Day 48: Happiness in a solemn setting

The end of a singing workshop is always bittersweet. To have followed a group of people so closely for three full days, rejoiced at each achieved breakthrough, is truly a privilege. This particular group succeeded in creating a supportive and celebratory environment on top of it all. Sad to have it come to an end. And content in the knowledge that it is not the end. For many, this is just the beginning.

At lunchtime, I took a walk and wound up at the truly beautiful graveyard outside the church next door to where the workshop took place. This graveyard, like so many others in Sweden, is in full bloom right now, masses of flowers planted to decorate the graves of the people buried here. I was amused at the sign posted quite visibly on one of the lamp posts advising people that winter decorations and lanterns are allowed only between November and March. There was something touching too, at the thought that people come to decorate the graves seasonally.

Strewn along the many paths throughout the graveyard are sturdy benches, inviting to rest, contemplate and, yes...why not, sing. A most pleasant way to spend an hour, among the birds and trees and those many souls that have been laid to rest in this lovely oasis in the middle of town.