One of Twelve

Like I've mention before I'm rarely a winner when it comes to random competitions and lotteries. And to compete for things with neither mind nor talent involved never have, never will interest me. Besides there can be some pretty scary prizes involved if you actually win... I think I can safely say that I'm as far from being a gameaholic as one can be.

As much as I do enjoy things, games and competitions where mind and talent are involved in theory, I rarely consider entering. Now and then I have over the years and now and then I have won. The most memorable win must have been a rather flashy camera - flashy at the time, far from these days - which served me well during quite a few years. It still works, I never use it.

If I did I probably wouldn't have been one of 12 who won "picture of the month" in the 2009 edition of my municipality's so called environmental calender. A calender with photos from the specific municipality which I think every municipality in Sweden give away to its inhabitants once a year.

To be honest I haven't paid all that much attention to those calenders over the years, they contain municipality information, questions and answers regarding environmental issues, recycling etc, some nice photos, some splendid ones and some very less than good ones. Since I prefer to get my own calenders with motifs I choose by heart these environmental calenders get recycled immediately in residence of mine.

Until this year I haven't even realised that the pictures in the calenders are actually the result of an annual photo competition. So I thought, kind of neat to at least enter, and to be blunt, last year's pictures were with few exceptions... well, not a lot to write home about, if the municipality hadn't welcomed lots of new professional or talented amateur photographers since last year I should have at least a pretty fair chance. And if I didn't get picked at least I tried and I was overall pleased with the photos I submitted anyway. Etc, etc.

The winners - one for each month - would be notified in October. October came and went. Not a word, not any scrap of information at the municipality's website. Ah well, that's life. Yesterday evening my mother called me and said that the winners were announced in the local paper, I really did think she was joking when she casually read my name. So I had to rummage through my recycle paper bags for that paper - which I rarely find an interesting read either... - and yes, there it was, tiny, tiny short notice announcing me as one of twelve. Huzzah.

I think that announcement - or rather lack of - leaves a lot to be desired. I still have no idea what the prize is, if I'm supposed to just feel all warm and fuzzy inside happy about the fact that one of my photos with my name on it gets one whole month of hanging on the walls of thousands of local inhabitants - if they're not like me when it comes to calenders... - or if there's some more tangible prize involved.

I have no clue as to which one of the submitted photos they chose. And the calenders won't be distributed until December 30th so I can't make a plethora of nifty, superbly refined Christmas give aways, signed by yours truly. And what if they have chosen one of my lesser good entries, should I change my name, bow my head in shame for a whole month. Mind boggling issues for one of twelve.