We’ve been on a trip to the northern part of Sweden to find out more about Chartagon. It’s been an exciting week, and although it is impossible to share all the wonderful moments we’ve had, I’d like to share some of them…
We started out by car from the Stockholm region, and got 800km further north. The coast is very flat and has lots of stones. The forests reach almost all the way to the water, and there are many desolate coves and islands. My grandfather had a small hut used for fishing out in nowhere, and I’ve spent most of my summers here fishing with nets. There is no electricity or running water. Fortunately, the cove where the hut lies is very shallow, and get relatively warm according to Swedish standards, and is very suitable for swimming. Perhaps some shallow plain lakes in Chartagon has a similar temperature profile: warm on the surface, cold a few meters down.
On the walls of the hut there are a few old objects. A harpoon for throwing at seals, fishing intruments, binoculars, and a necklace made frome the spine of a giant pike. If we had rented this hut I would suspect that they were all atmospheric fakes, but knowing my grandparents I think otherwise. As the night fell, we had an urgent need to play Chartagon, accompanied by the sounds of sea gulls… This was the perfect spot to play!
The next day we packed the boat to go further out to sea, and visit an old fishing camp with a light house. Of course I also packed some Chartagon maps that wanted an extra adventure! The way there was a bit hard, because we did not have a nautical chart, and we had to pass a few other islands. However, by taking the longer route with safe distances to the shallower passages we made it without mistakes. The feeling of walking among the simple huts and houses, where people have lived for generations in close relation with nature, was wonderful. This must have been very close to the standards of the constructor, the light house keeper, his daughter, the poet, and the clerk. Except that they rarely built more that one or two houses on the same island.
Unfortunately the light house was closed (as many are), and we could not get up to the balcony. On the other hand, we were fortunate to witness a wedding couple who got married in the small chapel on the island. Life will go on here, just as everywhere else. And it makes us wonder who got married with the constructor?