Day 359: A White Christmas

In Texas it isn't so common to have a white Christmas. In fact, there is only one Christmas during my lifetime thus far when there was snow in Texas on Christmas Day. I still remember it vividly. I was at my brother's house and his youngest son at the time was beside himself excited. We had barely woken up and we were throwing on clothes and bundling up to run outside before it was gone. After running through the yard having snowball fights, my youngest nephew and I decided to go for a walk. He was pretty little but I don't remember exactly how old he was. Let's just say he was young enough that the notion of yard boundaries wasn't fixed in his little mind yet. We passed by one of the neighbors yards that had a snow man as big as my nephew and he took off running toward it. You have to react quickly when they are that age and luckily I reached him before he reached the snowman. It was terribly cute but a bit difficult to explain to his young mind that we couldn't take the snow from their snowman. To him, all of the snow was his.

It is so rare to even get snow in Texas and to have it, what little there was and so fleeting at that, on Christmas Day was a special treat. My nephew and I made our own miniature snowman back at home, complete with eyes, nose, mouth, buttons down his front, a hat made of leaves, twigs for arms, and a real candy cane. What a fun morning and wonderful memory. Today here in Sweden the snow is too dry to even form into a snowball but it is equally fun to throw a handful on someone (my husband).

A couple of years ago we had a particularly cold and snowy winter here and while we were visiting my husbands parents one weekend we helped shovel snow from the driveway as well as the roof over the garage. There was so much snow that a huge mound was created on one side of the driveway. My husband was up on the roof of the garage and asked me to video tape him, as he wanted to show me something he used to do as a kid. He walked to the middle of the roof while he was telling me the story and then all of a sudden he jumped down into the snow pile. We laughed and laughed and he was nearly covered from head to toe in snow. After brushing him off as well as we could we hurried inside to drink something warm.

I often think about how much fun my nephews would have in all of the snow here in Sweden. There is plenty to go around for everyone to build their very own, life-size snowmen and plenty of hot chocolate to warm us up afterward.

Wishing you all a Merry White Christmas Eve from Sweden!

Day 318: Daily Dose

Do you think a person would still get a tan if they sunbathed in the winter? I mean, I know it would be unbearably cold and there may even be a risk of getting frost-bitten but could a tan actually be achieved if one was willing to tough it out? Strange question, I know, but it oddly crossed my mind when I stepped outside at lunchtime to take in my daily dose of vitamin D. Why anyone in their right mind would even consider sunbathing in the winter cold is beyond me but there might be that desperate person, craving a bit of color in the height of the one season in which we, or at least I, seem to become more pale. I could understand it. I really could.

Having lived in Sweden now going on my third winter, I have learned my lesson about seeking out as much sunshine as possible. If the sun happens to be out on a particular day and I just so happened to have brought my own lunch to work, I still escape to the outdoors for a brief ten to fifteen minutes to taken in a bit of sunshine before heading back in to enjoy my lunch in the warm office. Or if it happens to be a weekend morning and the sun is shining gloriously, waiting to go out even an hour later could lead to regret and anguish, as by then the sun might be happily tucked away behind some clouds, never to come out again for the rest of the day. The moral of this story? Go on out and get your sunshine, get your dose of vitamin D, at the first glimpse of sun that you see. Sometimes the sun goes on vacation during the winter and very seldom does it give notice.

Today must have been my lucky day because I was able to take in a double dose. The sun was shining brilliantly this morning as I rode my bike to work. And even though I was all bundled up against the -3 Celsius temperature, it somehow felt warmer than I expected it would. Unfortunately I doubt if I will have any tan lines to show for it. This time of year my face is the only part of me exposed to the sun.

I look just like Kenny from South Park most of the winter. :-D

Day 316: Delicately Balanced

I don't know how much longer I can contain my excitement for the Christmas holidays. I am trying really hard to be a good American and wait until after Thanksgiving but it is difficult. Especially when I am starting to see decorations and holiday-related items in all of the stores and we just recently delivered a whole slew of presents to our friends and family in the US. And just this minute I finished wrapping a gift for our niece who will be leaving on a big adventure this week. She will be passing through Stockholm on her way to her flight leaving from Stockholm's Arlanda airport so I asked if she thought she would have room in her bag for a small Christmas gift, since she will not be with the family for Christmas this year. Instead she will be enjoying the wonderful summer weather in Australia, with a stop over first in Thailand. Sounds like a fabulous adventure and we all look forward to Facebook updates and photos of her travels. So we will meet her and her friend tomorrow at the train station to give her big hugs goodbye and a small gift to open on Christmas day.

Thinking about our niece about to embark on this great adventure reminds me of the times in my life when I have had similar experiences. When I moved to California for a dance scholarship, when I traveled to France for a summer study abroad program and even as recent as our move almost three years ago to Sweden. I love the build up of anticipation and excitement that comes with the preparations of a big adventure, though the excitement for some of my own big adventures has also been fairly bittersweet. The excitement at the prospect of all of the new experiences I would have was delicately balanced with saying goodbyes to my family and friends. And even as difficult as the goodbyes have been, the adventures and experiences I've had have been wonderful and life changing.

My move to California over twenty years ago really helped shape who I've become as an adult and I don't regret one single moment. And though I miss my own family dearly, living in Sweden has afforded me the chance to become closer to my husband's family and that is truly a valuable thing. With all of the modern conveniences like Skype, internet telephones and airplane flights that are available to us today, living so far away from home is not nearly as difficult as it would have been years before. And I can easily say that traveling abroad to France, and subsequently Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, was as big a part of my education as graduating from college. Seeing other parts of the world and how others live, glimpsing history via historical buildings that have withstood time for centuries and just experiencing a different way of life are some of the most valuable things one can experience.

But one's adventures and experiences needn't be on a large scale. An adventure can be as simple as driving around your state or country, camping along the way and eating tuna out of the can or peanut butter sandwiches to save money. It can also be as simple as getting on your bicycle or into your car and just driving somewhere for the day where you've never been. Adventures hold a delicate balance of happiness in our lives. I can't wait to plan my own next adventure... though I have yet to determine when or where it will be. Where will your next adventure take you? Wherever it is... just remember... it is waiting for you...

West Texas Lajitas Adventure 2006

Road kill? Damsel in distress? Nope, just a crazy gal on an adventure!

Day 278: [Three] Kanelbulle Day

Today is Kanelbullens Dag in Sweden, or Cinnamon Roll Day. This means that bakeries all over Sweden will be baking kanelbullar like crazy. I read online that one of the bakeries in a smaller towns outside of Stockholm will be baking around three thousand today. That means that the bakeries in the big cities, like Stockholm, will probably be baking easily triple that volume. Ah... If only I could eat that many! I would probably throw up if I ate more than, say five or six, but I would be willing to give it my all. Except that then my pants wouldn't fit and I would be in a bad mood. All things considered, one kanelbulle tonight will have to do. We'll just pretend I didn't eat that one yesterday,  okay? And then we can stay friends.

It's always nice to have an excuse to eat kanelbulle but I try to abstain on most days. Riding my bike to work these days helps too, as I am not enticed by the magic kanelbulle fumes that are piped out from the convenience stores onto unsuspecting saps like me, if you will recall my post from Day 133. Some days are two kanelbulle days. Some are probably even three kanelbulle days but we don't talk about those nor do we admit to them. Today will be a one kanelbulle day and I am happy with that. Really, I am. At lunch time today I headed out to buy some kanelbulle to enjoy tonight at home with my husband. I was on my way to a bakery called Vetekatten, which seriously has the best kanelbullar in the city. Last year I went after work and can you believe they were sold out of all kanelbullar? How is that even possible on Kanelbullens Dag?

Well, I was determined to have the best for tonight and so going after work and chancing that they would be sold out was not an option. Then I walked outside. It was raining and cold but I pressed on, armed with my umbrella. I got a couple of blocks away and suddenly it dawned on me that the fight to get to Vetekatten during my short lunch break was not worth it so I turned the corner and went to Rosendals Bageriet instead. It is a small bakery that is associated with Rosendals Trädgård, located on Djurgården where we like to go sometimes on weekends. They use all organic ingredients in their baked goods so I felt pretty good about forgoing Vetekatten today. We can always go there on another day. It's an excellent excuse to eat [more] kanelbulle. What can I say?