It is still rather dark in Stockholm. The days are longer, but there is a constant cover of overcast. The Christmas lights are down, and now everyone is back to work.   The Swedes and Lithuanians tell me that they might as well work hard, since there is no reason to go outside.

 

I have been thinking about what life was like here in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. There was not much electricity, and houses were heated by wood or coal. My parents’ place has large tile furnaces in each room. It must have been really cold. Our lives are so completely different now. We have electronic entertainment. They had books, but needed candles or oil lamps to read in the evenings. There were horses on the streets, and the smells would have been pretty strong. Now there are no smells. Whenever I travel to India or other warm crowded places, I am overwhelmed by the smells. Look at all the vegetables and foods that the Swedes have access to now, because of international trade.

 

The Nordic artists of the last century were rather dark and melancholy. Here is a photo of the painting “Despair” (Förtvivlan) by Edvard Munch that is at the Thielska Gallery here in Stockholm. It is very reminiscent of “The Scream”, from the same time period. Here are also some from the artist Ernst Josephson, who suffered from mental illness. This painting is of the Islamic prophet whose name starts with an M (who is not supposed to represented visually). There is also Jesus and the current King of Sweden painted in 1899, long before he was born.

 

 

The city is expanding by about 15,000 people a year, so new buildings are popping up. There are new train lines and always improvements to public transportation. The restaurant taxes have been lowered, so now there are more ethnic restaurants and people eating in them. It is expensive here, but with global climate change, Stockholm will be a very desirable place to live in the future.