First published on March 31, 2012, when I was fairly new in the country--I just found this one, as I was browsing through the blog....oh, you need to read this...the joy I feel at the light, even though change of seasons is really hard on me, especially in Sweden.
Every year, right before it happens, I think, 'So what, it is all the same, the same cycles, the same turning of time.' Yet when the signs appear, I am still amazed by its magic, by universe's inherent intelligence, that takes no pride and is not associated with any ego. It is, like technology and fire, neutral. It hopes, I assume, to evoke a sense of wonder in us, year after year, time after time. Or may be, the universe just is, not hoping or expecting anything from us. Neither reverence nor fear. Neither praise nor lament.
On those rare days when the sun is right above us, we realize that there is something special about the sun in Scandinavia. The sun is just as close to us in Spring, as it is far from us in winters. So, its presence is experienced with just as much intensity as its absence. The sudden appearance of sun can sometimes be experienced as pain and depression, just as much as the darkness is in winters. The above picture was taken by iphone. Blinding sun--early morning. Karlstad, March, 2012.
All that, still does not stop people from sitting out in the sun in their lunch break. While it is hard to find anyone outdoors in winter....come early signs of spring, we find people without jackets and sweaters... hoping to manufacture some Vitamin D. Both to make up for winters and to store some vitamin D for next winter.
I could not help but notice the brightness of daffodils, the early signs of spring, amidst the still brown and dead shrubs around it. Daffodils, called Pask Lillies (easter lillies), are the first flowers that show up in spring. You can buy them everywhere at one third the price of tulips and roses. March, 2012.
New sprouting daffodils, awaiting their fruition!! Awaiting to reach their fullest potential --merely to provide us that one moment of unadulterated experience of bliss. March, 2012.
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