Another exciting thing about moving is that you have a whole new region to explore. I’m familiar with Föne only as far as driving through a few times but I’ve never stopped to take a closer look at anything.

The first thing I did was to study the map and I found an interesting looking area along the Ljusnan. Within a walking distance from home… So I got down there yesterday and today. It seems like no matter how you look at the maps and satellite pictures, you really have no idea what the place looks like until you’re actually there.

From the map I figured that Ljusnan must have flowed more easterly in the past, until it carved a new path in its present course. The area is lined with a steep embankment, but somehow you just don’t get an idea of exactly how steep until you’re standing on top of that embankment. It was so steep that I needed to take hold of tree trunks because I couldn’t get a good enough foothold to stop me from rolling down head first.

The map told me that there would be fields. I found the fields and I found a bird tower (or a moose hunting tower) in a corner, with a hole in the floor and a ladder positioned so awkwardly that I decided I wouldn’t climb in because I sure wouldn’t be able to get back down again.

I found a number of old barns, some of them half fallen already. I found old farming equipment left rusting in the fields and the forest, from a time so far ago that I don’t even have names for these things – in any language.

I found countless of old riverbeds that were flooded in the autumn, creating thick sheets of ice that were now resting on dry ground after the water receded during the winter.

I found birch forests and I found pine forests… slow flowing brooks… I found stone walls along the shores of Ljusnan.

I found so much photographic potential that I can hardly wait for the summer!