The Swedish Christmas is a long celebration. It starts Dec. 1 and ends on Jan. 13. I personally think it is a distraction to take their minds off their long winter. They are so far north; they get about four hours of sunlight in December. When it gets dark, I mean it gets dark! In rural Sweden, many cars are equipped with extra 10-inch driving lights. I remember when I first saw a PT Cruiser with them. I thought he was going to run it in the Baja off-road race. Our guide explained that the lights were needed on country roads to see around snowy curves.
With nothing to do on long, dark, snowy nights, Swedes get together, share food and have fun. That sounds like something we need to do more of in RBC. The last Swedish Christmas celebration is on Jan. 13. Traditionally the family dances around the Christmas tree, eats the last of the sweets that were hung on the tree, sing songs and then toss out the tree. If they follow old traditions, the dead tree is literally thrown out the window. I don’t know the origin of this tradition. You would think that shoving it out the door would be less messy. I remember trying to dragging our old dead, dry tree out the door and out to the curb. I left a trail of needles a mile long. Maybe the old Swedes thought this symbolized getting rid of the old year and making room for the new year. Maybe the snow was just too deep to open the front door and it had drifted up to the window sill? I can just picture some kids grabbing a toboggan and sledding out the front door like the little boy in the Home Alone movie.
In America, our year begins with TV commercials pouring out advertising for home gym equipment that promises to remove all the pounds we put on during the holidays. You know, the fancy Bowflex things that morph into clothes hangers by June. We buy gym memberships in hopes of reshaping ourselves. You have heard the old vaudeville joke: I got rid of 180 pounds of ugly fat… I divorced him. (Sound effect here: drum rim shot). By the way, our ERBM and WRBM can set you up with a nice gift membership that you give to someone else who needs it more that you do. You can use it as a not-so-subtle hint that you value their health. We put up new calendars with pretty pictures of places we never get around to touring. Cruises to the Bahamas are expensive, but New Year’s guilt trips are free. We feel guilty about what didn’t get accomplished the previous year and make resolutions never to eat Aunt Ruth’s rum balls again. We begin the year by re-tangling all those pesky Christmas light strings and stuffing the artificial tree back into the Chinese-made box that has shrunk over the last month. So begins a new year. If your New Year resolution is better relationships, remember, you can only control your own attitude. I have a hat that says, “My attitude, Your problem.” Oh, and don’t forget to tip your garbage man.
By ED PECK – Special to the Herald times
