We still haven't had any snow to speak of, but I'm not really complaining. Although I miss the beauty of it, I don't miss the ice and mess that follow. About a month ago almost everyday for a couple of weeks brought heavy frost, sometimes as early as 2 pm, but even that has stopped. I guess it is too dry. However, the frost returned Wednesday, so I took a couple of pictures.
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| The spruce tree in our yard |
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| Frosted rose hips |
Friday night the Senior Couples got together (again) for dinner, a birthday celebration, and to view Pres. Monson's funeral broadcast. Like many of you, out lives are richer because of his influence-- his example, his memorable stories, his leadership and testimony. We are looking forward to Tuesday and learning who the new First Presidency will be, as a new era begins.
Yesterday, January 13th, was Tjugondag Jul (Shoe-go-n-dog Yule)--the Twentieth Day of Christmas. In Sweden, this day marks the time to "throw Christmas out." Many people have parties to undecorated the tree and put away their decorations. We went out twice during the day and commented on how many people were out and about, an unusual number for a Saturday, then I realized people were probably going to parties. We, Americans, had already packed up our tree and decorations, except for the Swedish stars in the windows. I took them down with a heavy heart. I think I'd like to have them up all year long--or at least until the sun sets after 9:00. Then I realized last night that most people left their stars and lights up. I guess they feel like I do!
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| Time to throw out the Christmas tree! We passed this pile on the way back to the subway from the museum. |
We packed a lot into yesterday, our P-day. First, we discovered a new museum, The Swedish History Museum, which has been added to our "must see" list for our visitors. (Sorry we didn't know about this one, April, you would have loved it.) It has the best exhibits of the Viking era that I have seen anywhere.
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| This is called a story stone, rather than a rune stone. Story stones are found one Gotland (a Swedish island in the Baltic. We have yet to go there.) |
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| It's hard to see, but this was painted in black, red and white, to show how most rune stones were colorful. |
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| Round rune stones, such as this were found at female gravesite. |
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| I never thought about combs being around in the Viking age (500-1000AD) |
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| Jump to the 18th and 19th centuries. The Swedish church loaned crowns to brides for their wedding day to symbolize their chastity and purity. |
Then we rushed home to be ready for our grandson, Timmy's, baptism. We were able to FaceTime into the meeting with the bishop's approval. It was so sweet to see Timmy all dressed in white, smiling and happy. I was blessed to be able to give a talk, listen to Melanie's wonderful talk, enjoy Tom Olson's guitar accompaniment to "I Love to See the Temple," and witness Timmy's confirmation, which added to this special memory. Later, when we asked Timmy how he felt about the day, he said, "I feel happy." Brandon said Timmy literally ran into the baptismal font, he was so excited and eager. How grateful we are for Timmy's joy as he steps onto the path that can lead him back to Heavenly Father. We are so grateful for the Plan of Salvation that provides everyone that same opportunity if they so choose; we know it can provide true joy and happiness.
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| Timmy and his dad, Brandon. |
That evening we had a dinner appointment with Alasdair, Ingrid and their daughter Lilly in Stockholm. We have not had many opportunities to be in Swedish homes, so we were very excited to meet them. (Alasdair is the son of Anne Morse's best friend, who lives in Scotland. Anne arranged our opportunity to meet Alasdair and his family before we left New York, but this was the first time we had been able to meet.) Alasdair and Ingrid met while studying at Cambridge. Today they both hold PhD's. Alasdair is a geology professor at Stockholm University, passionate about climate change, and Ingrid works as a geneticist researching multiple sclerosis, who has multiple hobbies, from singing to quilting. They warmly welcomed us into their apartment where we enjoyed a delicious homemade dinner of ground venison patties with juniper berries, topped with a Swedish cream sauce, potatoes au gratin and red cabbage. Dessert was apple pie, Swedish style...sliced apples arranged on a flaky crust. Conversation was easy, informative and engaging. We are grateful for making their acquaintance and learning so much about Stockholm from them.
