A journal from Scandinavia · 2004
Half man. Half wolf. The strongest soul in Scandinavia. When reindeer turn on a family, he answers.
Read the latest entry ↗On the year's last evening I walked past fifty doors that had opened for me, though no one had asked me to count. There were candles in windows, repaired fences, and tracks crossing tracks until the snow made one story of them all.
Read the entry ↗Marta, who once left a red scarf on my gate, sent a small brass bell. Her family had been caught again near the meadow, but this time she rang it to lead her younger brother out of the herd's path.
Read the entry ↗The snow returned to Särna, along with news of a family whose porch was ringed by reindeer driven down from the hills. I remembered Astrid Lind's yard from January and found a new family in the same fear.
Read the entry ↗A mother and two sons waited behind the crossroads shelter after a running herd divided the road. Their father was on the other side, close enough to call and too far to help.
Read the entry ↗A barn full of quiet was worse than a barn full of noise. I found the Marklunds holding still behind the feed bins while a reindeer stood at the open door, blocking their exit.
Read the entry ↗The post carrier brought me a note written on the back of an envelope. The Ruotsalainens were stuck in their sauna after a herd settled near the path to their house.
Read the entry ↗I knew the Johansson gate by its squeak. That morning it stood open and a reindeer had wandered into the yard where three grandchildren were playing.
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