Tag: Esther’s writing prompt

The Riverbank of Moälven

Esther’s writing prompt: July 8th : Bank

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An aerial photo of a river winding through a forest. There is some snow on one of the riverbanks.
Photo of Moälven river/ Photo taken in November 2005. Babiarne, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

A riverbank is the sloping terrain that directly borders the river. It separates the flowing water from the surrounding land and helps maintain the river’s path. I grew up nearby a river in northern Sweden called Moälven. Moälven is a small river, 140 kilometers, or 87 miles long. Moälven goes through Bredbyn, Själevad and Örnksöldsvik and it ends in Örnsköldsviksfjärden, a bay, or a fjord, in the High Coast region of northern Sweden. See the map below.

A beige and brown map showing the path of Moälven in blue.
This map shows the path of Moälven. That is the blue thin winding line. The dark areas depict mountains. Moralist, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5&gt;, via Wikimedia Commons.

Moälven was used for timber floating in the past. Forestry and logging used to be a big business in the region where I grew up, and it still is. However, timber is usually not transported via timber floating now a day. Moälven features a lot of wildlife, including fish, birds, and beavers. Moälven was a stronghold of the Eurasian beaver already 50 years ago as it was recovering in Europe from near extinction. You could sometimes see foxes and moose in the forest surrounding the river and you could pick blueberries, raspberries and other berries in the forest.

In addition to living nearby the river, we also used to have a summer cabin that was located not far from the river. For these reasons I spent a lot of my childhood and youth on the banks of Moälven river. I used to jump into the river from the riverbank, I sat or stood on the riverbank as I was fishing, and we docked our small boats by the riverbank, tying them to a tree with a rope. There were also bicycle paths next to the river.

The map shows Moälven and a red arrow pointing out the location for our summer cabin.
A Google Maps close up of where our summer cabin was.

Some of the riverbanks were sandy, a result of the river being so winding and this caused the riverbank to flatten out were the stream was slow. So, there were several small sand beaches along the river that people rarely visited. That way you could have your private beach.

I should explain that in Swedish the word “flod” means a big river like “fleuve” in French. The Swedish word “älv” means a medium sized river or smaller river like “rivière” in French. The Swedish word “å” means a small river, stream, or creek.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts

What is your experience with riverbanks?

The Joy of Having a Pet

Esther’s writing prompt: June 3 : Pet

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I grew up not having any pets even though I really wanted a dog. However, both my parents were working, and my brother and I walked to and from school every day. We stayed by ourselves until our parents came back home. That is not a good situation for a dog or for many other kinds of pets. This all changed after I met my wife. She was used to having dogs and other pets. While we were still students we had an aquarium, hamsters, a rabbit, and a cat. Unfortunately, I was extremely allergic to the cat and I got very sick. Luckily, we found someone who could take care of the cat.

After we got married and had kids we had a couple of aquariums, a pet snake, a frilled lizard, hamsters, and eventually dogs. On one occasion we went fishing in a lake here in Texas. We used minnows for bait. My daughter wanted to take the leftover minnows home and put them in an aquarium. She named all of them Sally. Sally #1, Sally #2, Sally #3, Sally #4, Sally #5, Sally #6, etc. She was very young at the time and did not take care of her Sallys’ very well. She wanted them to have cranberry juice, so she poured cranberry juice in the aquarium. She wanted them to have a beautiful red aquarium, so she poured red paint in it. Well eventually the minnows died.

Freshwater fish Riffle minnow (Alburnoides bipunctatus) underwater photography. Minnow in clean water and nature habitat. Natural light. Lake and river habitat. Wild animal. Underwater photo of fish.
Sally #1 and Sally #2 Asset id: 1182854671 by Rostislav Stefanek

Our first dogs as a family were our Labrador Baylor and our German Shepherd Baby. To be precise, Baylor was a mix, one quarter Rhodesian Ridgeback and three quarters yellow Labrador. They were both rescues that were adopted by our niece (Baylor) and Claudia’s sister (Baby). They were both wonderful dogs. Baylor loved swimming and he was brave and very playful.

Our yellow Lab Baylor is sitting on the left. Our brown-black German Shepherd Baby is sitting on the right.
Our Labrador Baylor and German Shepherd Baby. They were both rescues.

Next, we got a Leonberger dog by the name Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle, or Le Bronco, or just Bronco for short. He was a big friendly goofball who saved our Pug Daisy’s life, probably saved Baylor’s life my smelling out an oncoming insulin shock, found and saved run away hamsters, and saved the entire neighborhood by chasing off a trespasser / intruder / peeping Tom. I wrote a book about him “The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle”.

A photo of our Leonberger as a puppy. He is wearing a red scarf.
Our Leonberger Dog Bronco at 3 months old
Our Leonberger Bronco is standing on our red sofa. He is giving me a hug.
Me with our Leonberger Bronco. He was not yet fully grown.
My wife is sitting on a red sofa. Our large Leonberger Bronco is sitting in her lap. He is big and heavy, and she is barely visible underneath him.
Our large but cuddly 167lb Leonberger Bronco is sitting in my wife Claudia’s lap.

Next, we got a Japanese Chin named Ryu and the Pug Daisy. Two little energetic and funny dogs. Ryu loved howling and he sounded like an opera singer. He loved the applause he got. Daisy was a funny girl, and she loved being around Ryu. They did not like it when we travelled and on one occasion they staged a protest. They defiantly sat down in one of the suitcases and refused to move.

Our Japanese Chin is sitting on the left in suitcase and our pug on the right.
Our Japanese Chin Ryu and our Pug Daisy are protesting our travel by sitting in our suitcase. They want to come with us.

Finally, we got our little rascal, the mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. He is an intelligent, curious, energetic, anxious and spoiled dog that is a chore. He probably understands several hundred words. When we still had Bronco, they were best buddies. He was pestering Bronco, biting his tail and even swinging in it. Luckily, Bronco was patient. When we leave for a little bit, he sits in the window and looks out into the street. When we say “Rollo, go look out the window” he runs to the window. He knows we are leaving. He is our most misbehaved dog, but he is full of life and full of joy.

Bronco is standing behind Rollo. Rollo is black and white and very small. They are standing in front of the kitchen.
Our Leonberger Bronco with our new puppy Rollo, a mini-Australian Shepherd.
our mini-Australian Shepherd on the left, is biting and pulling Bronco’s tail. Bronco is on the right.
Rollo, our mini-Australian Shepherd could be a pest. He loved biting Bronco’s tail and even swung in it as if it was a swing.
The joke in the photos is : Daisy says, “Rollo do you want to hear a joke”, Rollo says “OK”, Daisy says “knock! knock!”, then they both start barking “Woof! Woof! Woof!”, “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Our Pug Daisy and our mini-Australian Shepherd barking at people passing by our house. Notice the joke.

The Joy of Having a Pet

Pets give you unconditional love, company, adventure, memorable moments, hilarious moments, protection, and lots of joy. Playing with them or taking a dog for a walk is good for your health, as this article from the Mayo clinic states.

My Other Responses to Esther’s Prompts