Living in the Alaska interior is a lot like living in Northern Sweden. As September nears its close, the days grow shorter and will continue to do so at an accelerated rate. We lose seven minutes of sun every day. Birds fly south. Our rivers prepare to ice over. There's a chill in the air that warns of what's to come.
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| Skellefteå River in June Photo by Erik Lundmark |
So I'm going to hang onto the memories of perpetual sunlight, Midsummer's Eve, and all its enchantment by sharing some aesthetics from my current work in progress, a YA historical novel with the working title River of the North.
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| Midnight at Midsummer Photo by Erik Lundmark |
For as long as she can remember, seventeen-year-old
Maja Andersdotter has whispered secret wishes to the Ӓlven—the cold and
unpredictable river than runs through her village to the Baltic sea. The river
carries her wishes downstream and grants them, until one wish goes terribly
wrong.
Lupine grow along a wooden fence Photo by Erik Lundmark
The inspiration and setting for the story is the Skellefteå River near the historic "church town" called the Bonnstan. Church towns are an important and unique part of Sweden's history. The small rowhouses were owned by the laborers from all over the parish. They were required by law to attend church each Sunday or to pay fines. For some this was a very far distance to travel to the church and back on a Sunday, so the tiny rowhouses, called chambers, were the solution. Farmers could travel to town on Friday or Saturday night, take part in a marketplace, and attend church. These lodgings were their weekend homes, and they became the center of the social construct.
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| The Bonnstan Photo by Erik Lundmark |
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| Upstairs and Downstairs Chambers Photo by Erik Lundmark |
Today, the Bonnstan is considered a protected historic site, although the individual chambers are still owned by local families. On Midsummer, you can still get a glimpse of what life used to be like hundreds of years ago as families flock to carry on the merry traditions that have played out on this spot since the seventeenth century.
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| Wildflowers being woven for a Midsummer Crown Photo Erik Lundmark |
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| Cheerful windows at the Bonnstan Photo by Erik Lundmark |
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| Flika and Pojke Traditional Swedish boy and girl Photo by Erik Lundmark |
