Goodbye 2020

It was a shitty year for everyone so this is how I say goodbye to 2020.

The Spiral

I have been trying to identify the architect behind this horrible looking spiral that will take visitors to and from the Rudan nature reserve from the Handen commuter station. But wisely it seems whoever it was has managed to cover his or her tracks.

Underpass Graffiti

It's very dark here at the moment. Gray skies make for gray everything, so this graffiti at an underpass near the power plant in Jordbro made me jump off the bike and stop for a photo.

Monday at the lakes

The little snow we got last Friday is long gone. 5C as I made my way towards the Rudan nature reserve earlier today. Met a few joggers and people out walking their dogs. One group of people had a BBQ going. Spotted two girls working out at the outdoor gym. The windy weather had done a good job on the Christmas tree but I guess Christmas is over now so. Snapped this photo of central Handen from a jetty at the Lower Lake.

Cykelväder

Swedish word of the day. Cykelväder. Bicycle weather. Parked my bike on the path as it was tricky to cycle down to the old tree.

That Old Tree

I took a cold and somewhat icy bike ride today. The snow from yesterday made it look like a real Winter at Välsta.

Ho ho ho?

Not a very magical Christmas perhaps, without the snow, but my sources say that we will get some snow later today. If that happens I will go back to Tette's place along Stavsvägen in Tungelsta for a Winter Wonderland photo with my crystal ball.

Julafton

Julafton. It will of course be a very different Jul this year. I don't really celebrate it but I did just have a Christmas lunch with my brother. As I'm typing this the sun is shining for the first time this month, although it is a bit colder, around freezing. We will eat a traditional dinner tonight and probably have something to drink. The meteorologist predicts snow here some time tomorrow afternoon, if it happens you will most likely see some snow photos here in a day or two. I took these two Christmas photos at the square in yesterdays post. God Jul!

Julgran

This is as close to a "Julgran" that I am likely to come. The Christmas tree at the square at Årsta Havsbad.

Handenterminalen

The large building Handenterminalen that sits next to the commuter station, seen from the beach at the Upper Lake at the Rudan nature reserve. This part of central Handen is a busy construction site since quite a few years now with the construction of everything that is a part of the Haningeterrassen project. Inside this building you will find pretty much everything, including convenient stores, nightclubs eateries, offices, school, dentist, the list goes on and on.

Vintersolståndet

We made it! Winter solstice. Happening 30 minutes from when I'm typing this. I'm celebrating with four photos from my visit to the Rudan nature reserve on Saturday afternoon. It was nice to see some colors in the sky for once. These photos are from the Lower Lake. Or as we like to call it over here Nedre Rudasjön. And it would also have been my mothers birthday. And it is my brothers name day.

Fjärris

Swedish word of the day. Fjärris. I got another julkapp yesterday. Took a while to install it, but the new Xiaomi Mi Box set-top box is working fine now. With this tiny remote, I can now control Netflix, HBO, C More, Viaplay, Prime Video, YouTube, and anything Google. This probably means that I will be watching a lot of TV in the coming weeks and months.

Timepiece

I needed a new battery for my wristwatch but it was more fun to shop for a new timepiece. So this is my early "julklapp" to myself.

On the phone

One of my ongoing photo projects are the two recently redesigned and very photogenic water towers in Handen. Always fun to shoot them from different angles. Here you see them as a backdrop to a new building currently under construction in the industrial park. The worker up on the roof was kind enough to pose for me without him knowing about it at first.

Julstjärna

A Christmas star in a window at Najaden in Handen.

Inversion

Swedish word of the month. Inversion. No sunshine here since late November. I took this photo at the Lower Lake in Handen while out on a longish bike ride in the gray weather. Not seeing the sun for so long really messes with your mind.

The Cool Cats

Detail from a playground in Handen.

I will play in the future

Cycling through this ugly underpass at Brandbergen a couple of days ago I noticed two workers standing there looking at the blue sign that they had just put up. Translated it reads: I will play in the future. Looks like it will be lit up so maybe it looks better at night. I'm guessing it is part of the ongoing project to light up dark passages around Haninge. Cycling back later they were busy with another sign nearby so I will check out that one later.

Upstairs Dental

Can you hear the dental drill? Distriktstandvården at Najaden in Handen on a gloomy December day.

It's a bad bad Christmas...

You have to love Flickr. They have a new group for Your Worst Shot of 2020. I decided to join the fun, and without any difficulty, at all, I managed to take this photo while visiting the Handen industrial park earlier in the week.

The Pub

The Pub, (and pizzeria), at Allévägen in Tungelsta, the name of the property is Ålstalund. It dates back to when we got the railway line Nynäsbanan a little over a century ago. Some people claim, without any real evidence that the building was moved from another location in Fors, a few kilometers from here, back in 1901. Back in the early days of the previous century it was known as Svin-Kalles affär owned and operated by Svante Vitus Carlsson. Follow this link to see a photo from way back when of the building. Later it became Sam Larsson's diversehandel. But today it is the local pub.

The Commuter Station

When they first turned on the light installation at the commuter station in Tungelsta, back in November, the lights were blue. As a reminder about prostate cancer. Now it is back to the original colors for, and I'm guessing here Christmas.

That Old Tree

A Blue Hour visit to the old tree.

December

I can't remember when I last saw the sun. Looking at the weather forecast, it says gray skies, and when I say gray skies, I mean really really gray skies for the next ten days. This was the scene at Kolonilottsvägen in Lillgården a few afternoons ago.

The bike shop

Åbyplan in Västerhaninge. A shopping center with ten or so stores. Harry's bike shop has been there since the 1960s. Harry still runs it with his wife, son, and one employee. I have bought a couple of bikes there over the years.

Galgstenen

The Execution rock at Hanveden on a gloomy Winter afternoon.

The Power Plant

The Vattenfall owned power plant in Jordbro. They used to have a Christmas tree up on the roof. Too expensive perhaps?

Blue Hour

A Blue Hour visit to the lakes earlier in the week. Four photos from the Lower Lake at the Rudan nature reserve. I took three of the four photos from a jetty. It was a fine afternoon, although a little cold. Nearly slipped on the jetty but made it home without winter bathing.

A Coca-Cola Christmas

The Christmas tree is up at the Coca-Cola plant at the Jordbro industrial park.

Vinterbild

We have seen two very short snowfalls this season. They didnt last very long and I only have this photo to prove that it really happened. Vinterbild means Winter photo but hopefully you figured that out when you read the title. Anywho, I snapped this photo from home a couple of afternoons ago. The yellow house can be found at Kvarnvägen in Tungelsta.

Comfort Food

Theme Day at City Daily Photo. Comfort Food. Semla. Hetvägg. Temla.

Gasoline and Diesel

The price of gasoline and diesel at an Ingo filling station in Jordbro.

No Shopping Frenzy

No shopping frenzy at the Västerhaninge shopping center yesterday afternoon. The pub to the right was very popular pre-Covid19, especially the outdoor area during the Summer months, no idea if they will there when this is all over.

That Old Tree

Four horseback riders on their way back to the stable at Mulsta after riding round Klems Kulle.

I See You

From a distance I noticed a moose family, so I jumped off my bike and tried to walk a little closer without scaring away the wildlife, as they were enjoying some grass on a field. They obviously knew that I was coming so when I came around the bend they were already at a safe distance at the edge of the forest.

The Underpass

A lensball photo of the graffiti at the underpass at the Krigslida bridge. It was chilly day so I had to wear my gloves.

Sold out!

Brand new row-houses at Kolonilottsvägen in Lillgården. Construction is still ongoing.

The archipelago

My third visit to the Lookout Point at Häringe in the last three months. It was another warm Autumn day last week, around 13C. I rode my bike to the nature reserve. Arriving it was all very quiet. I met two guys from the Skärgårdsstiftelsen doing forest maintenance at Häringenäs. And after parking my bike at the path leading up to the hill I met a guy on a mountainbike who told me that it was a bit windy up at the top. Which it was. But the view was as always great. As I took the top photo I got a flashback. Here is the story: Back when I was a kid, we are talking mid-1970s, we had this painter nick-named Gidde who lived a really rough life, with alcohol, homelessness, and what have you. He used to visit our place and my grandfather always fed him, gave him a bed for the night, while my grandmother cleaned his clothes. As a thank you, he sometimes gave them one of his paintings. The painting often looked like this view, and was always called something like Sunset over Nynäshamn. So I'm pretty sure he used to visit here and paint this view and I can't really blame him for that as it is a nice view. On the second photo you can see the two Super-post Panamax cranes at the Norvik harbor in Nynäshamn. To the right the new apartment building Fyren currently under construction.

Black Lives Matter

Two more photos from the playground in Handen that I showed you a while back. Made by kids from a nearby school. All about inclusiveness.