I do believe that �the silly season� is soon upon us. I know this because the Christmas paraphernalia is breeding at an alarming rate in all of the shops in town, much to the annoyance of the locals who are tut-tutting and pointing out that it is still November!

You just have to love the Swedes and their stubborn adherence to tradition despite the best efforts of commercial interests. Christmas belongs in December as far as the population of Nynäshamn is concerned and that is where it will stay. So the shops are bulging with goodies, the junk mail is piling up in the letterbox, while the Swedes wait for December 1st before getting into the spirit. Mind you, once December 1st is upon us, it will be a free-for-all!

I was reminded of this today. I spotted some really nice and inexpensive julstjärna (or the humble poinsetta).



These are typical Christmas decorations here in Sweden and I thought I’d pick up a couple today and pot them up in my Christmas pots for the coffee table. But my Swedish friend, Hjördis, stopped me. �No� she said �you MUST wait until next week. It’s very un-Swedish to buy in November!� I had to smile. But I intend to go back tomorrow and secret a couple of them home. Of course, in a town as small as this, I guess I'll get sprung.

I’m rather impatient to break out with the decorations already, but my Viking will not hear of it until next Monday. *rolls eyes* But I have been plotting and secretly checking out all of the lights and assorted things and I’ll make him decorate with me on Sunday.

The lights make a huge difference to people’s demeanour. November can be a bit grey and depressing. The summer is really over, no more lovely crisp autumn days with blue skies. It’s getting darker and darker and is often grey and foggy. Suddenly, come December 1st, everything is lit up with twinkling lights, it looks so friendly and people feel better.

Christmas lights make a lot of sense in Europe. More so than in Australia. And Christmas shopping is lovely. Yes, it’s busy, but very joyful. Not like the frantic, bad tempered stuff you get in Oz. And there is much less commercial emphasis, too. More of a time to be with those you love. God, I sound like a Mills & Boon novel. Believe me, you’ll be hearing a lot more about Sweden and Christmas in the coming weeks as it really is a six week event!

But I did want to show you just how lovely it can be now. And yes, we do live “out in the sticks�



To close, I leave you with my Zen thought for the day:

Some days you are the bug; some days you are the windshield.

Till next time!