As we prepare to leave.

So we are getting ready to leave Sweden in less than a week.  Its really amazing how fast the time has gone. Its about time to reflect on our time here and just how this experience fits into the rest of my life.  The truth is it really doesn't.  Its almost like we are living two lives.  One in the U.S. and one in Sweden.  When I first got here, it didn't feel like two years had passes between visits.  The smells, sights and sounds were all very familiar, fresh in my mind and almost connected to the memories I was making at that very moment.

While I'm here I can almost forget about my life in Seattle.  There are very few direct connections between here and there, between then and now and the two lives they have created.  The island has such a feeling of deep rich history all over the place, the subtle mixture of the new and the old, with the new having hints of tradition and history.

I often think about what life was like here fifty or one hundred years ago, considering the level of isolation there is today.

At night and during the earliest hours of the morning the sky, although dark is still filled with light.  There is still a halo of light from the sun that never totally sets, the lights of the far north night sky, the lights of sail boat silently drifting by and of course the light haze of the Gothenberg.  I can almost imagine what life was like before the city light and even the sail boats...almost.

As an Anthropologist, my quest for how people have lived through time and space is always there. I spend a great deal of time studying and playing with Paleo-weapons.  I pride myself on the acquired abilities to make and used a number of ancient weapons.  I spend several hours per week researching, creating and using weapons mostly for use in class...(if you are interested ANTH& 215: Biological Anthropology with Lab).

In several of my classes we throw the atla-tl at targets, being the instructor I'm expected to be good at it.  This takes a great deal of practice, because it is a very difficult weapon to use properly.  I try to get at least two hours per week practice, just to stay sharp.  

The atla-tl consists of two parts the atla-tl and the Dart.  The atla-tl is the thrower and the dart looks like an arrow that is between 5 and 7 feet long.

Coming to Sweden, one questions was what would I here to get in my practice?  Bring the atla-tl wasn't too difficult, it fit well in a large suitcase.  On the other hand getting a dart to fit into my suit case just wouldn't work.

I had the brilliant idea to make a dart once I arrived on the island. Knowing what is involved in this will take some explaining.  First, I need to make a stone point.  To do this I need a piece of obsidian, chert or flint to make the point.  I will also need a tool to form the point.  Most cases this is done with an antler billet (usually moose or elk).  During past visits I had seen chert and flint on the island so I knew that wouldn't be a problems.

The next concern for some reason was finding moose antler.  Before we came to Sweden I Facebooked my niece who lives in northern Sweden if she could bring me an antler...for some reason I thought she would be able to...no facts or suggestions of facts that this was based on.  I also thought (in one of the strange corners of my mind) that there has to be moose antler somewhere on this island, not based on any actual reality.

After weeks of scouring everywhere I could think of to find an antler, it looked like the project would fail...until one day my nephew Oliver wandered into the house holding a piece of antler...somehow he forgot he had this during the hours of searching everywhere on this island except in his room...why would he have a moose antler?

After all that hassle I was able to construct a working atla-tl.

My time on the island often time consists of ridiculous quests...most of which never ever escape my head...I do have a limited filter between the world in my head and the real world.  It is always interesting for my family to figure out what I'm up to next.  What will it be next time?  Only time will tell.

I truly adore this place and the people that make it so special.  There is always something to do...which sometimes is nothing and that is amazing.  As I return to my life in Seattle, I will put my island life on hold for two years...after which I will eagerly return.

My last words for this installment is: Go find a "island" of your own where the beauty can take your breath away, while giving you time to take a breathe.

SEE YOU IN TWO.