I've just looked out my window and concluded that the weather has just come back from the taxidermist! It is a misty day, the kind where the hero in a novel walks across a desolate moor on some specific private business, while birds cry to each other in a forlorn way. A bleak sun is trying to bring some brightness from behind the clouds, but only manages to paint the sky the colour of tobacco smoke.

I think the month I hate the most in Sweden is November. We've lost most of the beautifully coloured leaves, which are now a sodden brown mess underfoot, not even recognizable as leaves anymore. The crisp, cold October days of low temperatures but clear brilliant blue skies are a distant memory. Now we're back to temperatures hovering just above 0C, it's November and it is GREY! Most days, there has been a light mist falling or a drizzling rain and grey, grey, grey. I find myself longing for the snow again.

Compare October and November in these pictures! First we have a shot of the bay near our boat club (Fagerviken)



And the pathway along Svandamen in October


And the view of the church


And the contrast with November!


It’s a quiet week for me as my husband and his friends have left for Germany. They are collecting a yacht at Kiel and sailing it back to Sweden. He called me earlier today to report rain, fog and high winds in Kiel. But they have set off for home and expect to be here on Sunday night, sailing round the clock in shifts.

It’s funny that when he’s here, I always have interesting meals. I mean I LOVE to cook and he enjoys all of the food I make. But without him, I don’t really bother too much and I've been slumming it on toasted cheese sandwiches and eggs. Talk about slack!

It’s getting darker every day and I hate getting out of bed when it’s still dark. It’s barely light by 9.00am! And it is quite dispiriting to out of school at 3.30pm and finding it dark again. It always seems to be night at this time of year. I fight the strong urge to put on the pj’s and fluffy slippers at 4.00pm! What has helped to brighten up my day (literally) is our recent purchase of a Philips Bright Light. Seasonl Affective Disorder, also known as SAD or winter depression is quite common in these northern regions. It seems to be directly linked to the amount of sunlight the body gets (or doesn’t get). So we decided that we could all do with a bit of a sunbath each day during winter.

Anyway, I’m off to do the exciting laundry and check out the web for Christmas concerts in town. I’m particularly looking for a recital of Handel’s Messiah or Bach’s Mass in B Minor. This music was written for beautiful old churches like we have in Sweden, not modern concert halls. You have to have the soaring vaulting to really get the feel for it. More about that another time.

To close, I leave you with my Zen thought for the day:
Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Till next time!