… That’s s what he said and I replied “Oh, yeah”! If I could describe how I feel with one song, the song would be “Here Comes the Sun” by The Beatles. If you want to feel closer, play the song while reading this post.

Sunshine is a holy thing for Swedes, not to be taken for granted. After almost five years of living in Sweden, the sun has become sacred also to me.

I arrived in Kalmar, a city in the southeast of Sweden, in November. The worst month, everyone says. November is one of the darkest and dullest months of the year -if not the most. I did notice how the days became shorter and shorter quickly. Also, I noticed that the sunshine hours were pretty gray, not to say that it was cloudy almost every day. In any case, I was so happy to finally be in Europe after trying so hard, that all those “little” details didn’t seem to matter much… In the beginning!

December arrived with the Christmas lights and the cozy atmosphere. Then January came with a bit of snow giving the impression that everything was clearer and shinier. Later on, February stepped in bringing even more darkness. It is funny because February is the shortest month of the year, isn’t it? But here in Sweden, it feels like forever. Finally, March arrived and literally, the magic happened.

One day everything exploded, the birds were singing, the trees were fully green, and flowers were everywhere. And people… people suddenly looked more open, they were smiling. I meant it, s-m-i-l-i-n-g at you on the street and even starting random conversations. Wow, incredible!

Last year I moved to Uppsala, a bit up North (around 70 km north of Stockholm). May is approaching and there are only weak traces of spring. Maybe I am not paying enough attention? I seriously doubt it.

Some weeks ago I visited Lund, a city in the South of Sweden. I could tell I felt the spring there, saw the flowers, saw the green leaves on the trees, and the smiling faces. And the Beatle’s song hit my mind. Suddenly I had tears in my eyes… Suddenly that song made so much sense. To be honest, I used to think the song was a bit silly ( dear Beatles fans, please forgive me!). But this time, a song that had never meant anything to me fully described how I felt. OH MY! I now affirm that everything is alright when the sun finally shines again.

I am back in Uppsala now. I haven’t found plum trees in bloom yet but I keep my hopes. In the meantime, I bring color with my scissors (check out my porfolio if you want to have a look at my collages!)