Re-starting...again.

Ofcourse there should have been a re-cap of the past year..But why really? It was a long year, at least to me. So much happened, maybe more on the inside then anywhere else, but still...
Well, a short re-cap is maybe still do-able

Paris is how I remember the start of the past year, which is wrong because I was there just before 2011 ended. All that walking, all those photos! I felt transformed coming home, and was happily surprised that what I've captured turned out as good as it did.

Paris morning

Karen's early favourite.

Then dearest Karen boosted my low self-esteem stating that my pictures were good enough to sell, indeed she wanted to buy some herself!
The rest isn't exactly history, but it started there, the ball's rolling albeit very slowly.

Karen figured all through that spring and summer. We had so much fun, and so much in common, and then her visit to Sweden, and our trip to St. Petersburg, Russia. A very good year, and the plans were laid for so much more to come...

St. Petersburg compressed.

The autumn and winter-months seem to have passed by so quickly. I'm not complaining, just can't see where they went. Pain and sorrow have opened me up to new things to care for. I can look at sorrow and horror alike without breaking down any more. I can fall asleep after an evening of horrible news on my computer, knowing that I do what I can, and that it just have to be enough.

What I haven't done yet, is to take that camera and go out recording like I used to. I don't have peace maybe, not yet. My focus is blurred, and I have a hard time getting my work done. Worrying, as that exhibition-date is creeping closer, quickly!

Oh well, I'll make it, I usually do.
So, now..I can see that this dismal post needs some illustrations. Probably some proof-reading too, but there's where I draw the line!

Freda's Girl

Summer's turning to autumn ever so slowly. I'm back in the South, and should be glad, but right now my life has turned a corner, and I would just prefer to turn back the clock, or hide somewhere dark and quiet. My dear friend is gone and I will never ever see her again.
Most of us have friends we've had forever, or at least since our schooldays. That's quite common and we never question it. To find a new friend when we're already grown up is rare. Of course we have aquaintances, and friends to have a nice time with, and that's perfectly fine. But then there comes that person that makes you think " Ah, there you are, my friend,I didn't know, but I think I might have been missing you for some time now".
 Karen was that friend in my world, and I am so very happy we had what short time we did before her life ended. I will not write about the violence of the end, or the past week of sorrow.
Instead I want to celebrate this special and beautiful person who went through so much hardship in her life, and yet came out smiling and generous, to share her wisdom and understanding, and her joy in life. She set me on a path that I need to continue to follow, and for that I'm greatful.
I could go on and on, but I won't. Nothing will be changed now anyway.

There once was a small yellow play-house covered in clinging blue flowers...

Here's to Freda's Girl with my love.
Nin

A morning in the Quartier Latin



 I was up very early, to really be able to seize the day. And so I got to se the Eiffel Tower against the morning sky...

Well, actually this is taken later. I was up and out before daybreak, having coffee and a croissant as one should at the neighbourhood café.

So, after coffeee, and after a very early visit to the  Notre Dame (she'll get her own post), I decided to stroll up into the Quartier Latin. This is also where I stayed, at a ten minutes walk from the cathedral, and with the Quartier all around. The "Cinquième Arrondissement" no less! As the day warmed (somewhat) and the sun started to rise above the houses I walked and walked. All of my photos won't ever make it to here, but here are at least some churches, the beautiful roof-tops in the real parisian style, and more....is to follow, ofcourse.

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The Patheon in its Christmas finery

A Peaceful Walk

Listening to Cecilia Bartoli sets the mood perfectly for the photos I want to post today. They're from the Père-Lachaise cemetary, a place I could easily spend days, even weeks in. I don't think of myself as someone morbid, it's just that the catholic cemetaries are so full of both sadness and joy, light and dark that I just can't stop myself from visiting, and from taking pictures.
First a small collection of pretty colours.

To walk around in Père-Lachaise is almost like walking in a small town; streets and streets full of these beautiful "houses".

Ofcourse there are ordinary tombs as well, and also some decay and ruins, but all fit in so beautifully within the walls of this serene place.

Odd and beautiful!

A cat...

...and a guy who plays at one...

The prettiest door of them all!



Grief carved in stone

Before continuing with my pictures from the Seine-trip, I've decided to share some of all that which I found at the Père Lachaise Cimetière. No, I didn't look for the celebrity-tombs, far from it, where the crowd went, I turned and took another route. I did stumble on the tomb of Frédéric Chopin though, which was very nice since I really love playing his music on the piano, in the summer in Sweden, where I keep it. No more text now, only pictures!

Chopin

Grief can be pretty as well as sad....