Glad Påsk 2023

Spring has been a little late arriving, but Easter comes at the same pace regardless of the weather. The Swedish word for daffodils is ‘Easter Lillies’ (Påskliljor) and usually there would be some by now, but instead we are still seeing snowdrops, crocus, and on Easter-eve (Påskafton) we saw the first coltsfoot (tussilago) of the season. This has felt like a very busy spring, and looking around a lot has happened: Graham got a good ‘guest bike’ in case we have a guest who wants to go gravel riding with us, our house is far more furnished, including finally buying a dining table which involved quite some time trawling second hand options… now for chairs. The snow is almost all melted now, and with Easter weekend temperatures approaching double-digits it feels like REAL spring will be here soon, with flowers and paddling and summer visitors and camping.

Jordan asked me about Easter in Sweden, and it is a good question – in a country so secular, what is the most fundamental Christian holiday look like? Sort of like Christmas, there are a lot of pagan and pre-Christian elements mixed in. The most surprising is the ‘Easter witches’ (påskhäxor); kids dress up as old women, carry brooms and a teakettle and knock on doors to collect candy from nieghbours. It is like halloween, just on Maundy Thursday instead of Oct 31. I got home late from work, but Graham bought candy and handed it out to some of the local kids who had dressed up. Right before Good Friday the witches all ride their brooms to Blå Kulla (‘blue island, not a real place)- the consensus at work is that they have a conference there.

Happy Easter to those who celebrate that, and happy springtime to all!