On Friday I posted a lovely family photo of our Valborg bonfire. In the comments section Kate wrote,"Glad Valborg! Må så gott. Kram." Which means,"Happy Valborg! Be Well or Take care of yourself! Hugs." This left many wondering what is Valborg and what is their funny Swedish American friend doing now?

Lit bonfires mark the tradition of "sista April", or the last day of april. As we gather around the "majbrasor"(may fires) with our family and friends, we listen to choirs, sing songs of spring, eat gravad lax and do what Swedes do best…..celebrate.

Some of the strongest Valborg traditions remain at Sweden's two oldest universities, Lund in the South and Uppsala, to the North of Stockholm.  From early in the morning to late at night, white capped students sing the songs of spring.

Here in the States, if there aren't fire or rain advisories, we celebrate in much the same ways. Some of the songs may be lost but the tradition of officially ending winter and welcoming in spring has continued to be a tradition.

Throughout the fall and winter we cut back our gardens and forests and put it on the "bonfire" pile. On the last day of April we light the fire. It actually stems from an old pagan ritual.

This year, we had a fire advisory so the bonfire pile became mulch for the garden. After the fire advisory came the flood warnings and massive amounts of rain. The one thing that wasn't dampened, our spirits. We still pulled out the hot dogs and other traditional foods and ended winter. Happy Spring!

For a taste of Sweden on Valborg Eve, listen to a familiar favorite,"Vintern Rasat", The Winter has Fallen. You can find it on itunes as well from Träsan.

Do you want to sing along? Here are the words.

Vintern Rasat

Vintern rasat ut bland våra fjällar,
drivans blommor smälta ned och dö.
Himlen ler i vårens ljusa kvällar,
solen kysser liv i skog och sjö.
Snart är sommarn här i purpurvågor,
guldbelagda, azurskiftande
ligga ängarne i dagens lågor,
och i lunden dansa källorne.

Ja, jag kommer! Hälsen, glada vindar,
ut till landet, ut till fåglarne,
att jag älskar dem, till björk och lindar,
sjö och berg, jag vill dem återse,
se dem än som i min barndoms stunder
följa bäckens dans till klarnad sjö,
trastens sång i furuskogens lunder,
vattenfågelns lek kring fjärd och ö.

Happy Valborg from all of us here.