Nälden

We have spent the last couple of days in and around Nälden where Maria and Gunnar live, Östersund, where Maria worked at Mid-Sweden University and where Gunnar was the Air Force commander.
The Glösa Elk Park remembers the ancient Scandinavians and their connection to the elk for food as well as a spiritual connection. There is a bold stream running through the area and they carved elk and other symbols on rocks there. Carvings are outlined in red paint made from the iron - rich soil and fat.
On to an exhibition of a Sami artist and a nature photographer. We enjoyed lunch outside in the bright sunshine.
A long walk in the woods looking for wild blueberry and Ligonberry.
Drove into Östersund and the university, then on to Frösön island to see the runestone placed there in 1050 to commemorate the advance of Christianity this far north.
We went to Rödöns Kyrka for a midnight Midsommar mass. Afterwards, outside for coffee and cakes in what we might consider as evening light, for the sun is just below the horizon.
At the local airfield - which used to be for the military - we visited a technical museum and saw a Viggen Thunderbolt, a plane for which Gunnar was a test pilot from 1970-1972 during its development.
We have enjoyed a number of 'fikas' which are stops for coffee and sweets. A special fika was crisp waffles with cloud berries.
A stop at a nature park to look for a type of Lady Slipper that only grows there due to the  limestone soil.
And all along, lovely meals of sill, fish soup, lake fish, cheeses and flatbreads.