Third Sunday of Advent today and we light the Shepherd Candle, in honour of the shepherds to whom the birth of Jesus was announced. Not too many more sleeps now!

We have been having an interesting discussion on a forum I belong to about the political correctness mob who seem to have taken it upon themselves to ban Christmas in workplaces, schools etc in an effort to not offend anybody of another faith. One of the forum members lives in the UK where this is apparently taken to extremes and people are so afraid of lawsuits that workplaces have become rather cheerless in this festive season. Another member who lives in Greece talked about the clash between the orthodox church heirarchy and those who wanted to include the tinsel and trappings of Christmas. Others living in the States, Canada, Australia chimed in with stories of how nativity plays were being discontinued so as not to offend non-Christians and one was told not to say Merry Christmas, but instead Happy Holidays. I wonder if it will all come to this:




In Sweden, there seems to be no such discussion and one sees Christmas lights on every building in town. People say God Jul to each other and everyone joins in with the glögg parties, markets and Lucia processions. There does not seem to be an overt connection made between the religious meanings of Christmas and the more secular ones and perhaps this is why no-one takes any offence. People accept it as a mid-winter bit of brightness and a celebration of the passing of the darkest time of the year - and we will all be glad to see the darkness retreating after this week's winter solstice.

Yesterday, walking through town, I saw more evidence that some people have chosen black as this year's Christmas colour. In Söder I saw a trendy, minimalist display in one shop featuring a black Christmas tree with a single ornament. It looked gross, but then I'm not an artiste, so what would I know. At another shop I saw black gift baskets - yes, black wire baskets full of black coloured gifts and tied with a black ribbon! So depressing! And in Nynäshamn, I saw one shop with a black star in the window.




It stopped me in my tracks and I wondered if the local hairdresser had now become some kind of devil worship temple. As if there is not enough darkness around at this time of the year. The idea of lights is to provide a contrast, not blend in with the darkness. Who the hell let Ingemar Bergman be in charge of this Christmas's colour scheme, I wonder?

The news in Sweden this week has been dominated by the story of Christer Fugelsang - the first Swede in space.





While I bet nowhere else on planet earth is even aware of the story, here in Sweden it has been a media shark feeding frenzy that is bordering on the ridiculous. People are eagerly telling each other to tune in and watch him go out and repair the solar panels of the space station live. You can't even begin to imagine how boring that is to watch. I'm happy for him that he has achieved a life ambition and all that, but do we have to hear about it on every station, all day every day?

On Friday night, one of the stations broadcast a live interview between the astronaut and Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria. I accidentally stumbled on to this and was preparing to switch channels as the tv anchorman was rambling on in Swedish to her about how refreshing it was for Sweden to have a new kind of hero - "an educated hero" - as opposed to the usual ice hockey players, soccer stars and pop singers. I rolled my eyes and had the remote control poised to turn it off when Victoria interrupted the verbal diarrhoea with a very cool look and a brisk "How do you know that these people are not educated as well?"

Go Victoria! It was absolutely perfect.

Today it is minus degrees for the first time in over a month and it was a delight to wake up and see frost on the lawn. It's sunny and clear which is good as we are heading off to Stockholm to Christmas shop, attend a glögg party and wander around Kungsträdgården and look at the NK Christmas windows. Let's hope Bergman hasn't been at those as well!

Our decorations on the other hand are being supervised and arranged by my personal decorator, Bruce.




I hope there will be something left when we get back from town! Keep warm wherever you are and have a wonderful Sunday.