Weekend on Ockero

We spent the weekend at Ulla's Ockero house, traveling to the island by tram-bus- ferry-bus-walk because now that she lives for the most part in the city, she no longer has a car. The journey is easier than in sounds, and on weekdays is much simpler with a bus that goes from central Gothenburg to close by her Ockero house. It was Jack's first visit to the island, so we took several long walks to show him "the sights". The weather was cool and windy, with patches of sunshine interrupted by rain showers.

The apple tree in the garden that had been in blossom when I was there in the spring now was laden with fruit. And despite the cool temperature, Ulla had her customary morning dip.

Sunday 19th is national election day so we walked with Ulla to her designated polling station, the library. She showed us the voting cards with all the parties and listed candidates at the national, regional, and local levels. Trend results will be available tonight, but the final result will not be known until all the absentee ballots are in, which will be Wednesday or Thursday. Everyone is talking about the possibility of a non-majority parliament. On our way back from voting Ulla pointed out the campaign posters. They are quite unlike the US variety which focus on named candidates. These were for the party, not the candidate, and included the party values or position on a particular issue for which they were well known.

We had a delicious lunch of different types of herring, then returned to the city. Now I must get ready for the workweek ahead. I'd better settle down to some preparation reading.