Johan's Sharebook 

The sun in the North is a temporary guest
Who brings with him much warmth and light when he comes
For a few precious months every year he keeps
Us company through night and day
He makes the trees green, he makes flowers bloom
He makes the birds sing, and makes us humans smile

And when he has gone we miss him
Like an old friend that has left us
Just a dear and beloved memory

After his leavetaking all disappears
Leaves falling down, birds fly away
Flowers all wither and die
And as winter roars we begin to fear
That he never will come here again
But then one pretty day he is here

For the sun in the North is a temporary guest
Who brings with him much warmth and light when he comes

The Rose Arch

Come join in a great adventure
Take a first step and walk out the door
That is how any journey begins
You were born from the water - now rise to the sky
And when you are done, find your home

Never stop chasing the end of the rainbow
Your treasure will be where it ends
The unicorn valley lives if you believe
If you follow impossible dreams
If you let your imagination run free
There’s no limit to where you will be

You see that girl in your mirror - she is really a princess
Her Queendom is waiting for her
The forest a palace of gold and of silver
The daffodil lily and rose

Never follow the stream, jump across if you have to
Reach the top of the hill
See your dreams waiting on the other side

You are living and learning through every day
Through darkness and light, through beauty and sorrow
And when the oriole sings you must follow 

Take the hand of the cute troll
Come run with the wolves, come fly with the eagles
Come swim with the otters until the sun settles
Let the vampire protect you through the night

Never stop looking for the last of the dragons 
They live far beyond the mountains, woods and plains
Walk through the rose arch of love and of goodness
Into the cave of the tigers that guard the Great Treasures
The treasure of Hope and the Treasure of Faith
And the Greatest of Treasures - the crimson red Love

Come join in a great adventure
Take a first step and walk out the door
That is how any journey begins
You were born from the water - now rise to the sky
And when you are done, find your home

This album is a tour in images through the for my eyes most beautiful land in the world - my native land of Scania (Skåne in Scanian/Swedish/Danish). Scania is situated at the very southern tip of the Scandinavian Peninsula, It is home to almost 1.3 million people, on an area of about 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles). It is the land where the open plains, rich soils and golden beech forests of continental Europe meet with the dark, dense pine forests of Scandinavia, and where the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea meet the salty waters of the North Sea. It is a very old land. For the Romans, Scania and Scandinavia were synonymous, and it was one of the most flourishing lands of the Viking Ages - and for more than half a millennium, Scania was a heartland of the Danish Kingdom, before it was conquered by Sweden during the late 17th century, when the bloodiest war ever fought in Scandinavia took place here. In many ways, Scania has still got a lot more in common with continental Europe in its linguistics, culture and nature than it has with the rest of peninsular Scandinavia. And its fertile soils, mild climate and strategic location has made it one of the most fought-over lands in Europe all through history. It is one of the Lions on the Danish coat of arms, and one of the Crowns on the Swedish coat of arms, and has played a crucial role in the shaping of both the Danish and the Swedish state. Scania is no longer Danish, but not quite truly Swedish either - the Scanian people have got their own very strong identity, and a great love of their own land. Scania has always been a crossroad, a land where cultures meet, and a land which is always changing. Today, Scania is once again flourishing and rapidly growing, as part of the largest transborder metropolitan region in Scandinavia. Scania is a land full of breathtaking nature, rural idyll, urban multicultural diversity, and staggering, timeless cultural memories from its long, dramatic and tragic history. And it is the one land in the whole world that I love the most. My highest dream is a future where Scania would finally gain its independence again, and become its own little country - for us Scanians to be free from Swedish rule, and to decide our future for us and the homeland that we love. With this album, you will travel through all of Scania, from the north west, into the inland, down to the south west, across to the south east, and lastly up to the north east, where I live.

Album: Scania This album is a tour in images through the for my eyes most beautiful land in the world - my native land of Scania (Skåne in Scanian/Swedish/Danish). Scania is situated at the very southern tip of the Scandinavian Peninsula, It is home to almost 1.3 million people, on an area of about 11,000 square kilometers (4,250 square miles) - an area slightly smaller than the U.S state of Connecticut. Scania's highest point on land is 212 metres above sea level, while the lowest point on land is 3 metres below sea level. But despite its small size, nature is highly varied. This is the land where the open plains, rich soils and golden beech forests of continental Europe meet with the dark, dense pine forests of Scandinavia, and where the brackish waters of the Baltic Sea meet the salty waters of the North Sea. It is a very old land. For the Romans, Scania and Scandinavia were synonymous, and it was one of the most flourishing lands of the Viking Ages - and for more than half a millennium, Scania was a heartland of the Danish Kingdom, before it was conquered by Sweden during the late 17th century, when the bloodiest war ever fought in Scandinavia took place here. In many ways, Scania has still got a lot more in common with continental Europe in its linguistics, culture and nature than it has with the rest of peninsular Scandinavia. And its fertile soils, mild climate and strategic location has made it one of the most fought-over lands in Europe all through history. It is one of the Lions on the Danish coat of arms, and one of the Crowns on the Swedish coat of arms, and has played a crucial role in the shaping of both the Danish and the Swedish state. Scania is no longer Danish, but not quite truly Swedish either - the Scanian people have got their own very strong identity, and a great love of their own land. Scania has always been a crossroad, a land where cultures meet, and a land which is always changing. Today, Scania is once again flourishing and rapidly growing, as part of the largest transborder metropolitan region in Scandinavia. Scania is a land full of breathtaking nature, rural idyll, urban multicultural diversity, and staggering, timeless cultural memories from its long, dramatic and tragic history. And it is the one land in the whole world that I love the most. My highest dream is a future where Scania would finally gain its independence again, and become its own little country! With this album, you will travel through all of Scania, from the north west, into the inland, down to the south west, across to the south east, and lastly up to the north east, where I live. by Johan Maltesson (155)

Summer photos from Austria

Album: Austria by Johan Maltesson (155)

Springtime comes with whooping cranes
It comes with dancing ruffs
It comes with singing starlings
It comes with drumming bitterns
It comes with chattering storks
And with scented ramson bloom

Springtime comes with strutting godwits
It comes with swimming otters
It comes with jumping rabbits
It comes with soaring kites
It comes with fishing herons
And with star petal anemones

When the ice has melted
When all the snow is gone
When all the trees fill up with green
And nature fills with young
Then my wetlands shine again

With springtime blossoms love
With springtime blossoms life
And it makes me smile

We got up very early 
On a Saturday in spring      
To go see a white castle
Right next to a blue lake   
Took the train into the city
And walked quite far from there

On our way up to the castle
She stayed me in the sun 
Next to where anemones grew
Underneath a tree where a robin sang  
She stopped and kissed my mouth

By the forest lake that glittered
Hidden by the budding trees
She pulled me to the ground with her  
And stripped me of out of all my clothes
And loved me in the grass

No care if some someone saw us
I was out of time and space
Only saw her wild and widening eyes
Just felt her heaving breasts on me 
Against my heart that pounded fast  

She wanted my whole body
Took my head between her legs
My back against the earth
My body under hers 
Under open cloud free sky

Only the mute swans looked on
When we were one in April sun
And I have never loved as much
As when she kissed my burning skin
And said that I was hers  

We never saw that castle
But I was in my palace still
My treasure was her being
And all of her warm love
A love I will remember
For as long as I shall live 

So today is the equinox, when the day and night is at the same lenght - and from today on, the day will be longer than the night! And tomorrow is the traditional first day of spring, and the first day of the new Zodiac year, when Pisces gives room to Aries. It’s a time of new beginnings! I chose this picture from last spring, taken in my nearby wetland forest, as a reminder of the lovely green and pleasant time that hopefully soon lies ahead! Today, it has been another very cold day in South Sweden, and spring seems unusually late. But despite snowy forecasts, it hasn't actually been snowing much at all the past days - and there is barely any visible snow on the ground, a fact I am quite happy about! And, real spring will come eventually, it definitely will!

I love you, my own homeland
Little land of fields and plains
I love your pretty snow white winters
Love the flowers of your spring
Love the light of your green summer
Love the colours of your fall
 
I love your lush beech forests
Little rivers gently flowing
Your little lakes for summer swims 
And I love your sandy beaches
And to walk your rocky shores

I love your blue seas and your wetlands
Your high ridges, rocky hillocks
Love your avenues of willows
Love your pretty apple orchards
Love your rich, plentiful soils
Where farmers grow their buxom crops      

I love your little villages
For calm and quiet life
And I love your lively cities
Where the whole world’s people meet
To live together side by side
Seeking everlasting peace 

Land of Vikings, land of castles
Where bishops ruled, brave rebels fought
Among the runestones of the past
Among the graves of kings of old
Reminding us of days long gone
Many wars you have been seeing
But never more another war 

Fair are you, my borderland
Land of history, present, future
Most beautiful of lands, land within my heart
Proudly wave your flag of blood and gold
Half Danish and half Swedish 
But only Scanian one and whole

May the red kites in your sky forever on be soaring
May the red deer ever walk among the daisies in your meadows
May the waves of your seas be forever roaring
Let my Scania live forever on in freedom and in peace   

Today we finally had the very first start-up meeting for the new local branch of Djurens Rätt - Sweden's largest animal rights organisation - in my hometown Kristianstad! It was a very good and promising first meeting, with quite a lot of participants, and a positive atmosphere that bodes well for the new group's future! There absolutely seems to be an interest for continued activities!

Already next weekend we will start with handing out flyers on town and have another group meeting. We will also be hosting an education weekend for active members from all of southern Sweden later in spring - and I will myself be representing Kristianstad on this spring's national animal rights congress, which will be in Umeå in northern Sweden. We will be several people from the city going there.

It feels so very nice that an active group in now finally up and running. Kristianstad is a nature city, whose profile is built around its surrounding beautiful nature, rich wildlife, environmental friendliness and sustainability, and many people here love animals and have animals near them - so I therefore have high hopes that our will turn out well, and that our precence will be appreciated by the people here, and that many will want to join us!      

I have walked barefoot among nettles
Have had my face stung by a bee
I have been falling among rose thorns
But all that pain is nothing to me
Next to the pain that I am feeling
Since my loved one chose to walk away
To rest in someone else’s arms
And kiss on other lips

Will never more see her eyes sparkle
Will never more hear how she laughs
Will never more feel her soft kisses
Upon my longing mouth
  
My fairytale has ended
My sweet dream has gone away
Thus the world might as well end right now
I do not really care 
Just let the sky be burning
Let out all of the ten plagues
Let the apocalyptic riders in
Come old grim reaper, my dear friend
Come take me far away

Congratulations Beelzebub, you have been doing well
Let me walk on a hundred nettles
Let a thousand bees sting my face
Let me fall upon ten thousand thorns
And nothing will ever pain me as bad
As when my loved one chose to walk away
To rest in someone else’s arms
And kiss on other lips