The Lushest/Luscious Summer Flora, from Scandinavia

Lea Lane

Location: Florida, USA
Birthday: August 26

Title: freelance writer/editor

Bio: “I’ve discovered the secret of life,” Kay Thompson, the eccentric entertainer and “Eloise” author, once said. “A lot of hard work, a lot of sense of humor, a lot of joy and a lot of tra-la-la!” And that's been my life: As a travel writer for over 30 years, I've been around the block (more like around the world), and I write true stories about interesting people and places. I've lived an unconventional life in conventional trappings. Been a corporate VP, worked with foster kids, acted in an Indie ("Nurse 1"), was on Jeopardy!. I've been managing editor of a travel publication, written for the Times, and authored books. OS is my home, but I also blog on The Huffington Post, and I've contributed (mostly anonymously) to everything from encyclopedias to guidebooks. Married young, divorced late; married late, widowed early, I dated lots in-between -- and survived a scary illness. After being happily, peacefully solo for many years, I'm now happily married again. I founded and still edit www.sololady.com, a lifestyle Website for single women. I'm truly grateful for each precious day, each well-earned wrinkle, my family, my cat. Truth, laughter, friendship, late love. And this blog -- on this wonderful site!

MY RECENT POSTS

A Sad Parallel: Reflecting on the Suicide of Mary Kennedy
May 17, 2012 11:26PM
Wild Hair on Wild Hatch: A Sassoon Moment
May 09, 2012 10:38PM
Two Dog Years
April 18, 2012 03:04PM
Bits & Pieces
March 28, 2012 02:56PM
Bandstand & The Headband
April 19, 2012 08:34AM

MY RECENT COMMENTS

Lea Lane's Links

LINKS: -MY SON'S MEMOIR, THE ZEROES, Now in Paperback; -CLICK HERE TO AID FAMINE VICTIMS IN SOMOLIA; -MY WEBSITE FOR SOLO WOMEN
Favorite THINGS posts: -A-Z Travel Tips; -My Last Meals; -Poem:This Golden Moment; -Scars; -Eating Blind; -I'm a Mad Men Gal; -The Anniversary I'll Never Forget; -My Son Lost His Shirt and Found The Zeroes!; -10 Books in a Blink; -How Unrelated Symptoms Saved My Life; -Yeats/Torture; -Is Empathy a Pejorative?; -Media Vultures on Death Watch; -Has America Jumped the Shark?; -Why I Stay Here; -A White-Knuckle Landing; -15 ways to Cut Back; -Birth & Death: The Circle of Life; -Fear of Flying & My Near Misses; -Waiting for the Blood Test; -When a Post Goes Viral; -25 Things About Me; -I Don't Celebrate Christmas; -A Scary Dream; -Racing at 150 mph!; -Quarantined on Thanksgiving; -Musings, 3 am; -Remembering Racism; -Problems with August; -Losing a Dream, Losing a House
Favorite FUN posts: -Why My Cat Sits Joins Us at Dinner; -Five Ways to Keep Mad Men; -The Weirdest Meat I Ever Ate; -"Independents" Day!; -Real Lessons from The Real Housewives; -Another Husband for a Minute; -Joan Walsh, Where are You?; -Monkey Business!; -10 Unexpected Bonuses from Health Reform; -About My Bidet; -What Happened in Vegas?; -No Sex & 9 Other Ways to Spring Ahead; -To Suzy: It's Over; -Valentine Poem for Sweetie; -Why Bill Maher is Angry; -iPuke? iPeek?; -The Embarrassing Things in My Purse; -Resolutions I Will NOT Make; -Ode to My Tweezers; -Ode to a Groundhog; -My Reality TV Addiction; -I Got Published in the New Yorker; -Broccoli Obama; -101 Words: He Never Calls, He Never Writes; -I'm Not Who You Think I Am
Favorite PEOPLE posts: -The Reality of Ramona; -Happy First Anniversary, Love; -Messages from the Donald; -The Bellman With Tourettes; -Elvis Trivia; -The Woman Who Slept with Rohairmoo; -Chelsea Clinton & Moi; -What Fay Vincent Told Me about Steinbrenner; -Why I Didn't Love Daddy; -A Play Connects to Famous People I've Known; -Remembering Rue McClanahan; -My Son Just Married Me!; -Rick Died & I Was There for Him; -For Nathan, Who Was only Two; -Unexpected Lovers at Passover; -Six Degrees of Separation; -Porn King, Coke Prez, Murderer; -My 2000 NYT Interview; -My Man in Rio; -You Caught Me, I'm in Love; -Dumped By Answering Machine; -My Best Friend Ended Her Life at 37; -to lea at 17; -Phyllis Schlafly Drooled on Me; -Best in Show? Not This Lover; -The Man Who Met Einstein; -The Sahalis: Symbol of a Decade?; -To My Sister, On a Big Birthday; -My Birthday/Blogiversary; -Mad Men: When My Bosses Were My Lovers; -Julia (and Other Famed Chefs); -A Nice Jewish Girl Named for a Racetrack; -A Conehead at the Fair: A Summer Tale; -Anne Frank Would Have Been 80; -Did I Really Just Tell You That?; -Becoming Invisible; -Elizabeth Edwards, Joan Rivers: Two Moms; -My Surprising Talk With a Naked Actor; -Why I'm Alone; -Kate Winslet and Other (Drama) Queens; -My Valentine Lover, 2006; -My Life in 100 Words; -One Snowy Dud, One Sexy Stud; -My Gender Bender, Victor-Victoria Cruise; -How I Wound Up in Claus Von Bulow's Apartment; -To Odetta; -My Late-in-Life Love; -An Ugly Duckling OS Tale; -To My Neighbor Hillary; -OJ: You're Finally Juiced; -On Being Single; -Wisdom from a Hooker; -The Seeing-Eye man; -Two Weddings and a Funeral; -Ted Kennedy's Brave Fight, and My Husband's; -Dinner with Hill and Bill; -The Abuser
Favorite PLACES posts: -Four-Part Antarctica Series; -Keukenhof garden, Amsterdam; -Belgian Spring; -Mugged in Stockholm; -A Life Along I-95; -A Magic Invite to Firenze; -On New Zealand's Milford sound; -Honeymoon Blip on the Black Sea; -Eat, Pray, Scratch in Bali; -Americana: Mohonk Then & Now; -Scary Journey on the Norwegian Ferry; -The World's Most Colorful Neighborhood; -The Magical Slot Canyon; -The Other Ground Zero; -India Life Lessons; -Wild Dogs in Romania; -Flutterbies in the Amazon, & Leo; -Blue Lights in Barcelona; -Crossing the Atlantic; -Two Faraway Thanksgivings, & What I Learned; -Sabrina's Walk of Remembrance in NYC; -South Beach: Hot & Cool; -Watching Greenland Melt; -Carnaval in Colombia; -Alone on a Cliff; -An Irish Ramble; -Dramatic Polar Photos; -Argentina: Penguins, Penguins, Penguins!; -New York's High Line

« Back to Posts

AUGUST 14, 2011 3:11PM

Rate: 18 Flag

Summers are short in Scandinavia, but long summer days stretch brightly into evening, slowly ripening sun-seeking, eager flowers and jewel-tone fruits and vegetables.

The colorful, glorious seasonal bounty is all the more beautiful for its brevity.

___

I shot these images in Kristianstad, Norway -- at a farmers market ...

Norwegian girl, at the market

And in Gothenburg, Sweden at that city's botanical garden ...

Swedish girl, at the garden

I combined these images of Scandinavian flowers and fruits and vegetables together, as a tribute to nature's fleeting summer abundance.

green and golden

radishy

flamboyant

dappled

crunchy

textured

beckoning

it's the berries

fuzzy and frilly (with bee)

it's the cherries

mixing it up

summer fireworks

scarlet, tinged with sunshine

Wherever you may be, here's to stopping and smelling the flowers, savoring the ripe summer fruit, and appreciating the warm, sunny days of August.

Summer is precious, and so is Life!

Author tags:

flowers, fruits, vegetables, travel, sweden, norway, summer

Your tags:

TIP:

Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!

Comments

Post a comment

Lea, that's a beautiful juxtaposition of farmers' market and Scandinavian flowers! Looks like an abundance of produce at the market right around now, just as we have in this region. As it is with so many others summer is my favorite season! Thank you for sharing your wonderful thoughts and photos with us!

designanator

August 14, 2011 03:34 PM

You are most welcome. Hope you enjoy a piece of ripe, juicy fruit soon!

Lea Lane

August 14, 2011 03:39 PM

Beautiful beautiful colours....where soon it will be white. Appreciating the flowers here, tho the heat and lack of rain has taken the edge off...

Myriad

August 14, 2011 03:44 PM

Beautiful, Lea. What a great trip it sounds like. Enjoy.

trilogy

August 14, 2011 04:37 PM

Your colors are so vivid! I enjoyed your pictures and words very much..

Lunchlady 2

August 14, 2011 04:41 PM

Thanks, my ladies. I think of summer as just that: vivid

Lea Lane

August 14, 2011 05:13 PM

So beautiful Lea! Makes me wish I were there.

lschmoopie

August 14, 2011 05:29 PM

Yes, summer is precious and life is too!!! Great photo essay! Glad you had this wonderful journey to share with all of us here.

SheilaTGTG55

August 14, 2011 05:30 PM

A beautiful post, Lea. I love the radishes! ~r

Joan H.

August 14, 2011 05:32 PM

Beautiful!

Procopius

August 14, 2011 05:35 PM

Lea, gorgeous photography! Summer flowers and vegetables make a feast for the eyes. Now for some summer sounds?

C Berg

August 14, 2011 05:48 PM

Lea what beautiful photos and an ode to sumertime. I'm still going to Finland a few weeks late, Aug 18-24. Will it be cold? More to the point, will we get 20 hours of daylight? I thought you took an airbus back to Miami. Glad you are still in the North, if you are. R

wendyo

August 14, 2011 06:08 PM

Wendy, it was very cold in August. 50s on some days, and often cloudy. But I loved getting away from the Florida heat. Layering is best. And yes, I took the airbus 380 back to Miami. Loved it-- even a cupholder, And we could watch the entire flight with a cockpit view, from our own video screens.

Lea Lane

August 14, 2011 06:23 PM

I keep telling myself that I won't be jealous of all your travels and all you see, but I keep failing. Luscious indeed, beautiful photos, beautiful post, beautiful Lea.

bbd

August 14, 2011 06:39 PM

Barry, there is much time for you to travel far. And there are ways to do it. I used writing, and still do, to be my wings. You can find your way through your talents when the time is right.
But I've found magic in even the closest of things if I keep my senses open to them. More so lately as I understand better the innate beauty of even the simplest of things,the closest of things.

Lea Lane

August 14, 2011 07:37 PM

Wonderful. My favorite is "Mixing it up." I love the way the yellow flower says, "I'm so much better than all the rest!"

Spike The Chicken

August 14, 2011 07:45 PM

Lovely photos. Actually, save for the sculpture, they reminded me of the Pacific Northwest. Must be why my ancestors liked it here.

Maureen J Andrade

August 14, 2011 08:15 PM

The color just pops right off the page! Thanks for sharing~

Susie Lindau

August 14, 2011 08:52 PM

The weather in Helsinki can be found at http://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/weather/Helsinki

The days currently are mild but the nights can be chilly. Warmer weather is predicted. Dawn currently starts at about 5 am and I think the sun goes down about 10 pm. It's still quite pleasant here.