Midsommar

Midsummer is a special moment in Swedish culture. It is celebrated extensively, and that’s not surprising. It has everything to do with Swedish Náture.

In this blog, I will not delve into how Swedes celebrate “Midsommar”, as there is plenty of information about that on other websites. I will try to show a little of the unique nature at this latitude.

At higher latitudes, in northern Sweden, the midnight sun is now shining. Here in southern Sweden, it does not, but the nights in the weeks around midsummer are “white nights”, it does not get completely dark, not black. The picture of the yellow house below was taken at midnight! The sky is dark blue as you can see. Velvety dark blue.

The sun now sets at 10 PM and rises at 4 AM, but it’s still light outside until 11 PM, and at 3 AM it’s light enough for the birds to start singing again. All night long one can hear the sounds of animals, celebrating in their own way that it’s the middle of the summer.

Nature, which has only turned green since May 1st and then started to celebrate life in all colors of the rainbow, is now at its most exuberant. It seems like everything is blooming at once. The lilies of the valley, in large fields in the forest, have just faded when the marguerites are already blooming by the thousands. And moreover, all kinds of other wildflowers, elderflowers, and wild roses. Even in the gardens, almost everything is blooming at the same time: the rhododendrons, the peonies, the roses, the jasmine, you name it. A perfume shop is nothing compared to this.