It went so fast. One cannot completely grasp it, but we have a spring feeling in our cold country. We went from -18 to +8°C in one week, so we really did not have the time to let it sink in. The snow melted at a furious pace and most of us removed skates and skis to make room for bicycles and boats…

The winter is now approaching and in Småland we can look back on magical August evenings when the sun went down at half past nine. Sitting by a reflective dark lake watching the sunset behind the treetops is really something magical. For those who believe in lake monsters, it goes without saying that August evenings, with their shadows and fantastic sunsets, are the height of lake monster season.

When I cycle to Garantell in the mornings, I pedal through a typical Småland landscape (if you’re curious about Småland, open a book by Astrid Lindgren: our national hero and Pippi Longstocking’s mom). Astrid Lindgren’s descriptions of the Småland landscape are still accurate today: forests, gravel roads, cows feeding in pastures, red cottages with white trim, all accompanied by birdsong. Foxes and deer are frequently spotted, and if you hear a loud crack and crash in the forest, it’s guaranteed to be a moose or wild boar. I also cycle alongside Lake Vidöstern and, if I’m lucky, I see a naked Smålander enjoying a morning dip. For us Swedes, a morning dip is quite natural, but my colleagues have said to me that it’s a quintessentially Swedish thing to do. So what is a morning dip? Basically, you get out of bed and go down to the lake (wearing a bathrobe if you have neighbours, naked if you don’t). In Småland, the lakes are placid and dark, and an early morning swim in the light of dawn is something absolutely amazing that I hope you all get the chance to experience at some point.