Swimming in the Swedish Summer

July 7.  The absolute latest it's been in a summer for me to go swimming for the first time.  June was the coldest month on record for Sweden.  It rained and rained and rained.  I thank God I was in California for most of it!  Consequently, Stockholm looks like a jungle.  Super overgrown and even the water is full of moss and plants that I've never seen before!  None the less, when the temperatures finally rose to a suitable place where we could say, "It's hot today," we put on our swimsuits and took off for everyone's favorite swimming hole, Brunnsviken.  It's about a 25 minute walk from our house and once there, you escape to beautiful surroundings and a lovely spot on the water.  Tanner is always first to go in, showing zero hesitation no matter the weather.  Admittedly, the first dip into the cooling water always take one's breath away, just a little, but once in, it is completely refreshing.   The water is usually very clean and yesterday was no exception except for the incredible amount of moss and algae growing up from the bottom of the sea.  We played "chase the stick" with Tanner and then Charlie, a sweet 2 year old retriever appeared and the two of them had a very good time.  Watch the video to see the boys playing and to hear me speak some very bad Swedish!  

As we were walking home, I was thinking about what a treasure it is to live in a city where you can swim in really clean water just about anytime you want to.  Too bad said city isn't really all that warm most of the time!  But it's early July and I'm hopeful that the next 6-7 weeks will yield many days when we can wander down the street for a nice refreshing afternoon in the water.