Lucia / St Lucy's Day, 13 December

Saint Lucy's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Lucy, is a Christian feast day observed on 13 December. The observance commemorates Lucia of Syracuse, an early-fourth-century virgin martyr under the Diocletianic Persecution. According to legend, she brought food and aid to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs, wearing a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way, leaving both hands free to carry as much food as possible. 

Because her name means "light" and her feast day had at one time coincided with the shortest day of the year prior to calendar reforms, it is now widely celebrated as a festival of light. Falling within the Advent season, Saint Lucy's Day is viewed as a precursor of Christmastide, pointing to the arrival of the Light of Christ in the calendar on 25 December, Christmas Day. 

In Scandinavia, where Lucy is called Santa/Sankta Lucia, she is represented as a woman in a white dress symbolizing a baptismal robe and a red sash symbolizing the blood of her martyrdom, with a crown or wreath of candles on her head.

In Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, as songs are sung, girls dressed as Saint Lucy carry cookies and saffron buns in procession, which symbolizes bringing the Light of Christ into the world's darkness. (Wikipedia)

 

Not sure if the video below will work for everyone world-wide, but I thought I'd give that a test. (Let me know if it works!) It's this year's (2025) Lucia Morning by Swedish Television (SVT); from Visby on the island Gotland, off the east coast of Sweden. 

It's a 1 hour show, and in Swedish. But of course you can choose for yourself how much of it to watch/listen to. It will give you an idea of the typical atmosphere, anyway.

"Inside the city walls of wintry Visby, this year’s Lucia brings atmosphere and warmth with choirs from Sankta Maria Youth Choir, Voices of Hope, and Gotland Boys’ Choir. In the ruins of St. Karin and Helge And, the Christmas songs ring out, and we also get to enjoy several soloists, the Gotland Wind Quintet, and a children’s choir in the historic surroundings."

    

https://youtu.be/QVc5rAzMQCs?si=toSBG8tjXE-Urfmg

Soothing Sounds of Spring

 

 

I keep mentioning the old cemetery close to where I live, where I go walking almost daily. Besides being a place where I watch the seasonal changes in trees and flowers etc, I also enjoy listening to the birds. So it occurred to me that perhaps I should share with you some of the sounds I hear when I walk there as well.

 

Alas I'm no good at identifying birds by their song, though - and usually they are too far away from me to see, high up in the tree tops. Today (2nd video), as I approached the graveyard chapel, I was able to see that the singer was a tiny bird perched on top of the cross over the entrance. Too far away for me to see what kind, though. If anyone thinks they recognise the sound, please tell me in the comments! :)

I have a clever bird book that also includes recorded sound of birds - but with about 180 different ones included, when one hasn't even got a good guess to start with, that actually doesn't help much!! ;)

 

It's Snowing Again

 

I shot a "mini" video with my phone today, just testing to see if I can upload it here... 

If you can't see that, here is a regular photo:

 

When You Walk Through A Storm...

 

"When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high..."

This Muppet video turned up for me on Facebook last night and made me laugh, as a storm outside was actually howling and rattling my windows at the time - and throughout the night. It was a lot worse far up north in Sweden though (I heard on the radio this morning that it had reached hurricane strength there), and along the coasts; but even around here (inland south-west) strong enough to at least (as I found when I got out) turn over a few dustbins...

 

It wasn't raining today though, so I held my head up high (but well tucked into the hood of a warm winter coat), and managed a walk to the supermarket for a few "light" items.

Stopped on the bridge over the river to take this photo - which gives you no idea whatsoever of the strong winds still blowing. It was alright on my way to the supermarket, as then I mostly had the wind "helping me along"... A bit worse on the way back! (I kept to the pavement along the street today. The paths in the old cemetery next to it are usually  covered with broken twigs and branches from the old trees after a storm...) 

Illustration by Bing Image Creator (+ me)

 

Turn on the Sound

Now I hope I've managed to convert my video from the Art Museum to "Blogger format" - with sound and all... (Thanks to Sandra for reminding me about the how-to procedure in a comment to yesterday's post!)

 

 

Would you like being alone in a big museum, with these sounds as your only company?? ;-)

A Walk in the Woods

A bit chillier here again this weekend - but still mostly sunny, and good weather for walking. Today, I tried to think of somewhere "different" to go - but still not so far from home that I'd end up too tired to walk back as well. Without any specific plan I set off in a slightly different direction than usual; and along the way got inspired to make a detour uphill through a  piece of woodland where I don't think I've walked in years. It's not really far from civilization, but for just a moment, I one can get the illusion of it. I hope the video will work. Do turn on the sound - it was the birdsong that made me try a video instead of just photos... :)

Wood Anemone - Anemone Nemorosa

Once upon a time, and for over twenty years, I used to live on top of that hill. (Somewhere behind the buildings to the left in the photo below.) This summer, it will be twelve years since I moved down to live on "flat ground" though. (And never regretted that!)

Looking down on an older street which I then walked back down to the riverside level. You can't see it here, but at its upper end that street ends in a steep flight of stairs to connect it (for pedestrians) to the higher level of the hill.