Summer starts today!
The time to be alive
“Den blomstertid nu kommer”—so we sang as children when summer break was about to begin. My brother and I wore matching shorts, shoes, and shirts to the end-of-term celebration. Our sisters had identical dresses. The whole family gathered—cordials, cakes and sparkling apple cider in hand—to welcome the season of light.
Together we’d visit lakes and beaches, grill into golden evenings, and roam the countryside on bicycles—off to fish, play games, climb trees, swim from ropes, or simply be. I’d place a blade of grass between my lips, take off my shirt and stroll like a vagabond, På luffen—free, sun-kissed and alive.
Summer meant cousins. Summer meant Lugnet, waterslides in Falun, road trips to our grandfather and Kirsten in Dröverka. He, civil engineer A. Lilljebjörn, Rotary chairman and connoisseur of craftsmanship, had a white villa by the lake—a residence he’d personally altered and refined into a character of its own. We’d grill on the veranda, fish from the boat using fishing nets, and swim from the pier. It was magical.
As we grew older, summers became a celebration—of freedom, friendships and late-night stories. Sometimes it was seasonal adventures on charter destinations. Sometimes a new romance on foreign shores.
Eventually summers became summers with my nieces and nephews. Or relaxed with dinners on the veranda at pops.
This summer – the summer before me – will be active and mean a lot of things.
This summer will be a business adventure, a tour of constructive living, a life quality venture and a chapter of meaning, shared with those I hold dear.
The summer starts today!
Make the most of summer this year!
It starts today!
