Quotation of the Week (23/2010)

Happiness is like those palaces in fairy tales whose gates are guarded by dragons; we must fight in order to conquer it.

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870)

6 June – National Day of Sweden

The Swedish flag (this is not my own picture, but the ones below are)

 

 

Our tradition of celebrating 6 June as National Day is not very old. It is said to have begun in 1916, even if the date chosen goes back to the year 1523, when Gustav Vasa was elected king: an event which re-established Sweden as an independent country after having been in union with Denmark and Norway since 1397.

Some later political events in the history of the nation have also taken place on the same date. It was however only as recently as in 2005 that 6 June was proclaimed an official Swedish public holiday – and instead we lost Whit Monday (the Monday after Pentecost), which many people would have preferred to keep, since that always gave a long weekend.

 

This year, 6 June fell on a Sunday, so no extra day off… But it was a beautiful sunny day, and a lot of people gathered for a celebration in the park – with parade, music, singing, speech and flag-waving.

The Swedish National Anthem:

Even though I always have difficulties remembering all the lyrics to our national anthem – and also find them a bit pompous - yet on a beautiful summer day like this, the song can still make my heart swell and bring tears to my eyes…

Here’s a translation I found on the internet:

Thou ancient, thou free,
thou mountainous North,
Thou quiet, thou joyful beauty!
I greet Thee, most beautiful land upon earth!
Chorus:
Thy sun, Thy sky, Thine meadows green!
Thy sun, Thy sky, Thine meadows green!
Thou throne upon memories of great olden days,
When honoured thy name flew over the world,
I know that thou art and wilt be as thou wert!
Chorus:
Yes, I want to live I want to die in the North!
Yes, I want to live I want to die in the North!

You may notice that the song does not even mention “Sweden”, instead it speaks of The North. Attempts have been made from time to time to exchange it for a new one, but no success.

Of Many Faces

A stone head by artist Olle Brandqvist. The kind of stone used for this one is diabase; originally grey but polished it becomes black.

In this year’s sculpture festival, another and considerably bigger head that the same artist is working on has been moved into town, allowing people to watch him  work:

He is mostly doing some polishing now, because the actual cutting is too noisy.

The original block of stone used for this sculpture (granite this time) weighed 14 tons. When the sculpture is finished, this one too will have a polished surface (the darker colour you can see beneath the ear).

 

As you can see, both stone heads are of irregular shape. As you walk around the sculpture, looking at it from different angles, your impression of the face changes. The artist says this is meant to remind us that there are many sides to a person.

In Roman mythology, there is a god with two faces: Janus. He was the god of gates, doorways, beginnings and endings. The month of January, which begins the new year, was named after him. Janus is most often depicted as having two faces or heads, looking in opposite directions – into the future and the past.

Writing this, I’m reminded of an article I read just the other day – or maybe it was said on the radio. Anyway, it was about how these days, we spend a lot of time and energy just on creating profiles for ourselves, on Facebook and other internet communities (like Blogger…)

This in turn reminds me of an early blog post of mine entitled Multiple Me. Follow the link if it tickles your curiosity.

Being in a reflective mood, my thoughts also go to one of my favourite passages in the Bible. If God had a blog/ Facebook profile, this would be it:

When God calls Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses argues with the Lord:

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 

God said to Moses: “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”

Exodus 3: 13-14

 

A Nearly Perfect Summer Day

 

Lilacs (Syringa)

Lilacs for me are connected with the end of the school year, more than any other flower, ever since my childhood. (Because they usually bloom around this time.)

Today was a perfect summer day for all students celebrating the end of the school year and the start of their summer holidays: The sun shining all day from a clear blue sky, and still not too hot – just over 20°C, and with a nice fresh summer breeze.

Before noon I walked into town to get some groceries. When I got home (by bus, because of then having things to carry) I made a salad for lunch and was able to eat it sitting outside on the balcony. In fact I spent most of the afternoon on the balcony, reading, doing a soduko and listening to mp3/radio (using earphones).

 

 

I did not need to use my mp3-player all the time to shut out noise though. It was a quiet kind of day in the neighbourhood. I was also able in between to just listen to the gulls in the sky above, and the wind rustling the leaves of the trees nearby… Relaxing summery sounds.

My clematis plant (photo taken a couple a weeks ago; the flowers are withering now)

Later on I went for short walk just “around the block” (well, a few blocks). Spring was late this year, and we’re still really only just on the verge of entering into summer. There is still a freshness about all the greenery; and a lot of trees still in bloom.

Horse Chestnut
(Aesculus Hippocastanum)

In July it will be two years since I moved to where I live now (this apartment/ building/ part of town). Last spring and early summer was somewhat chaotic, connected to the death of my mother at the end of May last year. But this spring, I’ve been able to pay a bit more attention to my surroundings. Like how many different kinds of flowering trees are actually planted in the park-like area around these apartment buildings.

Crab apple tree (Malus)

From my kitchen window, I can see a horse-chestnut tree, a rowan tree, Swedish whitebeam, and lilacs, all blossoming right now. (Plus a number of “anonymous” trees in the background.) When I go outside, there are also Japanese cherry blossom and crab apple trees, as well as tall birches and lime trees (linden) and maples; and probably several other kinds of trees that I’m not able to identify.

 

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
~Martin Luther~

BTT: Long And Short Of It

 
 http://btt2.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/long-and-short-of-it/

Which do you prefer? Short stories? Or full-length novels?

Usually I prefer full-length novels - or even series of novels - with time to get to know the characters. I can enjoy short stories too; but I often find it hard to plough through a collection of a lot of various short stories in a short time, unless there is something to tie them together - like the same characters, or a common theme. When I have little time to read though, short stories might sometimes be just the thing.

Looking at my own book shelves, I have a lot of novels, but few collections of short stories. In English, I have one paperback collection of 50 Great Short Stories by various English and American writers, which I bought once in a second hand bookshop. I also have a book of "Eerie Tales" which I bought in Britain back in the 70s. I think I might have bought it when we were up at Loch Ness in Scotland, but I'm not quite sure. There is also a Penguin Classics collection of stories by Edgar Allan Poe, a Wordsworth Classics collection of Father Brown stories by G.K. Chesterton, and The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes. I also have several versions of King Arthur tales; and at least four more recently bought books with Celtic Myths and Legends, like the Mabinogion. I have not read all of these through, just looked things up and read some of the stories.

Walkabout

The other day when passing the park in town, I noticed that the red dress sculpture was missing again. I almost wondered if they had shipped it away to Stockholm after all…

Yesterday, however, I found it again. Outside the library this time. In a yard with gates that can be locked at night.

I was not the only one who had gone looking for it. I heard these people (or possibly some other people) mumble: “Oh there it is… Couldn’t they at least have put up a sign in the park where they had moved it to?!”

To me, the way they are lined up now looks rather like someone said (in a very tired voice): “Oh never mind, just put them down somewhere… We’ll probably soon be moving them about again anyway…”

walkabout

1. Australian A temporary return to traditional Aboriginal life, taken especially between periods of work or residence in modern society and usually involving a period of travel through the bush.

2. A walking trip.

3. Chiefly British A public stroll taken by an important person, such as a monarch, among a group of people for greeting and conversation.

Summer

     

  

  

A more popular name for this sculpture is The Lazy Student because he is resting outside a college building. (He is somewhat larger than normal human size; something which is hard to get across in a picture unless you have an actual live person willing to pose with him. On this occasion I didn’t.)

This week – the first week in June – will be the last week of the spring term for a lot of students. Some of them may be dreaming of taking this position next week:
Just resting, and staring at the sky above…