Pictures from The Season of Light in the time of Darkness and Cold

First published on December 9, 2017, this one is reposted again to share some pictures of the Christmas time glow!!  I have seen this so for so many years and yet, I do not tire of it.  Long white roads where snow has pressed into ever crevice such that it seems like there are only white roads, trees that are covered in blobs of snow and look like cotton trees, or the single yellow light from every tree--very mono-chrome compared to the multi coloured lights in the US--this simplicity speaks of the fact that 'Jul' which is a pre-chrisitan word, has always been part of Sweden. Sweden celebrated Jul before it celebrated the birth of Jesus.  It celebrated light, before its pagan ways were forced out by Christianly.  But it has retained many of its ways, in language and in traditions, and its been a delight to participate in those. 

Here is the old blog



Despite the fact that I question many things about Christmas,   I understand the reason for light during this time of the year in Scandinavia.

God Jul, usually translated as Merry Christmas, actually, as my Swedish teachers have told me, predates Christmas.  No one quite knows what Jul stands for, although today it is associated with Christmas.  It might have been associated with the height of cold season when everyone used candles and lights to bring happiness and joy.

 here are a few pictures.  Please note how lights on trees and from the buildings are brighter than the sky, while the pictures were taken around 3-4 pm in the day.

There is a magical beautiful quality of this time of the year.

This is how the streets are!

This  is how the campus becomes...

Efforts taken to put Christmas trees around the campus at various places.