Today is Sweden’s national day, the Swedish Fourth of July, if you will. This is only the second year that this day has been a “red day,” or a public holiday in Sweden, so people are a bit at a loss for what to do with it. We’re just two weeks away from Midsummer, which many would argue is Sweden’s true national day, with its nearly universal observance and wealth of traditions, and this “new” celebration of Sweden falls unfortunately a little flat. Perhaps in years to come we’ll see some special merry-making grow up around June 6, but for now people are mostly improvising.

This afternoon, Olof, the kids, and I drove to town to check out an event at Nordanå, a big park by the river with lots of old buildings, a theater, a restaurant, and a few other attractions. We listened to some music and a couple of speeches and Lydia and Tage each got an ice cream cone. After an hour or so we’d seen our fill, so we headed back to the car. When we got home, Olof loaded up the little kids and headed down to his parents’ house, where they would eat surströmming (usually a late summer/early fall thing, but like I said, improvisation). I was given a reprieve, thank goodness, and Lydia decided to sit this one out as well. For my dinner I’ve just eaten a couple of pieces of toast, and considering the alternative, you won’t hear one word of complaint from me.

(Click the photorevelry link for a nice picture of Tage at Nordanå.)