Merry Christmas from Sweden

It’s Christmas Eve, about 3:30. The sun set a while ago. The moon is high. It never went away today. We’ve had two days of snow, but today was sunny though the temperature stayed around 20 degrees. The clouds are moving in now and the temperature is rising. We’re supposed to get snow in the morning. Tomorrow will be a white Christmas.

My daughter and her family live on an island called Älgö, translated to English as Moose Island. The landscape is dramatic, with rocky bluffs and spruce trees. Coves and waterways offer scenic views around every bend of the curvy road that leads to their house. The houses are mostly wood with board and batten siding and steep, tiled roofs. Most are painted red or yellow. The red comes from an iron oxide that was originally added to paints to prevent rotting. Now, it’s part of the national character. The yellow was made with more expensive copper and signified more affluent families.

We’re about a half hour bus ride from Stockholm and the buses run every 15 minutes. The train tracks are under construction for the next few years, but when they are finished, they’ll cut ten minutes off of the commute and allow for more frequent trains. Public transportation seems to be both convenient and comfortable. I’ve been into the city several times, visiting museums, window shopping, and people watching. It’s a very European experience.

The whole country is very practical. Cars are outfitted with summer tires and winter tires. By law, everyone must add their winter tires by mid-October. They have small metal spikes that grip the ice and snow. I assume there’s a fine for failing to make the change, but I also bet most of those Swedes just follow the rules.

The Swedes only have 225 traffic fatalities per year and they want to cut that to zero by 2030. (For perspective, North Carolina has the same population as Sweden and has more than 1,650 deaths per year.) They have little tolerance for bad driving or driving under the influence. Infractions can cost you your license or land you in jail. Getting a driver’s license can be an arduous affair and losing it means starting from scratch. Driving is a privilege that the Swedes take seriously.

Christmas is pretty serious business for a country that is largely secular. Their Christmas tradition is similar to that of the U.S., but Christmas Eve is their day of celebration. Families come together to exchange presents and share meals. At some point during the evening, Santa comes to the house to deliver presents in person. I’m unclear about the whole reindeer and sleigh thing, but it doesn’t seem to play quite the role it does in the states, though I did have reindeer sausage that was quite good.

I asked my son-in-law what Swedes did on Christmas Day if they don’t open presents. He said they go to bars. I suspect at one time, they went to church.

Here, at my daughter’s house, we’re preparing for my son-in-law’s family to arrive tomorrow for dinner. Before they arrive, we’ll have a Christmas in the North American tradition with Santa arriving during the night and leaving presents on hearth. This year is the first that my three-year-old grandson really grasps the anticipation of presents. My three-month-old grandson is, of course, oblivious.

The kitchen is running full-steam as I write this. I need to get back to the tasks at hand. Floors need sweeping. Dishes washing. Babies need holding. Toddlers need distracting.

Until next time, have a Merry Christmas.