Thursday, July 31, 2008

Handene Ka, Sweden






I can't believe its already been over 2 years since I had the opportunity to visit Sweden, and to meet Svante Blomberg and his family, who are distant relatives and live in the same town as Axel. When grandma June and grandpa Jiggs went to Sweden, they stayed with Svante and his family. I met Svante early in the morning on a Saturday, and he toured me around the whole area showing me different family sites, a local museum, and then had me over for dinner. It was a very fun day despite the fact that Svante speaks almost no English. He was able to say names, and the rest was just hand signals with about 30 other English words. Most of the time he would start laughing because he knew I couldn't understand a word he was saying. He is a farmer, and still farms the land that Axle and his family owned when they were alive. It was a great experience to see where we came from, and how they live. Sweden in general has a great understanding of how the earth gives us everything, and it is very apparent in the way they treat their homes, business, and communities. Recycling is everywhere, everything is orderly and maintained, and in it's proper place. They show a different appreciation for what they have than what we are used to. His son Stefan spent a few hours with us at the museum, which was great because his English was good, and got me caught up from the mornings site seeing. I took a bunch of pictures, and will try to find the folder I've saved them to, but here are a couple I've got saved on my work PC. If you look on a map, or in Google Maps, Skara is the closest town to Handene Ka, where the majority of the property of the Lundgren's appeared to me to be in. I look forward to getting back to Sweden again some time soon.

5 comments:

Travelin'Oma said...

Jamey! This is a great post. Thanks for the photos and the memories. I would love to go there someday!

Anonymous said...

me too!

Anonymous said...

me too! that was written by polly

Dblbogi said...

i found my other pictures and need to get them edited to size to post again. Next time with explanations of what the pictures are of.

mama jo said...

loved seeing the pictures...tom and i went to visit once and saw all of those beautiful buildings...and the family..it's fun to keep in touch with family.