Sju skrivkort

Another week of linking up!

- 1 -

I don't know if a "quick take" is actually a skrivkort, but that is the best I'll be able to come up with.

- 2 -

On Monday I got to ride my bike home with my new friend! I don't even know her name! But we live in the same neighborhood, so we rode bikes home together after dance class! This is the highlight of any six-year-old's day!

- 3 -

I really like my co-workers. I realized I don't write much about work on this here blog, but I am okay with that. Or at least I'm okay with not writing my about the details of my work. Especially since I have to keep it on the DL since I just found out that someone at another university may or may not be doing a very similar project. Anyhow. I do appreciate that the majority of people here do not take themselves too seriously and can joke around a bit. I feel that with scientists, that is not an easy trait.

- 4 -

Snow!
It started snowing Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, and has been snowing since (ish). I need to get my bike into winter-mode. My plan is to get studded snow tires and then lower my seat so that my feet can touch the ground while I'm sitting on the seat. So many others do not seem phased by the snow on the ground; they just merrily ride their bikes along. (Although I did see at least one blotchy spot in the snow with sliding tire marks leading up to it.) Here is a gratuitous animated gif.

- 5 -

The snow also means that things look much less depressing around here. Everyone had said that November is the worst month because the days are getting shorter and there is no snow yet, so everything is really dark. But with snow on the ground the small amount of sunlight has a lot of good reflecting surface, which really makes a nice difference.

This photo was taken well after sunset, but it was the first night of snow, and I thought it was quite beautiful.

- 6 -

We have an advent wreath* in the office kitchen. Like I said last week, really good at celebrating religious holidays, this secular country is.

- 7 -

In other religious news. Maybe you know (or maybe you don't) that the English translation of the Catholic Mass was revised in order to be a more accurate translation of the Latin Mass. The new translation was implemented last year at the beginning of advent. When we got to Sweden, we were happy to see that they had a Mass in English every Sunday. The first time we went, it was a surprise to find the old translation. Well it turns out that there is no requirement for countries that do not have English as the primary language to use the new translation (or something like that, trust me, I asked a priest). So, it wasn't wrong to be using the old translation, just kind of unfortunate (in my opinion). So, luckily (!), the church here is going to start using the new translation. And now that I have un-learned the new translation just after I was feeling comfortable with it, I get to re-learn what I un-learned.

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*It is really just a candle holder with four candles in a straight line. But just the first candle was lit today for advent (or at least the anticipation of it).