Short Days

The long dark season of Sweden has begun. It is so hard to get out of bed when it is pitch dark outside. This picture above I took this morning as I passed the bridge over from Hammarbysjostad to Soder. It is the crack of dawn and I am on my bike on my way to work at 7 am. Sad to say but November is just the beginning of the long dark winter. The days are still getting shorter and shorter up until December 22. Then slowly it starts getting better but I don't really notice days getting longer until mid February or something like that. The darkness is what I find the hardest. It is just something that I have not adjusted to and I wonder if I ever will. The summer nights are very special on the other hand. Very long and very bright. But if it were up to me I would like to have more of an even distribution when it comes to the length of the days year around.But on clear days like this one you get to see some pretty beautiful sunrises at least.

When days are short like these ones everything just seems harder. It is harder to get out of bed and it is harder to keep your energy up. By the time that the sun sets (around 3:30 pm right now) it just feels like the days is over. All I want to do is to snuggle up into my warm blanket in my bed.

At least Christmas decorations start popping up more and more all over Stockholm. A lot of people in our neighborhood have already put up their Christmas lights. These are some pictures that I took today as I biked to work from central Stockholm. I think it looks pretty. This is just what everyone needs right now, something pretty and sparkling to cheer you up.

So bring on the Christmas decorations! Now it feels right to bring the out. I prefer to enjoy it all before Christmas and then pack it all up right after Christmas. The Swedes tough are not very good at packing them up after Christmas. There are people that keep their ornaments around until February or even March. To me Christmas is over January first and that is when all the stuff is packed away and boxed up.