Uncle Henry´s Universe.

Although nuclear physics is not my strongest side, ? the visit provided at least some idea of what it is all about, and it’s an absolutely amazing world to discover!

If ever visiting Geneva, I highly recommend a visit to CERN. The CERN Laboratory was established in 1954 and the name is originally an abbreviation of Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire.

Their work helps to uncover what the universe is made of and how it works. They do so by providing a unique range of particle accelerator facilities to researchers, to advance the boundaries of human knowledge. And if I borrow some more information from their website: CERN’s convention states: “The Organization shall have no concern with work for military requirements and the results of its experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available.” That’s nice and wise!

When you hear about CERN, I guess most people think about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, smashing particles together at unprecedented energies. These collisions enable physicists to study the phenomena that govern particles and forces. We got to visit an older model that has now been taken out of service, but with the help of a fantastic light and video show, the visit was very rewarding.

The researcher who led our guided tour was inspired by the story of the infant universe and all the research they conducted on the subject. We listened and were amazed, listened and were taken aback, listened and were amazed again … And in that way the tour continued.

Mysterious Neutrinos, The Higgs Boson, Antimatter, Dark Matter…“The possibility that dark-matter particles may interact via an unknown force felt only feebly by Standard Model particles motivated LHCb to search for “dark” photons, setting tight new constraints on the coupling strength between dark and conventional photons. Also exploring the dark universe is the CAST experiment, in which a large superconducting magnet is pointed towards the sun to search for dark-matter axions as well as solar chameleons (candidates for the dark energy sector) “…. WOW!  

Their website is very readable! There is a universe to discover for you too!

Even if you do not have time or manage to get a guided tour, their permanent exhibitions are so good that they provide value for the visit. It also describes some small side projects that happened to be created in connection with their research, such as computed tomography and the World Wide Web.

Live in the present, do not wait until tomorrow; pick the roses of life today… (Pierre de Ronsard)

We are too tired after the day’s experiences at Coupe Icare in Saint Hilaire du Touvet and not hungry enough for a restaurant visit. A pizza slice, a ripe tomato from the neighborhood shop and cold beer in a plastic mug. A happy ending to an inspiring day.

The evening is lukewarm, weak winds play along Rue Gabriel Peri; we are at our favorite hotel in Grenoble. Sometimes the laughter rises from the outdoor seating where the regulars gather, the black cat with harness and leash catches the attention for a while, everyone wants to cuddle.

The moon strokes along the eaves, a dove chirping in his sleep. Life is good! We pick a rose and fall asleep to the suggestive sounds of street life through the half-open window.

Woke up this morning to 5 minus degrees and frost. Fresh! Lovely. Season change, new hopes, new dreams.

I really enjoy the changes of the seasons, it’s a favor, a gift! How boring it would be with the same season and weather all year round.

Thin ice on the garden pond. Crispy. Silent. Now the bird bath is soon out for the farm’s tomtits, it is only a few weeks since the last frog was silenced. Nature begins to pave for a long winter, it feels as if it’s coming early this year.

Now we have a colorful time before winter really arrives and embeds everything in white quilt.

I’m a bad
blogger. The ambition is to blog regularly, but the reality has turned out to
be something completely different. Days pass, weeks pass, even months disappear
before I have plotted something new on the blog. Unfortunately, that is the
grim truth. I do not know if it helps to promise fine and improvement but here
at least a summary of what has happened since last …

The winter
wolf tracking was not what I expected. Not so many wolves to track, mostly a
tiring search along poor forest roads. There were thousands of km in car,
terribly boring! I was hoping for puppies in Kockohonka territory but found
none. Just before Christmas, I tracked the alpha pair that crossed the border
and disappeared into Norway. The next contact with the alpha male was right
after the Christmas holidays and then on a new site 30 km to the south, far
from Kockohonka territory. There he went with a new female. What happened
between 18 and 27 December, we will probably never know.

Even
between the lynx tracks it was sparsely. Found no female with young, only a few
solitary lynxes.

The royal
eagle work in the spring, however, became a more positive experience. Very good
weather and good success with the work means that with excitement, I look
forward to several visits to eagle’s nests at the end of the month. Just don’t
hope that the cold weather we have right now, with rain, north wind and wet
snow, is causing problems.

At the end
of February, we took a week off and visited Madeira. It can be recommended!
Nice climate, very sympathetic people and an exciting nature. Walking along the
island’s “levadas” is a balm for the soul. Maybe I write a little more about
the week’s experiences in blog post in the future.

In April,
it suddenly became early summer! 20-25 degrees and lukewarm south winds. Nature
literally exploded with greenery, before winter was suddenly back in early May,
with snow, hail and freezing temperatures. We at least enjoyed the weather as
long as it lasted and got time with this year’s first kayak trip on mirror-shiny
water.

So, now I’m
catching up. New ambitions, new goal…

We have a
beautiful winter, enough cold and just enough with snow so far. Have long been
able to trudge in snow when I track wolves, especially in dense forests, but
now the snow depth is starting to become troublesome, so skis become a better
choice.

It is a
pleasure to work in harmony with the seasons, where light and weather control
the work. Being almost daily in nature, in good weather or in bad, is a
privilege. It really makes you feel present in the moment, in life.

Weather
feels on the skin; the light feels in the soul. All the senses interact.
Fragrance in winter is usually subtle, perhaps just as a clue about an
approaching snowfall. The taste of hot broth, on the other hand, is highly
evident, it gives pure joy to a cold and tired body. In the extension of the
wolf tracks, ravens are heard from a distance, a life has ended as food for
others.

The
evenings lately have been seductively beautiful. Ending a successful working
day is pure euphoria, if it happens to the sound of rustling skis and in the
direction straight into the sunset.

Friday
night at Bar Teatral in Karlstad, lots of good beer and live performances by
Monte Nour and Jennie Abrahamson. Monte Nour was first out and a whole new
acquaintance, feeling unsure of what I liked about his music, probably needs to
listen more to grasp it.

Jennie, on the other
hand, I’m absolutely sure! Great as usual! It’s the first time I experience her
alive and was not disappointed. She started with – To the water! A song about fanaticism of all sorts – and
unfortunately very current in our time…

The first time I saw Jennie was on
television. A lonely girl with some instruments and a very unbelievable vocal
voice. She played her Snowstorm! On Friday I heard it again. Still loving it.

Jennie is sometimes compared with Kate
Bush, something she herself, for many years did not really agree with. We
received a long story before she performed – Running up that hill, as a tribute
to Kate Bush. The song was taken from a tribute concert she performed together
with Gothenburg Symphony.

In Sweden, Jennie is not particularly
famous … strange! But it seems to be a girl who wants to decide most of
herself, not so commercial, independent. I like that! However, she has made 5
world tours with Peter Gabriel. Not so bad. Not bad at all!

The cold is
spreading rapidly across the country and the landscape is adorned with frost
work. A wonderful time to work in the wilderness. No mosquitoes or other
nuisances, only cold that bite you a little bit refreshing in your nose and
ear.

The
landscape is almost silent, only filled with weak subtle sound of falling frost
stars, crunchy thin ice, a calling raven on long distance or the delightful
small silver bells from a passing flock of waxwings from the north.

Time is
changing from summer – so infinite much to catch up with – to
calm and reflection. Take care of time, enjoy, for Christmas is soon here with
all that it means of twinkling candles, Christmas songs and ho ho ho’s.

Monday
morning. A few degrees of minus, the winter knocks on the door.

The
calendar shows October 1 and a new thoughtful saying. This week; Better a bird
in your hand than a gull shit in your hair … hmm, that was wise! …

It has been
almost two years since I last wrote something on the blog. I lost my desire,
lacked inspiration and was frustrated by developments in the world. Both
environmentally and politically. We all live on a truly wonderful amazing
planet, yet we manage to do so much to destroy it. The madness is rude!

At a time
when the fires burn again in Mordor, it’s hard to be happy and to be positive,
but deflating does not make any difference either! We must find power to fight
and, in between, have as much fun as we can!

When I look
at my newly purchased key ring, I’m feel happy. The experiences of amazing days
in Grenoble, Lumbin and St Hillaire du Tuvet have recharged the batteries with
new power. Coupe Icare is a festival for anyone who enjoys flying or flying
things.

On
Icarnaval won the “chat perché” in the paragliding solo class. If I understood
correctly, Chat Perche is the French name for children’s play, catch up.
Clever!

Now autumn
is here – with high clear air – Enjoy and take care – Good things happen
everywhere…. Okay, I should stop now … I understand … Yepp… Ends here!

My ambition
to develop proficiency in English continues. I have previously read; How to Be
a Woman by Caitlin Moran, and loved it. When I strolled around in a bookstore
in Windsor, and discovered that they had her latest book; How to Build a Girl,
I could not resist buying it. And I do not regret it, it was hilarious.

Roughly
told, but with insight, warmth and great love, both in terms of everyday,
working-class, urban neighborhoods and teen years. It was a fantastic trip,
although I must admit that the language was different than what I’m used to.

Cunt, twat,
wank, hymen and knackers not belong to my everyday language … And if I would
put it in Swedish, I would fucking blush like a baboon’s ass! So I do not. (But
in English I might dare and then it enriches my language) You have to dare, or
as Caitlin writes at one point in the book, and I have not yet managed to find
the meaning of … Go on! Stuff it up the cow!

Sometimes I
do not understand everything I read. I do not have full control of the concepts,
“Poxy bunch of suites” or “They’ve gassed The Hive”.
Although I might have a clue. However, it is extremely interesting for a
Swedish ornithologist to hear about the gloom that probably comes from
Hebridiean ancestors with puffin – strangling DNA!

Maybe not a
Christmas present tips for your gift for grandma or grandpa, or eh heck, why
not! If nothing else, read it for yourself.

Time flies.
We had a wonderful time in Italy, in mid-October, and I was about to write a
blog post about it, when suddenly it was the first of November and the snow
pouring down! Life goes so fast sometimes.

Tracking season got a flying start, suddenly needed miles and miles of gravel roads to be searched over in pursuit of traces of wolves and lynxes. Being first
on the road, with a new yet untouched snow, is a great satisfaction that I
think I share with all my colleagues. It’s exciting. The day is still a blank
slate.

After a
good tracking day, with a lot of tracks and samples collected for DNA analysis,
ended the day at Bastutjärn. The freeze begins on the little lake and the track
of the wolf pack disappears towards the Norwegian border.