ATimes-first


The Seasons of the Year
	Since this winter test season is coming to an end, I found myself reflecting, the other day, over the seasons of the year. I bet that the next time we turn around it will be summer in Arjeplog! It is incomprehensible - I am just as surprised every year. Right now we are in the period that we locals call the "fifth season", ie early spring. It is the time of year that we like the most as we can be outdoors, drink coffee and grill sausages. In the month of May we will have reached spring, which is a very short season in Arjeplog. The lawns are full of snow one week and the following week the grass begins to grow and is green. In the south of Sweden, spring stretches over fairly long period of time, but that does not apply to us and we hardly even have any spring-flowers. Then, suddenly summer is upon us. My children tend to make sure that they have swum in the lake before school is out, which is around June 10. I wouldn't say that the water is warm in early June and if they swim for long enough, they would probably freeze. In the municipal area of Arjeplog there are 8,727 lakes, so there are enough to choose from when you want to take a swim or go fishing. In late June, we often move to our summer house so that we can be near water and also to get the feeling of being on holiday. In the middle of the summer it is often so hot that we need to end the day with a dip in the lake to be able to go to sleep. In early August we pick cloudberries in the marshlands and we enjoy the last weeks of summer before school starts again around August 20. Then it is time to start preparing for winter and fill up the supply of food. We pick lingonberries and make jam and many people spend the autumn months hunting and fishing and fill their freezers. I usually try - although it has now been some years since the last time - to rent the 'do-it-yourself bakery' for a day or more and bake a lot to fill the freezer with home-baked bread. Once all your storerooms and freezers are filled then the winter can come. When I think back twenty years, it seems to me that the first snow fell around October 10, but recently I think that the first snow comes much later. Then all of a sudden Christmas is upon us and we start all over again! Have a great week! Have a great week!

		Britta Flinkfeldt Jansson Mayor of Arjeplog