The Snow Globe Effect

Last Christmas, Mother Sweden pulled out all of the stops and gave us a lot of snow that created the perfect magic to get everyone into the Christmas spirit.  It was lucky that my parents were there to experience the beauty themselves.  The snow hanging on the branches of the trees made it feel like we were walking in a snow globe that had just been lightly shaken and all of the glittery snowflakes had just settled down again.  The woods were quiet except for the crunching of our boots. We kept marveling at how beautiful it was and I called it the "Snow Globe Effect."

This Christmas we had weather that was rainy and consistently in the 40s and gave us the overall blah feeling.  Though the weather didn't help put us in the Christmas spirit, Stockholm still dresses up for the occasion and we hit up the Christmas markets and the NK store windows.

So, here we are in January and we finally, finally, have snow in Stockholm that is suitable for sledding.  Yesterday as I was walking Calvin to school, these huge flakes started falling and I just sighed and thought, "here's the snow globe feeling I've been waiting for!"  Calvin looked at me and says confusedly, "It's Christmas? It's not Christmas..."  No, it's not Christmas but it finally feels like it.  Hope you can enjoy the snow globe effect where you are this winter!

Just put a plow on it!

The snow is back!  I think the birds foolishly thought spring was around the corner because it hasn't snowed in nearly a month and the temperature was finally in the + range for a few days.  Considering it snowed for 33 hours straight, I have a feeling we will be solidly in winter a bit longer.

Swedes are professional snow plowers and they seem to be able to adapt any vehicle into a snow plow.  If it has tires and space for a plow attachment,  you're in business.

It's hard to tell Calvin what these things are since they are usually a combination -- truck-plow, tractor-plowbackhoe/digger-plow, and forklift-plow.  It seems the possibilities are endless and are getting more creative as winter progresses -- I saw a golf cart-plow the other day.  Wherever there is snow to clear, people will invent ways to remove it with the least amount of effort. Happy shoveling!

Swedish Snow - why it's not so bad

I've never been a fan of snow.  I'm not one of those people who travels to snowy places to go skiing or snowboarding.  Any winter sports I attempt are because others think it's fun and I just go along to get along.  Growing up in Upstate New York, I can remember only a few times where the snow hung on the trees and there was sunshine and blue sky.  Those days were absolutely beautiful, but they were few and far between.  Most days involved slush, gray skies, and my parents making me shovel the most dreadful part of the driveway -- where the driveway meets the road and all of the plowed snow from the street is as hard as concrete.  (Oh and don't think for a second that I'm not going to make Calvin do the same thing. What's the point in having kids if you aren't going to give them the tough jobs that you don't want anymore?