Last week was the 15th of this series, which I’m still finding interesting and in some ways therapeutic. I don’t have any kind of auto-tweet thing setup, and I often have Twitter blocked on my laptop, so I usually end up tweeting the link each week via my mobile browser.
Last week for the first time, I was able to type “Thoughts” and use auto suggest to finish the rest of the title. 😂
I spent quite a bit of time over the last couple weeks trying to think of the right clever way to implement a simple solution on a project.
Yesterday I had the epiphany that the project needed a more complex solution and all of a sudden the approach became obvious and relatively simple to implement.
Going into the weekend feeling pretty good.
When we were in Sweden last year we noticed (it was pretty obvious) lamps in just about every window in every place we stayed in that wasn’t a hotel.
At the time I found this Quora answer that seemed plausible. In a nutshell, houses in villages used to be closer together and farm land was shared surrounding the town. Over time, things were partitioned differently and the houses were moved away from each other onto their own plots of land. As a way of letting your neighbors know you were still there, you lit lamps in the window.
After spending some time trying to find historical sourcing for that, I’m not so certain it’s correct. But window lamp culture is definitely a thing in Sweden, and it’s not completely restricted to the darker times of the year.
Either way, correct or not, I kind of like the first explanation:
“wouldn’t you like to see lights twinkling through the winter darkness in the windows of those people who used to be your close neighbors? And wouldn’t you do the same for them?”
Alan Waller, on Quora
Not too long after we got back from Sweden, we rearranged some furniture and ended up putting a lamp in one of our front windows. It fits well and feels nice to have on.
This week, I realized that I like the way it fits even more now that we need to be physically distant from each other. It can be a quiet sign to the neighborhood that we’re all still here.
The split of land from communal to individual in Sweden appears to be the called the “Storskifte” or “Great Partition“, though as with everything, it seems that the actual history around things in Sweden is published in Swedish so I have some other learning to do before I get there. 😂
Om’s blog has been really nice lately.
Anne’s newsletter has been really nice lately.
One draft post I never seem to be getting to is the world of weekly notes that are out there and I had no idea existed until the last few months.
A fun thing about the weather in eastern Washington is how the temperature will swing wildly over hills and around corners.
On Wednesday, the temperature at the Pullman airport was 61. The Dark Sky app told me it was 64 in my area. The thermometer in the shade on our deck said 67. And the sunlit bedroom indoors, even with all of the windows open, was in the low 70s.
The house is getting the deep breath it’s been needing. I took two of my three walks yesterday in a t-shirt and will probably do the same today. We shared drinks over video with friends yesterday and we’ll share drinks over video with friends today.
Spring is great. If only we could meet each other in person! 🍻
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