Vårdagjämningen

Glad Vårdagjämningen! Or, Happy Vernal (Spring) Equinox!

Today's Google homepage shows a cute little picture of all things spring-y, like flowers and butterflies and the like. Which actually is quite exciting! I didn't even think about the fact that today, the 20th day of March, is actually so far along in the year that it's the vernal/spring equinox. That's a big step here in Sweden! Everyone yearns for and awaits the sunlight with much anticipation. In the US I barely noticed the passing of any sort of equinox, no one ever really made a big deal about it. But here, Swedes seem to treasure every minute more of sun they can get. I have completely jumped on that bandwagon, too. The one thing I absolutely love about Swedish summer is how the sun never goes completely away, even at the "darkest" of night there's a blue/orange dim light on the horizon. The sky never gets truly black, it gets to a dark, beautiful blue. I guess I'll let the not-so-hot Swedish summers pass since the sun does stay up from just about 4am to 11:30pm on the longest day in summer. At least here in Västra Götaland.

That's all I really wanted to rave about! The return of the sun being officially marked by days like today. Although as I stare out the window it's most definitely an ugly, completely overcast, unanimous grey outside. With threats of rain. I guess if it rains I'm alright with that, it gives a reason for the overbearing grey. Oh well. Speaking of spring, I've noticed some lovely flowers popping out of the grass outside of our building door. I've seen some daffodils (påskliljor) although those are in some pots so clearly not naturally occurring. However, I have seen some native snowdrops (snödroppar). I decided to run out and grab a few shots of them since I just had to share them. They are the first sign of spring here in Sweden!