Everyone is a three-year-old

”Daddy, hug!!!” My three-year-old son yelled while running to me and gave me the biggest good-bye hug I have ever got in my life. I was about to leave on a job trip with a stay in the hotel. Just one night, no big deal. The tears started rolling down, mostly from overwhelming joy but also from sadness. Every single soldier on both sides were also somebodys three-year-old not that long ago. Somebodys brother, husband, friend, dad… I thought about what it would feel like if this was the last time I would ever hug my little boy. It gave me a glimpse into the reality of what thousands of Russians and Ukrainians are going through right now. And that’s all I can write tonight. I will pray instead.

DiaryRikard ÖqvistFebruary 28, 2022love, familyComment

A simple Valentine’s Day

Last Saturday I finally tested positive and started acquiring my natural immunity. Knowing that everyone on the planet will get it sooner or later, I was relieved when the two lines showed up after inserting a tops half-way into my brain. So nice to just get it over with and leave this whole insanity behind us. The sickness has been a walk in the park. One of the mildest colds I have ever had. But the week was quite tough anyway due to the lack of sleep. My sleep account was already running dry, and when both boys got the fever and kept us up at night, the whole situation felt more like a bad hangover that went on for a week.

Parenting, DiaryRikard ÖqvistFebruary 14, 2022love, family, kidsComment

Be prepared

This weekend I finally managed to photograph an Otter. Actually, I even got three (1) of them in a single shot/video! I have been trying to snap a picture of one for over a year, but they have always eluded me until now. I have usually seen them from a window, and then I have rushed to grab my camera and when I got back it was nowhere to be seen. We are talking about a time window of about 30-60 seconds here. I can honestly say that I am hooked permanently now on nature photography. It is so rewarding, and when you live in a place like we do, it is all but mandatory to get a tele lens and learn photography. My wife told me that there are only around 2000 Otters in the whole of Sweden. They are super rare. That means that I have just documented a significant part of the entire Swedish Otter population. They are so rare that you are supposed to report sightings in Sweden (which I just did).