Midsommar!

For those of you who remember our Denver remodel, you can only imagine how much work we (mainly Lewis) are putting into our new little fix-up project. We're eager to get it all the way we want it, but the timing couldn't be worse. For 8 or 9 months in the year, Sweden's weather is miserable. The summer really is the time to be here, and it's been great. So, it's a shame that we can't totally enjoy it with trips to the beach, etc.

Today was a perfect example. BEAUTIFUL weather when we woke up. I asked Lewis what he thought about making a trip to the beach. We decided against it since we're making such good progress on the kitchen and because my nearly 4-week vacation starts Wednesday with a road trip to northern Sweden to see the band Sigur Ros.

Instead we took the dog for a walk to the lake ... takes about 15-20 minutes to get there. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. We didn't need to drive an hour to the coast to take in the great weather. We had a really relaxing walk through the forest and then hung out by the water for a while before walking back. The path to the lake is very close to our house, and we feel really lucky to be so immersed in nature.

But the main event of the week was midsommar (midsummer). It is a celebration that stems from paganism. And many Swedes call it their biggest holiday. We were invited up to Växjö, the nearest big town, to celebrate with my friend Mark from IKEA (also a copywriter from the U.S.), his Swedish wife Åsa, and their nearly 2-year-old daughter Simone. There was a traditional festival in Växjö where loads of people danced around the midsommar pole. The pole is wrapped in flowers and apparently symbolizes fertility. For women, the holiday has an interesting ritual. We are supposed to pick 7 different kinds of flowers and jump over 7 fences, then put our flowers under our pillow to dream about the one we are to marry. I picked my seven flowers and smiled admiringly at my dreamy husband instead. :)

It is traditional on midsommar to drink lots of snaps (a hard liquor that is similar to schnapps, but not as sweet), eat sill (pickled herring) and lots of strawberries. We had beer instead and my head thanked me for it the next morning. But we did have sill and strawberries. It was a fantastic meal, and a really nice day that ended with a walk to a nearby castle. Hanging out with Mark and Åsa was really fun and easy ... the kind of couple you could spend the whole day with and always have things to talk about. Mark and I have a blast at work, but it was the first time for the 4 of us to get together.

So, I guess we did manage to take a break from the house and have some fun. And on Wednesday, we head north to Rättvik for 2 nights, and then hopefully into Norway. We had planned to see the fjords, but we haven't had time to plan the trip. At the very least, we'll spend a day or two around Oslo before driving back down.