The locals speak of September as the month of a ‘second summer’, and the late afternoon sunlight streaming through the YIP office windows agrees. Wasps buzz lazily on a light breeze, the apples are all red now and hanging ripe, and the yippies are gathered in the Vita Huset main hall for their final workshop of the day. The weather …

It’s that time of year again Here in Ytterjärna the nights are beginning to darken and the apples are turning red. The sun is slowly kissing us goodbye and cool winds herald the arrival of autumn. Here in Ytterjärna there is a curious rhythm that can be observed – the land and the seasons begin their gentle descent into sleep, …

The epic splash from the twenty-five souls thrown softly into the Järnian pool has long ago been reabsorbed.  The ripples, which ebbed and bounced in beautiful arcs and coils for almost a year, have also departed for new horizons. As the pool finds stillness again, the silence that accompanies the becalmed water seems such a distant memory that it’s almost …

The end is approaching with a rapidity that seems to persistently increase.  Yet to pause in a moment, has Time fade to the background or drop away completely and what is left is blissful.  Laughter issuing from open windows as the sun summons trees to greenness as the seasons change almost overnight.  Joyful shouts and splashes dancing their way from the …

The explosiveness of the Swedish spring is imminent.  The birds have returned to their chortling rousts and the yellows, greens and purples are making their way out of their sleeping bulbs.  There is something magical about this time.  Just like the flora that surrounds us is waking up from winter, there is also a sensation of awakening within the group; …

As if on cue, curious green sprouts poked through soggy earth on the first day of spring, to gaze upon the world they had left behind in autumn.  The straight-backed, purple crocuses and modest snowbells exchanged excited laughs, reuniting with old friends and looking forward to the warmer months that awaited them.  And then, in a cold gust, the snow …

A slight feeling of warmth has returned to the rays of sun that cut diagonal light through the still-frozen tree branches and cast their long shadows in the patchy snow.  Like the sun, the Yippies too have returned with embracing warmth from migrations afar, renewed in spirit and resolve.  They arrived like a flood of energy, first one, then three, …

The first stinted winter temperatures have arrived in Ytterjärna, coupled with the first collective experience of a sub-zero climate.  Peppered within this collective are a few first-timers pulling scarves closer to chins and learning the practical language of layers and the consoling comforts provided by wool.  Already forever changed in their interpretations of Winter and Cold, the pervasive thought of …

Fall is here.  It arrived in quiet explosions of gold and yellow, brisk gusts of wind that brought down finished leaves and the swoosh-swoosh-swoosh sound of children’s boots walking along the forest paths.  Although it has been particularly dry and spectacularly sunny, jumps in the fjord are becoming less frequent and on most mornings a thickening frost covers each glassy …

As fall descends on Ytterjärna in crisp gusts, leaves begin to yellow and the day has decided to share equal time with the night, even if just for a moment.  The buzzing energy of arrival and the excitement of unexplored territory has gently receded in a comfortable exhale of growing familiarity.  The common room in Tallevana is filled with people …