Tiptoeing in to 2021

 



It’s February, how did that happen? It appears we got a bit stuck in the buffering zone for the first month of 2021. We’ve eased our way into what will hopefully be a year with a positive trend. As time rolls by we’ll relearn the novel concept of social interaction, appreciate landscapes beyond our local bubble and delight in the joys of having a coffee prepared for us by a total stranger.

For me, the start of 2021 marked a significant change in my mobility as my cast was removed on January 5th. This revealed a scaly, skinny leg that felt jelly-like to walk on and would need much ‘good toes, naughty toes’ action to regain its previous range of motion. I was advised to take it slow to start out with, so this, combined with the arrival of some proper snow in Stockholm (at last!), meant a few more weeks with little movement beyond these 4 walls. Now however, one month down the line, I’m back up and…walking, running will have to wait until Spring! Last week, for the first time in about 3 months, I managed the walk to Emil’s (~6 km) for a games evening. This felt like a significant step (sorry) in my road to recovery and means we can now share the journeys back and forth a little more.

Kirstin's birthday
Despite the limitations on movement, we’ve marked several special occasions in style. A few weeks back it was Emil’s friend’s birthday so a small group of us gathered around an outdoor fire (luckily it was only -3 oC that weekend) to surprise her with a few drinks and a spot of fika. The following week presented us with Burns Night, a Scottish evening generally celebrated by our department with a ceilidh and a good helping of haggis, neeps and tatties. Ceilidh dancing wouldn’t be so easy with two people in a room of less than 25 m2, but Emil managed to track down some haggis at the British butchers in town so he could have his first taste of this iconic dish, accompanied by a wee dram of whiskey and rounded off with a helping of cranachan and the Scottish Disney film, Brave.

Later that week came a proper cause for celebration. One that in any normal year, nothing would have stopped me from being back in the UK for. On January 28th it was Dad’s 60th birthday. Despite the borders between us, we managed a fabulous evening filled with fine food, delectable drinks and lots of laughter to mark this monumental occasion. With Dad, Mum and Tom over in Coleshill and Emil and I Zooming in from Stockholm, we cooked a three-course meal of fritters, vension with Ottolenghi salads and lemon syllabub together and Emil showed us how to make a range of cocktails, all set to a James Bond theme. This meant digging into the backs of our wardrobes to get suitably dressed up for the first time since I can’t even remember when! While I’m gutted that I couldn’t give Dad a big hug on his special day, I’m so thankful for technology allowing us to connect and have fun filled evenings like this; fingers crossed we can have these events without a multitude of screens though in the not-too-distant future.

Corona-style partying!
Sticking to the Swedish side of things, most of my weeks have been filled with many visits from Emil, the occasional meeting with Eva, when I bob into the department to print something out or make use of the extra computer screen, and finally, the return of Monday evening dinner with Felicity. These had to be halted for a while as Felicity and her boyfriend Thomas got stuck in the UK over Christmas and weren’t able to come out of quarantine until late January. Looking to the month ahead, this is my first time spending February in Sweden. It’s currently -10 oC outside with a good covering of snow brightening up the days. While my ankle isn’t quite up to the popular sports of skating or cross-country skiing yet, I hope to make the most of my new-found walking abilities and fill my lungs with plenty of fresh air.

For now, I send my best wishes to friends and family far and wide and I hope that the mass vaccination effort brings about opportunities for screen-free meetings before long.



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