Readers outside of Sweden may not be aware, but last week we were subject to a heatwave of the likes that nobody within the country could have failed to notice. The national weather service issued its first ever warning for extreme temperatures, and here up north we were under a class 2 warning, meaning that the daytime temperature was expected to meet or exceed 30°C/86°F for at least five days in a row. That may not seem too high a temp to many of you, and indeed it would not have seemed especially high to me not so many years ago, but it gives some perspective to note that the highest recorded temperature in Sweden is 38°C/100°F, reached some fifty years ago. Not only that, but we go through plenty of summers without having one day that reaches 30°, let alone five of them in a row.

Those days of extreme temperatures appear to be past now, but the memory of the exhausting, sweat-soaked days and nights will linger for a while longer. The weather is much more reasonable now, and it’s a good thing because we’re loading up with car with all the kids, save Lydia, to head up to Byske for three days of beach camping. We’ve rented a little cabin for my mom and me, but Olof and the four kids will be “roughing it” in a big six-person tent. That tent has been the focus of much longing and planning for weeks and weeks now, and the kids are beside themselves that it’s actually going to happen tomorrow. Poor Olof isn’t on vacation anymore, so not only will he be sleeping in a tent, he’ll be getting up early and commuting back to Skellefteå on Thursday and Friday to put in a full day’s work. Me, I’ll be trying to get as much sleep as possible during those precious hours that I’m (sort of) kid-free.