Midsummer and other animals

Over the past months the weather has been lousy in Stockholm. Rainy almost every day, especially weekends. We normally take long walks and rides over weekends, but it has been impossible. By the time this past weekend came, I had severe cabin fever.

Last Friday was Swedish Midsummer Eve. The time of year when Swedes are happiest and where the celebrations are really big. The weather was epic. Hot (maybe a little too hot at 30°C/86°F) and humid but better than cold and rain! We spent the day with friends having a picnic and Yatzy at Skansen. The sky was blue, the grass was green, the company was wonderful. There were loads of people but Skansen is big, so it was not crowded except in the ice cream queue and at the raising of the maypole. I got quite sunburned, despite sunscreen.

I felt sorry for the blacksmiths, using old methods to make metal items while standing in the boiling sun all day, so I bought an iron ring with the names of three Norse goddesses (Freya, Skadi and Sif) written in runes. I normally find rune trinkets quite cheesy but the blacksmith spent a lot of time showing me how to read it and telling me why he chose goddesses rather than the more common gods.

On Saturday the weather was beautiful (thought very hot) again so we took an all-day ride through the countryside. It has been a while since the weather has been decent enough to go out on the bike.

On Sunday we had a car (we use car sharing) and went to get cat supplies and some things at IKEA. It was too hot for me on Sunday and the humidity was very high so I was uncomfortable all day, despite wearing a very light, cool dress. Thank goodness for air conditioning in the car. My husband took a photo and I realised afterwards that I looked really ill.

Towards the afternoon I started feeling the heat really badly, despite drinking fluids all day. I had a headache, nausea, a heat rash all over my body (very unusual as I am from Africa and used to high temperatures). I went to bed early on Sunday night…

…only to wake up at 3am with a high fever and soaking wet sheets. By 4am I dragged myself to the living room where I lay until it was a respectable time to get up. Not sure how I managed it but I taught all day (via Teams). In the evening I realised that this was not due to the heat, or a summer cold. So I took a lateral flow test (we had some at home), and yep, I have COVID-19. I took a second test just to make sure.

I am not sure when I was infected. My guess is Skansen, but it seems that the incubation period would be longer. Luckily (apart from last Friday) I am never in crowds, so hopefully I have not given it to anyone. No one that has been around me in the last week has it.

It goes to show that we are not out of the woods yet, and we should still be careful. I am lucky that I am triple vaccinated and that it is mild (so far) but it is still not very pleasant. I have about 5 more days inside, and hope I don’t get sicker.