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Personally, the most spectacular this year was my birthday. Since it is between Christmas and New Year, I have never really celebrated it. This year I had to make up for previous non-celebrated birthdays. My first thought was to pull the covers over my head and pretend like it is nothing. Good with friends who remind you that you can, and mostly, should have a birthday party on the day itself.

A great leisure interest is cooking, making cakes, desserts, etc. Probably because I liked organic chemistry where temperature, ingredients, color, shape, etc. matter. A certain temperature is needed so that the food does not burn. Sauces that are reduced. Tomato puree or Chinese soy that adds color and salt. And so on.

Now I quickly realized that I couldn’t cook that day and I looked for alternatives. I found a restaurant that I liked, and that seemed to have about the same type of food that I prefere. Everything from lighter dishes to more advanced ones.

You always learn something new about yourself. It was a difficult feeling not to have control over the preparation of the food. However, I was very satisfied. Fine ingredients, prepared at the right time, and exciting compositions. I hope that everyone had a taste experience. However, the company is one of the greatest spices. I think this evening deserves two stars.

This was the small, local life. As usual, there is a lot of turbulence going on in the world. Therefore, it is nice to forget and relax for an evening. We must continue to be vigilant because there is still some concern in several parts of the world. Wishing you readers a good end to 2023. Especially all the friends I would have liked to join this evening. More birthdays are to come!

I got my dream Christmas Eve. The best of gifts. It was cold, with an unusual amount of snow and an overflow of sunshine. I better profit, I thought and started looking for my old boots and skis. Lots of memories were brought back to life, and I discovered that skiing is still just as wonderful as it used to be.

The dog Molly was with me. Usually, she runs a lot. Now there was so much snow that she chose to follow my tracks. I was a little wobbly on my skiis, and thought it would have been better with slalom boots. In the beginning, it felt more like standing on a pair of skates. However, soon I regained my skiing and balance memory.

We didn’t go fast, and maybe that is why we got a surprise on the way. When we crossed the field that you see above, roughly in the middle, a few meters in front of us, a winter hare suddenly jumped forward in the snow. About as fast as a wizard pulls a rabbit out of his hat. It quickly ran its way before Molly realized what she had missed. It seemed as if the hare had been sitting in the same place for several days and had become covered in snow. Poor winter hare, and so cute.

My shaky ride made me think of skates. I need to work on my balance. Maybe it will be a New Year’s resolution. Who lives will see.

See you next year!

It finally became winter for real. Snow, ice, cold winds caressing my cheeks, darkness. December arrived with a bang this year. The month of waiting. Lit candles, together with mulled wine and saffron buns. This year I managed to bake my saffron buns in a much smaller size. Mini saffron buns with raisins. Yummy. Including the obligatory cottage cheese, which has complicatedly changed its name to curds. Despite all the hustle every year, it is worth the effort to make that special Christmas feeling appear.

Today I will take my 5th vaccination with the updated COVID-19 vaccine. This autumn has been filled with many and long colds. I have been lucky. Even though it has been many years since I had a proper cold, I remember the feeling of being affected by a viral infection. I do not think I ever have come across the concept of an updated vaccine but everyone understands without explanation. Viruses mutate and find new ways to cross national borders without a passport. We are used to it now.

In 2023 I celebrated writing my diary for 10 years. Looking forward to the next decade. Soon new year. My promises for 2024 are still unwritten. What promises will you make?

I do not want to read the news. There are so many horrible things going on in the world. Who takes responsibility for future generations? When I was in high school, the United States of America evoked many strong feelings, and some people thought that the USA was some kind of world police. I think it is good that someone wants to be world police. Several countries probably knew what was going on before Russia invaded Ukraine, but no one acted. I sincerely hope that there will be an intention on the part of both the UN and NATO to prevent wars before they break out in the future.

After the pandemic, there are new limit values from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, aimed at health care for risky use of alcohol.  Previously, I have devoted many years to studies of the association between smoking and alcohol consumption. I am still following new findings in alcohol research. The debate is heated among Swedish professors, both pros and cons. I remember “a non-smoking generation” in Sweden with Agnetha Fältskog and Ingemar Stenmark at the frontline among others. Currently, the National Board of Health and Welfare would like to see “a non-alcohol generation”.

In the last post, I mentioned that I still believe that music crosses borders. Rounding therefore off with Sophie B. Hawkins. I especially like the last four seconds, where it could be me holding the book.