Theres’s calm place is among the table mountains

Meadows, fields, forests, hills, lakes, and mountains – a beautiful and varied cultural landscape. That’s how Theres Arulf describes the landscape typical of central Skaraborg. The table mountain landscape. As a child, this is where she spent her summers. Today, it’s the place she returns to after her outdoor adventures.

Adventure guide Theres Arulf has lived on Svalbard and in northeastern Norway, worked on expedition vessels in both the Arctic and Antarctica, and moved back to Sweden a few years ago. Theres grew up outside Jönköping, but her “home” is a small cottage by Plantaberget in Falbygden.

“For me, it’s interesting to explore the balance between safety and adventure. I need both. The calm between adventures is necessary for me to recover and settle. That’s when I return to my own table mountain.”

For Theres, the table mountain landscape is something truly special. And it’s the diversity and variation in nature that make the difference.

“It’s about both the rich flora and the stories that exist here. There’s a kind of wisdom and security in the table mountains. The landscape isn’t monotonous with just forest or large fields. It’s a very beautiful and varied cultural landscape.”

A love of nature inherited from her grandfather

Theres partly grew up in the cottage she now calls the base of her life. Her grandparents lived there during the summers, and Theres visited every year. The cottage and its grounds sit like a small island within the Skogastorp nature reserve.

“My grandfather had a great interest in botany and was involved in the local nature conservation association. The nature reserve is what it is today largely thanks to him. I think I inherited my interest in nature from him – even if my focus is more on adventure.”

Theres explains that as a child, she often joined her grandfather on his explorations of the surrounding area. They searched for mosses deep in the forest or climbed nearby hills.

Her grandfather passed away a few years ago, and her grandmother now lives in an apartment in Falköping. Today, it’s Theres who lives in the cottage between her adventures at northern and southern latitudes.

Committed to caring for the local nature

For Theres, it has been natural to get involved in the local environment, just as her grandfather did. She explains that he used to mow the meadows at the cottage with a scythe. Now Theres is in contact with a man who teaches scything, and courses in the craft will be held in the Skogastorp meadows this summer.

“In the nature reserve, a scything is done every year. It’s an important part of preserving the natural values of the table mountain landscape. Grandfather used to mow the meadows, and today the nature conservation association mows our land, and the County Administrative Board mows the land in the nature reserve. There are many small nature reserves here and there – and they need care. I enjoy being part of that work and appreciate that it’s rooted in the people who live in the area. It’s rewarding to help develop the place where you live!”