I've seen two of these beautiful woodpeckers this summer. I think they were even more colorful than the one seen here, but that might be my imagination. In both sightings I was riding my bike on a trail in the woods and the bird flies out of the underbrush. They must like to be low....I couldn't have photographed them if I wanted to: they were way too fast.
(Note: the photo is not mine!)
I went back to the US last week for 7 days. It's been almost a year. What surprises me most is that things I used to dislike in the US I now admire. Similarly, things I initially dislike in Sweden, I now like. Odd how that works.
I flew to Baltimore to meet my daughter and her fiance. We then drove 10 plus hours to Oconee county South Carolina to meet other family members, including J who'd been there already for several weeks spending quality time with her family (and mine). There we celebrated my Mother-in-law's 80'th birthday and gave my daughter a bridal shower. It was family fun for several days. I can't believe how gracious my wife's family was in giving my daughter and her fiance such a nice shower!
One thing that amazed me was the fireworks show put on by Neville's RV campground. It must have cost 10 or 20 thousand dollars. Heck, I don't know anything about fireworks - could have costs anything... It was just as good as the one at Folsom Field in Boulder! But the most amazing thing was that we watched it from a pontoon boat in the middle of a wide place in lake Keowee. But we weren't the only pontoon. There must have be a hundred. Just before dark they all just moseyed out from all directions, stopped and waited on the show. As the show was going on, you could see the silhouette's of all the boats and the fireworks reflections on the water - an amazing sight. I realize that pontoon boating is a sub-culture - just like anything else (like bicycling). When the show was over, the engines cranked and they lumbered off like zombies.
You can see my photos of the trip here. Those of you that are registered in Flickr as family (you have to do that) get to see more pictures than everybody else - I didn't want to embarrass any family members by showing their photos to the whole world. I have a collection of more generic photos for the rest of you.
Below you see a picture of me. Please remember that I was once young, had hair, and some muscle definition. My head looks like a smooth river rock with moss on it. Time changes everything. Oh well. The water was nice.
The post is really a promotion of a tourist brochure. I like it so much I thought it should be available to my readers.....
To see it, click here. It's a downloadable tourist brochure (pdf) with some great information on the most significant Stockholm archipelago islands and some great photos. Doing the island hopping sounds like a wonderful week long vacation!
As you know from some previous posts, I've done a few day trips and it is very nice to go out on one of the ferry's, tank up with coffee about as thich as coal tar, down a sweet roll or two, get off at the island for the day, explore on foot, by bike, or kayak (or in the case of Finnhamn, a tiny motor boat), and then return on a late ferry where you can sip a glass of wine on the top deck in the open air. Striking up conversations with other archipelago visitors is also fun. A warm jacket is required on the top outside deck, even in the hottest part of summer. Well, the adjective hot doesn't really apply in Stockholm.
I will caution you about the photos in the brochure, though. They were taken on the best of days by really good photographers. I suspect they did some photoshopping, too. There are quite a few rainy days in Stockholm. Even still, I love going out into the archipelago.
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