third shot of a Pfizer vaccine a month or so ago.

We cannot say if there is any relation between the vaccine and the heart attack; it might really be just a coincidence. But it is undeniable that there are many cases in which there is a clear link to the vaccine. In Slovenia, a 20-year old woman, Katja, died after taking the J & J shot. In that case, the link was proven, and that particular vaccine was suspended in the country. There was a case of a woman in Brazil who had her leg amputated because of a blood clot due to the Pfizer vaccine; also in that case, it was proven through a lab test that the thrombosis was caused by the vaccine.

Those cases are rare. Most people will not experience bad side-effects. Most people will have no problems, and it may help them against Covid. Fair enough. But the issue is that, since the vaccine may cause serious side-effects, and does not even stop the spread of the disease, much less “ends the pandemic” as promised, then it should NOT be mandated. It should be strictly optional, and with people knowing the risks, as it happens in Japan.

This is compounded by the fact that “Omicron”, if it exists at all, appears to be pretty mild compared to previous variants, so it doesn’t seem to require all this panic and hysteria. Children in general are basically immune to the disease, so their vaccination also seems incomprehensible, with a bad risk-benefit ratio.

Kit Knightly from the Off-Guardian wrote a good article about the irrationality of current rules and mandates. But it won’t matter. I don’t think most people care, and I myself am tired of ranting about an issue about which no one cares. So it’s back to travel articles from me. Thank you, and good bye.