Currant Events

The Berries are ripe!!! In our yard we have a gorgeous patch of red currants, black currants, and green and red gooseberries. We picked 4 pounds of ruby red currants, and still have that many more to pick. There are wild cherries trees all over the village. All those pretty flower blossoms turned into yummy cherries ripe for the picking!

There are also wild raspberries to be had, which can be found on the forest path as we walk in the neighborhood. But on a whim, in celebration of berry season, we decided we would stop at the berry patch and self pick some raspberries. They also have currants, gooseberries, and strawberries. What do you do with a bunch of of ripe berries? Stick 'em in a bowl, and just gobble them up! And the best news? Still more to come. The blackberry bushes in the yard are just getting flowers still...

The Swedish National Anthem:
Dancing Queen

July 4th may have been for the USA, but July 5th was for Sweden. We went to see ABBA. Or at least the ABBA cover band "Waterloo". Swedes really, really, really love ABBA. Who does not love ABBA, with their matching outfits and coordinated dance moves?

The love runs so deep, it can be banked on. In Sweden at Christmas in the big box electronic stores, there were video game X-Boxes piled high in the aisles for sale, just like in the USA. But on the packaging was none other than ABBA. While the US Christmas edition of the game player was released with "Kung-Fu Panda"- a game that combines the appeal of an animated blockbuster movie with street fighting, the Swedish x-Box was sold with ABBA Karaoke, so you can sing along with all your favorite ABBA hits. This pretty much sums up the difference in Swedish culture and American culture.

USA: animated street fight starring Angelina Jolie. Bomb Iraq.
Sweden: sing-a-long, and imagine you are the girl with golden hair. Remain politically neutral, accept refugees from all over the world.

My husband imparted this Swedish love of ABBA to our daughter, who was thrilled when one year ago, just before we moved to Sweden, we were able to see the ABBA cover band Waterloo on their American tour in the USA. She was even more delighted when last week, almost one year to the day after her first "Waterloo" show, we were given free tickets to go see them locally in an outdoor amphitheater. Bad weather did not stop the fun.

Here is the crowd doing the 'Swedish finger dance' to Mama Mia..See how they suddenly lose control, with the fire that is in their soul?

We sat enjoying the show with our friends from Australia and Ireland. It was fun to realize that all three of us, from different parts of the world, could still share in this common experience of growing up knowing ABBA songs. The Australian recounted how in her school, you were either an ABBA fan or a KISS fan, the camps were very clearly defined. That at six, she had gone to see ABBA, and now, at 6 her daughter was able to see this show, coming full circle. The girls had a blast, and at just age 4 and 6, both of the girls have the box set of ABBA songs in their homes, and know every word of every song. It was great to them mouth along to the words from their seats, and share their glee with one another when they recognised the first few bars of a favorite song. Soon the excitement over took them, and with out any adult help, they walked down the stands, made their way to the front row, and like true groupies, sang, danced, and waved at the band from the front row. Swedegirl got at least three special, right-at-her waves from the band during the performance. One was caught here on film!

When we saw Waterloo last year, Swedgirl was so mesmerized she asked if she could meet them. We stayed afterwards, and met Ulf Peterson, an original ABBA member, the drummer, and the blond lead singer and her little baby. For months Swedegirl would pretend I was "the ABBA lady", as in "Ok, you be the ABBA lady, and I...." "ABBA Lady" is right up there with Cinderella for her, and having met her before, Swedegirl hoped for such luck once again. She managed to get backstage, with little buddy, to say hi this time too.

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life! See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen:
And when Dancing Queen came on, all those poncho clad Swedes stood up, and started dancing, and I was sure that that 'seeing ABBA live' like this was truly a cultural experience, and that Dancing Queen must in fact be the Swedish National Anthem.

I recall declaring one day when standing in the impossibility long school lunch line that I was going to marry a man named ABBA. Since my maiden name starts with 'S' and I was forever at the end of the line. I reasoned with that as a last name I'd always be the first in line. Perhaps, in someway, I did marry a man named ABBA, when I married a Swede.

Fourth of July Barbeque Party

It is great to be away from my country and see it with fresh eyes. It's been nearly a year since we moved from Florida to Sweden, and we were finally ready to have a party and celebrate. What better day than Independence Day! There were two Americans other than me at the party- a mom from Florida we met on-line who is married to a Swede, and our cyclist guest- my brother in laws uncle. It was a nice excuse to invite the neighbors over, and we had some English speaking friends over as well. There were more Irish, Australians, and Brits than Americans. So we put on a traditional 'ethnic' feast of BBQ pork, chicken (using the BBQ sauce I had my mom bring in her suitcase), coleslaw, corn on the cob (had to look hard for that at a decent price!), potato salad, baked beans (from scratch, nothing like that here!, homemade claussen-like dill pickles, chocolate chip cookies, lemonade, and popsicles. Our guests brought great food, too. My Swedish brother in law brought jello, as a novelty and tribute to America, which the Swedes find the most baffling item in the american section of the store!

It was hot and sunny, and we had kiddie pools and a slip n slide going

Midsommar SwedeGirl and I were newbies to Midsommar in Sweden this year, and you'd think we were trying to make up for lost time. We went to no less than three midsommar pole raisings, and saw the local fiddle troupe four times. I can attest repetition is helpful for learning, as we all have the frog dance song stuck in our head now and can be caught whistling songs about fiddling and mischievous rabbits. So, for those who have never experienced the Swedish midsommar let me give you the run down. First, just look at the Swedish flag, it is like a sun in the bright blue sky. The nation worships the sun, which is kind enough to come out long and strong for half the year.

Birch branches are harvested and put in pots to decorate doors ways,

and even the gas pumps at the local store/ fill station!

The old stone rune carvings tell of sun worship, and its no wonder the life force energy that send the green cereal grasses shooting up to the sky and fills the fields with flowers raging in all colors is honored with a big pole, with balls. The sun has always been considered the male aspect of the life force, and the gentler, cyclical moon associated with the feminine. And it is no wonder the sun is honored in Sweden- it's seasonal appearance and disappearance are so marked. In November, it was twilight by 3:30 pm. Now, it is twilight at midnight for a few hours before the sun dips back up from the horizon and the birds begin singing at 3 am.

Our first Midsommar pole was in the local village, and there was rain- but inclement weather would never stop those fiddling, frog dancing, coffee drinking Swedes from having a good time!!

SwedeDaddy helped raise the second MidSommar pole, at the larger village festival.

Solstice, or Midsommar, falls shortly after school is out and a week after most of the pools open. In Sweden, it is the beginning of a short but valued season where maybe, just maybe, you can comfortably wear shorts, short sleeves, and go swimming. Most Swedes take the whole month of July off, so it is the kick off to summer vacation time for school kids and workers alike. The festivities of the day are partly private, and partly a community affair. It reminds me of how we are about 4th of July in the USA- in that it is the middle of summer holiday, you eat with your family but then go to a community event- on the 4th its the fireworks, in Sweden it is the midsommar pole raising and dances.

Here is the Swedish version of Fireworks- the clapping and stomping that concludes the midsommar pole dancing!



In the area we were visiting my husband's dad this year, we were lucky to enjoy a great troupe of musicians that play the traditional midsommar songs on the traditional instruments. One of the musicians was participating in his 61st consecutive midsommar as a fiddler in his village!



There are sacred midsommar dances, but the usual dances are for children, and are songs with easy to follow along movements, like a hopping frog, rabbit hiding in a burrow, fiddling, or washing/hanging/ ironing your clothes.

The pole is decorated with a garland of birch branches, and the wreaths with some of the many wild flowers are hung from it.

There are wildflowers everywhere at midsommar- it's just gorgeous!

(Now for some gratuitous kid shots!) The men raise the pole, a speech is made, then the music and children's dancing begins. And if there is one thing Swedes love more than the sun it is coffee, so it ends with coffee and a cinnamon buns, the standard Swedish fika fare.

At the last pole we went to, which was at a historical site and was combined with a church service, the priest concluded by saying "In the name of Jesus, go drink coffee!"

The midsommar dinner meal is usually lax/salmon, new potatoes boiled with dill, sour cream with fresh chives, sill/pickled herring, and strawberries.

Thank you for a grand initiation to Swedish Midsommar!

May I?

Trying to captures the best smiles, back in MayI had some camera trouble in May, and was not able to upload pictures. So I am playing catch up on the blog here, and wanted to add a few May pictures since May is when the yard came alive so completely. Now each bloom is already bringing a bit of unease, as I know we are past midsummer and half way through our good, sunny warm weather now. It's July and the yard is full of roses and the currants are about ready to be picked. And tonight I had to wear a fleece jacket on my walk. So looking at these pictures now, I can remember the special feeling of May- all promise, no regret.

The sunshine yellow of the canola fields (where SwedeGirl mistakenly thinks they are growing 'granola') against the blue sky. The colors of the Swedish flag, no wonder!

The smell of lilac The taste of Rhubarb.

The magical hide and seek of the lily of the valley patch.

Apple Blossom Fairies bringing the hope of ApplesThe Surprising Boldness of the PeoneAnd the Beginnings of the Garden

Because sometimes, we make rainbows. Or rain.

The Rainbow Goddess

Curiosity was far greater than our fear
It felt so simple and so prodigious at the same time

Incredible things are happening in the world
Magical things are happening in this world

Across the river there are all kinds of magical instruments
While really we keep on living like monkeys

Incredible things are happening in the world
Magical things are happening in this world