Last published on June 12, 2020, but first published on June 16, 2011 (wow)--here it is ...I am amazed at the play of light in this country...look at these pics...like a magic land. I fall in love with places where I live. Sweden has given me something that so different. A starkness in seasonal weather unlike any other place combined with open spaces that I could not imagine. Lakes so big that they look like ocean, sky so open, uninterrupted by high buildings (we live in a small town) that it looks like the ocean too....I miss Fiji's sea, no doubt, the warmth and the shinny water that sparkles under its own scorching sun....but Sweden is like sitting on pendulum that is moving through a changing scenery...season after season....
First Published on June 27, 2017 here is is again for you to see how Sweden is at this time of the year.
Once you are done reading, please check this old post as well, to see the difference in light....It was published on June 16, 2011--the first real summer I spent in Sweden and was amazed at the wonder of light!!
Seems like a new day coming up, filled with life?
Actually, close to 11 pm, in Scandinavia, Mid-Summer!!
This is the gift --the magic that makes us bear the dark of the winter!! Yes, it can still be annoying sometimes, the work does not stop, but when WE stop, we look around, it is truly magical. As I always say, it is not just the quantity the time of light we get, it is also the quality. It is bright day at 3 am. And it stays that way till past 1 am the next day and gets dim for an hour and then bright again. And that lasts us close to three months.
Only 7-8 hours drive down south, and it is quite different!!
The first year it was strange, now, I look forward to this. The only thing is that so far, every year, I have been so busy that I can hardly enjoy it. I did not write about falling from my bike last year, might do that at some point. But since that fall, in October of 2016, I have not gotten back onto my bike. Restricted to walking.
Have not been able to sit outside or do much, been cleaning and organising. This is the time of the year to do it. Not only is it hard when autumn starts, the darkness makes us lazy and loose inspiration.
The following Images were taken about 3:30 am, about two -three weeks ago. And this was a gloomy day, no sun and all rain. About thirty minutes later, it was all bright. The birds were chirping and I needed both ear plugs and eye masks to be able to sleep.
Whenever I leave this place, I know that I will miss this magic, as I will sometimes miss the quietness of the darkness, that brings pain and sadness but also a depth to our souls.
When I first met Americans, they kept talking about 'summer'. That was my first year away from India and I thought, what's the big deal about summer. I only liked it because it gave me a break from school and long lazy days. But in the west, mostly cold countries, summer means warmth. It means a freedom from jackets and gloves and weak, but nagging rain, that seeps the sickness into your bones. Although here in Sweden, we never, I repeat, we never pack our jackets and shawls. May be gloves, may be....
But come summer, I am amazed at the joy these simple --sweet--fragrant long days --that allow much time to do things --we have our meals much later but also forget to sleep. Our bodies tell us we are tired.
But that is just me.
I remember the first year here, I did not yet have the internet at home and was working in the office. After hours of work, I left and was surprised to find no one on the streets. I looked around and wondered, 'why so quiet?'
'Oh, damn, its 10:30 pm, just coz the sun is up, means nothing, you dork!!' I thought. People here have lived long enough to know that despite the long days you need sleep. While teachers and professors get their summers off due to no classes, many still prefer to work during the summer, sot that they can take time off during winter, which makes more sense.
I still think of that. So weekends are different. And some evenings are different when the young choose to have a bonfire at about 1 am and then see the sun come up. Really fun and possibly a romantic thing to do. I had an invitation once, but I could not join them, since a week later I had to go to Germany for a project. I knew that would affect my circadian rhythm (trying to be all fancy here, my circadian rhythms have been off since I entered graduate school, which was about two decades ago).
But people, when they live in one place have a way of living around the weather --the climate, and fitting with it. We are so adaptable. Only when it we have to do it for other people, we are resistant.
Some thing to think about.
And while you do that, still think, just how beautiful it is to be sitting outside, looking out the window and staring into the sun at midnight.
Now, I can truly understand 'A MidSummer Night's Dream!!'
Truly!!
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