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?