Autumn Colours at home

Today was cloudy and windy, but the wind was warm and the air very clear, so it was good to work outside.  I fixed a door, into the Red House, that has seen better days. It was a temporary fix, designed to carry the door through the rains of autumn and the snows of winter. Then there was some garden work and it was while working at the top of our land I looked out and saw this rather lovely view. Above the autumn colours the clouds were scudding by and the wind turbines were generating  all the electricity a person could want.
As darkness fell we drove up to Kramfors to listen to a concert in which folk-singer Ulrika Bodén sang the poems of Nicke Sjödin, a poet born in 1934.  The poems in question were all stories about real women from the two villages he grew up in. There was a lot of tragedy and humour (often dark humour) in Sjödin’s work, because there was a lot of tragedy in people’s lives, and humour was one way to cope.
The women in question were strong, because they had to be - strong in character and strong in body! One of the songs was about Regina, who worked with timber floating every spring. She would wade into the meltwater to sort out log tangles and such like, her long skirt floating on the surface! Another song/poem describes how on her wedding day Sjödin’s own mother worked at building a barn, with her husband-to-be, all day, before going to the church to get married in the evening. Her hands are so swollen the ring barely fits. After the ceremony they cycle home to the farm.  Life really was tough, especially for the working class. 
50 years of (regularly elected) socialist government turned this poor country into one of the richest and most equal in Europe. Unfortunately, as in the rest of the world, that equality is rapidly going as those with money get much richer, and those without get much poorer.
But enough of political rants - the concert was wonderful. Ulrika B told the stories, and sang the songs, beautifully.  The Nordic Chamber Orchestra and the violinist Emma Ahlberg Ek provided the music, some composed by Ulrika Bodén, some taken from the folk music written and played by the women in the poems. (See Jan's blip for more info - and more politics - and a rather gorgeous flower photo.)
It’s good to be part of the return of theatre / music culture after the last two years of pandemic restrictions. Let’s hope it lasts!