PROFILE

Name: Kerstin Karlsson
Age: 45
Civil status: Divorced; a grown up son, Jacob
Profession: Photographer
Appearance: 5 ft. 4 in., long blond hair, blue eyes.
Hobbies: taking photographs, outdoor life, horseback riding and listening to classical music.

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I woke up early. It was a beautiful morning I stepped out in the sun and took a deep breath. I love mornings in the summer when everything is still and quiet and you can hear the wind blowing and the birds singing just for you.

Today was THE day! I was going with the Inlandsbanan up to Östersund, to the lake Storsjön taking pictures of the Great Lake Monster. Hopefully it would show itself to me this time. And if not…I AM SURE I will take a picture of that beast sooner or later. Picture or not I really liked traveling north in the summer when it’s bright almost all night.

"Think, think, think"…was there anything I have forgotten to pack? Camera, film, toothbrush and tickets, that was the most important. I was a bit nervous, as always. I was ready to go and there were yet a few hours before the train was leaving. I decided to take a walk by the lake Vänern, Sweden’s largest and the third largest in Europe. It’s so calming to walk on the shore and sit on the beach watching the glittering surface, and the sound and the smell of the morning and my hometown. As I on my way home passed the sculpture in the series "Les dames des Mougins" by Picasso I thought to myself "she sure is a funny lady", but then I have never been keen on cubism.

When I got home I toke the bus down to the train station and when I arrived the train was already on the platform. I got on the first car and started to walk through the train to find my seat. There were quite a lot of people on this train and getting all my equipment trough the tiny doors and passed all the people in the narrow aisle between the seats was the biggest project this day. When I finally found my seat it was taken by a sleepy man about the same age as my son, I heaved a deep sigh and sat down in the seat beside him. The seat in front of mine wasn't taken so I kicked my shoes off and put my feet up beside the belongings to the old man leaning against the window fast asleep. I sank down in the seat and closed my eyes, listening to the thumping sound of the train. I was on my way... "All new passengers may I see your tickets please!", a sharp voice woke me up...coming closer, "TICKETS PLEASE!...Thank you."...exiting this car entering the next. I was wide awake now. Not being able to go back to that tranquil state I had been in I looked around for something to read. In the old newspaper I found under my seat was an article about the first woman ever participating in Vasaloppet. She must have felt a bit anxious going all the way from Sorsele down to Mora by herself, I thought to myself.

"Diiing, doong, next stop Mora station!" I looked out the window on to the platform in Mora, seeing the same station building she had seen arriving from Sorsele in the north. The old man had woken up and he glared at me, I toke my feet off the seat in front of me formed a silent "sorry" with my lips and lifted the newspaper up to avoid eye contact. But I didn't feel like reading anymore, instead I let my mind wonder off to the time of my first journey by train. I was a cocky 16 year old, who had just gotten her first system camera and was going to document her voyage through Germany. Sitting down in the seat that time, instead of this grayish old man, I found myself looking in to two lovable dark brown eyes. I remembered stammering out a "Hi" and uttering a soundless "Where are you going?". My soundless question was the beginning of an amazing journey. Ooh to be on that Lovetrain again!

"In five minutes we'll arrive to Östersund"; the shrill voice coming out of the speakers. Snapping out of my daydream I got up and started gathering all my equipment. Getting off the train was as problematic as getting on. As I stepped down on the platform I got pushed by a young man, with red hair and safety-pins in his ears, getting on. I don't believe he even noticed he pushed me. I regained my balance and took a deep breath...a slight scent of fir and pine tree reached my nostrils and I knew I would get my shot of the Great Lake Monster.