We all need a place to call home........

Stockholm.

The  ''Venice of the North'' so some say.

It used to be my home for many years

and I really loved the place.

When I left Sweden in 1977 to visit

my folks in Australia I didn't have

a clue that I would never return to live in

Stockholm again.

Visit yes, but not live.

Somehow Australia just got under my skin

eventhough it was obscenely hot, brown, full

of deadly critters on land, in the air and in the

water.

Culturally it seemed quite desolate compared to

to what I was used to in Sweden. 

Sweden, a country with four seasons, each with its own

delights, beauty and mystiques.

A country with a history that dates back to

as having been inhabited

by humans since approximately 12.000 BC.

But, ''but'' number one,

Many people who have made Australia their

new homeland, I've found to more often than not

tend to agree with me that there's

something special about the people here in OZ.

There's a ''lightness of being'' somehow

and people seem to be friendlier and more

relaxed. People can start conversations with you

just like that. ''How's your day been so far? 

Gooday...... Hot isn't it? Oh, I like your xyz''...etc. etc.

There's an expression that is often used here:

''she'll be right, mate'' which means basically

''don't sweat the small stuff'' and once you get used

to it  are very wise words indeed methinks.

Some photos from my fave wet place here in OZ.

Here there are white sandy beaches that goes on forever against

a crystal blue sky and peach coloured sunsets.

Water so clear that it's impossible to ascertain how

deep the ocean is.

And a lot of people who find the time to say: Hey or Gooday.

Which I love.

But, here comes ''but'' number two.

But sometimes, no matter how much I love Australia,

I get overcome by something called ''sehnsucht'' which

is a German word for ''longing & yearning in the soul''.

It's a sort of a longing sadness that can be triggered by

a smell, a sound, a colour and suddenly I'm 20 and

walking the streets of Stockholm, or an old dusty road

of the Swedish countryside or watching the sunrise

through a window.

There are many of us who have left our childhood homes in

exchange for another place which to call our homes.

Sometimes by choice, sometimes not, but what we all have in

common is our need to feel that we have a place where

we belong, a place that we can proudly call our home.

As far as I can ascertain our planet is far too small for

us to keep on entertaining the notion that there

is a ''them and us''. (There's only ''us'' methinks)

This earth that is at this point in time

is very well suited for all human kind.

A kind that does not come as them and us,

 though we often seem so inclined.

May we always consider and bear in mind

that such as our planet, there's only one kind.

Well, at least until some fool decides to pull the pin...

about the images: top: Stockholm, acrylic on medium size canvas

Aussie images: photos slightly edited in Elements

Sweden images: acrylic on medium sized canvas