swedish ground hog day. he saw his shadow.

Sweden doesn't celebrate Ground Hog Day nor do they even have a far-fetched equivalent. But were there to be some throw back to Nordic legendary traditions, the Stockholm Ground Dog definitely saw his shadow this morning and we're looking at a long wait until spring.

I remember something about 6 weeks until spring as the time span in the American version, though I can't remember if that is the long or short wait. For Stockholm weather I think I'd be thrilled to know that spring had a chance to arrive in 6 weeks. We don't get to follow the equinoxes as gateways to seasons (nor solstices).

Swedes classify seasons as a measure of meeting a temperature level (above or below) for a number of days in a row. With this classification system you get definitions of tropical summers in Stockholm or possibly a start to the summer some time in July.

Being an agrarian society there's still a lot of modern legend based on days of the almanac, i.e. the days sowing, planting or harvesting should begin or when hunting or crayfish season rounds out. These calendar dates are bigger influences to when it's ok to cast off your winter hat or wear shorts.

I was chastised by a pre-school chum of X's when I came in sandals too early in the spring. I tried to break the yoke of the farmer's almanac on this new generation by asking if she thought it would be ok for me to wear shorts and sandals if the same weather we were having had been in July. She thought so. Maybe she's more receptive to a more liberal seasonal delineation.

Or a Swedish Ground Hog Day.