How did I miss this? And for so long. The summer is about to end...and about 8 summers since I wrote this and never shared it again? How crazy is that...here it is for you guys....just look at the color and look the lupin....smiling at us and for us.
First published on September 24, 2013, here it is again for you all......look at the pictures and be glad...
In Summer Sweden becomes a colorful dreamland, with shimmery sunlight!! 2013
Mid sommar, a truly Scandinavian holiday!! Mid summer, 2011
Roses, that come around late summer and stay with us till late fall, do not ever let us loose hope for 'brightness'!! When they wither, there is their fragrance in the air, promising a spring, not too far in the future!!
The Glory of autumn in Sweden is that moon becomes brighter. As it starts to get dark, the moon shines harder. I have seen moonlit nights in many countries. People talk about African moon. Yup, worth remembering. But the thing about moon is that it shines brighter in places without pollution. Scandinavia is probably second only to heaven, as a pollution-free zone!! Fall, 2010
Other indicators that augment autumn are colorful and varied mushrooms and inedible but bright berries.
The above picture was taken for my own diwali celebrations, but come late autumn, and we are lighting candles all over the house. The warmth lends a kindness to our hearts, and allows us to enjoy winters with a smile!!
Lights and lights!! but you do not notice light if it is for the dark. Notice the darkness around the lights, and then you can understand how we love the darkness here, because it helps us enjoy the light.
Every place has facts maintained a secrets, sometimes voluntarily other times involuntarily to create a mystery around the place or simply to ‘attract or detract’ people from moving there.
These are secrets that we do not know about places, until we live there.
For example, India, all color, messy streets, too many people, bollywood.....and all that. Exciting but scary!! Or scary but exciting--depending on your approach to it all!! However, there are things that are its essence, neither good nor bad. Just its essence!! For example, there is something special about the earthy smell in the air after a good downpour!! It feels like Smell of the soil, having a conversation with live souls. When you smell it, you calm down and feel the smell more in your heart, than your nose. You sense it through your nose but feel it in your heart. The smell of nature, pure, unadulterated!!
You have to live it, to notice it, to enjoy it, to smell it and then to miss it.
The same with Scandinavia or at least Sweden. Well, I live in Karlstad, sort of south of Sweden. Karlstad, according to my friends from the north of Sweden is, well, tropical!!
I often want to ask, 'Have you ever been to the tropics?"
But that is immaterial, because they are right. In this world of contrasts, nothing is absolute.
Beauty, temperature, gravity (I think), sweetness, love (is it?), opinion (definitely) !!
So, what are the secrets of Scandinavia, or at least Sweden, or to be more specific my part of Sweden...
Here are some: Even in late september we have about 14 hour days, -- our short days.
When I was moving here, people were sort of wary, 'Choose Canada over Sweden they said, better life, much more exciting'
There were reasons for why I chose Sweden. But I do not think my life in Canada (except for the professional part and may be some social part) would be better than it is here. It would be busier, but I have a feeling it would also be lonelier.
Sweden, has been an ‘adventure into the unimagined magic' in my life. Another dimension. Beyond my imagination.
In my part of Sweden, we are truly always in transition. Which means while we may have long 7-8 months of extreme weather, with regards to light, it is always in transition. Days are still longer than other parts of the world until late September. The light truly goes down in November. But starting December 22nd, it starts to go up again. And the light keeps increasing since then. Even though the temperatures do not rise consistently until march. The light does. not just the time, but also the intensity. The light of January, is not the same as that of April, and that differs quite bit from that of June.
So, if you seriously think about it, we have decent amount of light. Starting February, we have regular days, meaning about 11 hrs of daylight. By May, we have 17 hrs of day light. Think about it, three months, 6 hrs. That amounts to 4-5 minutes of increase everyday!!
In that sense, we have regular days, reeaaaally long days and then some regular days, from February till about late october. Meaning --about 8 months. Eight months of good light and decent amount of sun. Can’t beat that. Think London, dull, dark and grey --year round.
So, why don’t we know this? Because it is like the secrets of Seattle (Washington State, the US--my sister lives there and tells me 'raining Seattle is a myth). They tell you it rains there all the time, so that people will not move there. Same here folks, we want to keep Scandinavia, beautiful and aloof. It allows us to keep it mystical. We are not attention hungry, so it is not touted as a big tourism spot, except maybe for...hikers.
So, you experience not just four seasons, but four seasons in all extremes, especially when studied relatively. Summers of 25 degree centigrade can be quite challenging with regards to the winter of -27 degree centigrade. Up north, it is even colder (Yes, there is north of Karlstad and yes people live there). Spring of 10 degrees with much more green and color of flowers around, is quite drastically different from 18 degrees of autumn, which is mired in yellow and orange.
But shhhhh....I am telling you, the biggest secret of Scandinavia, it is not as scary as they portray it to be....it is however, more magical than you can ever imagine!! You just have to experience it to sing to its melody!!
And the wintery glow makes everything silvery, how could we not smile everytime we step outside!!
Preparing for X-mas, come late november we are ready for X-mas. Light bounces off the snow, and creates this 'other worldly' magic. Disney movies would pale in front of this image!! Imagine walking on this path every evening!! 2011.
Winter wonderland, must be a term inspired by Scandinavia. Evening walks (which means anytime after 3 pm) are just gorgeous, and we get ready to deep inside ourselves, confront our own darkness, to mull in it, and hopefully come out with some nuggets of new wisdom at the other end.
Believe me, we have celebrations, and regardless of what people tell you, we are not sad and depressed people. We know how to party, see the bottom picture....
We can create sparkles on our dinner tables!!, New Year's 2012.
