Våren?

Horse-back riders in Djurgården

If I had blogged on Saturday, I would have said something optimistically cheesy like "Spring has sprung in Stockholm!" It was a glorious 45 degrees out. Um, yes, that is warm for here in March...I don't want to hear it, 78 degree DC people. I got to switch to my cute new coat I got in London for warmer weather. 

The sun was out. And the people were out. Thousands of them! Stu & I went on a 3 hour walk through Djurgården, upper and lower. There was still snow out in the fields and forest, but the sun was quickly taking effect on it. We went to a dinner party in Midsommarkransen Saturday night (BTW, lovely little suburb...I would live there!) and everyone was talking about what they did *outside* that day. 

That, my friends, is moving water!

It was a fantastic Spring day, fittingly for the first calendar day(ish) of Spring. If I had blogged on Saturday, I would have been convinced we were over the hump of winter and it was all downhill coasting 'til summer.

But Sunday, Mother Nature kindly reminded us that we live in Sweden. Thank you very much. It was a blizzard! Back down below freezing, and snow. all. day. long. No sun. We left the apartment exactly once, when we determined it was safe because the snow flakes had shrunk to only Rice Krispies-size rather than the Wheaties-size they had been.  Most disappointingly, the roofs were blanketed again, and I was just remarking to Stu about how excited I was to SEE the roof again after months of snow & ice...the buildings in our complex have such a lovely color palate.

Today, I am back to optimistic. Its about 37 degrees and the sun is shining. I finally got rid of our Christmas tree this afternoon (I know its March! I don't want to hear about it, either!) I found a super, super cheap copy of the most-popular-ever Swedish cookie recipe book Sju Sorters Kakor while I was out buying toilet paper. And the House passed a monumental health care reform bill in the US. That is something to be optimistic about.