Lavender Skies

I'm not going to pretend like it's easy when the sun seems to be at its zenith at 10am, making its descent by 1:30, already to set at 3:30 and then leaving behind nothing but an endless blackness by 4pm. It really does things to the levels of one's energy. A sunny day is a million times better than an overcast one. That being said, overcast days don't have to be horrible. In fact, it's only because we're so apt at whining about our lives and anything that's not perfect, that makes an overcast day a "bad" or "sad" one. Hanna and I were on our way to the gym yesterday and each raised a corner of our mouths to our noses when we caught a glimpse of the sky. It was grey. I started to make a disappointed sound, but then caught myself, because I do not want to label a grey sky as a bad one. No Sirree.

Hanna and I spent the next 5 minutes of our walk imagining what wonderful things that grey sky could possibly be. A really giant fuzzy grey bunny sitting on the world. Alpaca wool. Lavender bath powder. A well powdered baby's butt. A zoom-in on a chalkboard drawing. Down feathers in the neck of a swan or goose. Pussy willow. Dryer lint with the scent of laundry soap still clinging to it. Very pale blue flowers. Smooth stones. Marble. Peppermint tea with milk. A light, baby chinchilla. Soft sheep's milk soap. Ice cream with a hint of blueberry. We agreed that pale lavender was the best description for the sky. Lavender is lovely, calming, forgiving, peaceful. The grey sky doesn't have to mean gloom and doom, although to most it probably does.

Us on a sunny day, at Millesgården, a museum with a wonderful sculpture park...

We started a little game this way. Every time we feel negative thoughts towards the oncoming winter we imagine all the good things that could come out of it. What else can we do? Why would anybody choose to stick with the miserable grey sky and suffer, if you could go right ahead and fantasize about the lovely things that you know it's not, but that it reminds you of. It's like the song, "My favorite things," and I know this is super corny, but it really helps.

We had a fun day, visited an art shop where I bought a set of acrylics, because I very dumbly left mine in Hawaii. We visited our favorite bakery, our favorite ice cream shop and then a second hand store where I fell in love with the ugliest sweater I've ever seen. I'm not really into ugly sweaters and that whole hipster movement of really awkward styles that are "cool," but this one was just too brilliant to pass up. I cracked up the minute I saw it, and I only cost about $5 so I simply had to get it. My mission was actually to find a warm wool sweater, and well... I guess I did. Heh, Heh.. I'll be wearing it all winter long because it makes me laugh so hard, and laughter is enough to fill any darkness with light.

It depicts a rural home/ farm scene. There are rows of vegetables, two white animals with very odd eyes, that I presume to be sheep, but I can't be 100% sure. Well, two unidentifiable white ruminants in any case. There is an apple tree smack in the middle, two buildings, one which could be a non-denominational church (typically Swedish), and two female figures. The blonde woman is standing close to the buildings, and the dark-haired one who resembles Frida Kahlo is working in the fields. How racist! Oh, I almost forgot the two giant blue rainclouds spilling water over the whole scene. It's magnificently awful! I love it and I promise to wear it this winter. No shame. I will do whatever it takes to keep my spirits elevated. If it means I have to dress in green and leap-frog around the metro-platform while singing zippadeedoodah or pogo-stick through the snow with a kazoo, I will do just that. Ugly sweaters and imaginative sky games are a great start, though.

Still, I feel the exhaustion around 2 and have to force myself not to succumb to my desire to eat and go right to sleep. It takes a lot more to get out of the house, especially on days when I don't have to work. But it's perfect to have little chores to do, like taking out the recycling (our closest bins are around the block), get groceries, clean, do laundry (up and down the flights of steps into the basement.) It sounds kind of pathetic, but it's not easy to move when your body so badly just wants to sleep. And why wouldn't it want to sleep, we're designed to get tired when it gets dark. Well, I might be tired, but I won't be getting fat this winter, and I most certainly refuse to get sad. Gonna giggle with my silly sweater under my lavender skies and write children's stories until spring decides to wake us all up again.