July 13

We follow the small roads through forests and fields. We pass villages with names like; Stensvassa, Normlösa, Västra Husby, Bjärka-Säby, Lotorp and Butbro. A deer look back on us from a field. A group of horses find shadow in a grove of oakes. A field with wheat and cornflower undulates in the breeze. The smell of rain and the sight of a lake shimmering between dark spruces speaks wordlessly to me.

This is Östergötland, my homeland. I am imprinted on this scenery. My body respond to it without my will. There is nothing I can do about it. It simply communicates, “be with me”.