The value of seasons

I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of winter again for a while now. For some weird reason, Swedish winters and I just go together. I love the darkness. Especially in winter. Back in NZ I used to love going grocery shopping at night. Right from a kid. Don't ask me to explain, I'm sure there's a support goup out there somewhere with my name on it. There's something quite exciting about stepping out in the dark. Don't get me wrong, I'm as afraid of real pitch black as any red blooded male. But street lights bouncing off the snow is different. No monsters to be had there. It's already noticeably darker. I'm checking all the time. Right now it's dark from around 5:30pm through until about 7:30am. By the time we hit mid November it's going to be dark for around 20 hours a day. It happens that quickly up here. And I can't wait.

What I really can't wait for, is for this crappy nothing season to be over with. In my excitement for winter, I'd forgotten about the little matter of autumn. Autumn in the north of Sweden is one of the big reasons why I left NZ. Now, that sounds like autumn is an attraction, but in fact it's a near perfect copy of a New Zealand winter. And that, I don't care if I never see again in my life. Snow, I don't mind. Cold, I can cope with. Darkness, I get a weird kick out of. What I can never learn to tolerate is wind and rain. I can live with being cold, but I can't live with being wet. The past fortnight we've had more rain than I think we've had all year. I had 40+ years of living through winters of driving rains and howling winds. I've had enough of that. It's just plain depressing. Autumn has no discernible positive value and, frankly, I think there should be a law against it.

A northern Swedish winter has no rain and bugger all wind. The odd metre or two of snow, and a few nippy mornings. Paradise for a soaking wet Kiwi refugee.

You know you've been here too long when...

I caught myself having a conversation with a workmate about the weather today. Not so unusual. Until I realised that I was knowingly agreeing with his sentiments about how nice it was, now that it was warmer. It is still minus frickin 16 degrees C, fella !! I've lived here too long when minus 16 can be viewed in any way as an improvement, over anything. It's now been snowing for 2 months and two weeks.

Global Warming

The weather forecast for tomorrow is: -30 degrees C 90kph winds 40-50cm snow You know it's not going to be a lot of fun when the northern office of the Swedish Road Administration, who doesn't stop for anyone, advises people not to drive. Remind me again. Why am I not on a tropical beach somewhere ?

Winter wonderland

The first snow arrived the other day. About frickin time. Did I just say that ? I guess I've been here too long when I miss the snow. But it's all a matter of perspectives, I think. For the last few weeks it's been a good old fashion New Zealand winter. Cold, wet, and generally yucky. Nothing to write home about. Problem being is that it's about 10 degrees colder than in NZ. So that means ice. Every frickin where. Now, I don't know if there exists some kind of ice walking gene. But, if there is, it's clearly skipped a generation. We've all seen those cutesy videos of ducks slipping and sliding their way across the ice. It's a dream of mine to be that well co-ordinated. Nope, with me, I'm resigned to spending most of my autumn outdoor winter time steering upwards at the stars, with one leg wrapped around the back of my neck. "You can see that I can't walk on ice, stop messing with me already !!" Which is turn explains a few things about Swedes. They all look exactly the same. In Sweden. BUT, take one of those northern Swedes out of Sweden, and watch them walk. Northern Swedes walk everywhere like they are ankle deep in cow poo. Funniest thing that you every saw. Until you happen to be in the north of Sweden come the annual ice age. Then it's the cleverest thing that you ever saw. I've tried, God knows I've tried. I guess that I'm just not an ice guy. Actually, I recall my ex wife saying something very similar. Snow, snow I can do. Snow sits on the ice. It doesn't move. Usually. Snow is kind. Snow knows my limitations. Snow understands. I hope it snows tonight. Even if it ruins the moment of unbridled hilarity exhibited by my colleagues at the bus stop. I'm convinced they are all arriving early now. Just to see my duck arse slide across the road. I hate them.