Michelle Makmann: Archipelago

For the last few weeks, I have seen brightly colored feathers stuck on branches, chickens, eggs and witches all over the city.  Chickens and eggs, I get...but witches? When I asked my friends about it, they told me that in Sweden, they believe the witches fly off to Blåkulla to go chat with Satan the Thursday before Easter, and when they return, people would light fires to scare them away. The children dress up as little witches that day and go door-to-door asking for treats.  Now this was something I had to see, because back home we do this in October and call it Halloween.  Sure enough, that morning at work,  a parade of tiny witches came walking through the station with their little kettles looking for candy.  Amazing and random. 

This holiday is just about as sacred as Christmas here in Sweden. You celebrate the whole weekend with family and friends. My boss, Pecka, invited me to spend Easter with him and his family at his summer home in the Archipelago. It's about an hour north of the city but once you drive off that ferry (I took a ferry across with the car, so fun!), it feels like you are in another country. The whole place is about relaxation and nature. Little patches of color are mixed into the forest from the spring flowers that are now growing, there are lots of horses grazing in the yards and even a few deer come out into the field to feed.

When I got there, I met Pecka's wife, Marianne. She was cooking away in the kitchen getting ready for a party of 12 to arrive. Shortly after, Pecka and his son Albine arrived.  They gave me a tour of the property and told me about how he had built it with his friends and family (and of course a few contractors).  The rest of the guests arrived and we sat down to eat a feast of ham, chicken, eggs, salad, veggies, and of course fish, which I passed on. They brought out a variety of Snaps to serve with the meal. Every time you took a shot, they would sing a holiday cheer in reference to the season.  I wish my holidays back home were like that.

Afterwards, we all went for a walk to the farm down the road.  They had 3 massive horses, tons of sheep, four large bulls and all their women (cows). I am not going to lie, the bulls were a little intimidating and one even had a ring through his nose. There were a few calves across the way and the guys taught me that if you stick your hand out they will suck it and think it is their mom feeding them. It slimed my hand...

We went back to the house for dessert and some fireworks that Pecka had been saving since New Year's.  It was like we had our own private display. Nothing around but stars and nature and the random bursts of color in the sky.

They next morning, Pecka took me all around the island showing me the parts we had missed the day before. I really hope my holidays in the future can measure up to this one.