It’s getting colder. I can tell because every time I go outside, I put on one more layer than last time.
My husband works outdoors, and he has a rule. He starts wearing long underwear on the day the primstav turns to the winter side. That day is October 14. Today.
A primstav is an old Norwegian calendar. A long wooden stick with a notch for every day of the year and carved symbols for the days that matter. One side is summer. The other side is winter. Today is marked with a mitten.
So October 14 is the first day of winter. It’s also Flyttedagen, Moving Day. This was the day farm workers changed jobs. Maids and farmhands packed up and moved from one farm to the next. My grandmother told me that when she was young, there were long lines outside the employment office on October 14. (There was a spring version too, on April 14. Twice a year, the whole countryside played musical chairs.)
People used to change jobs on October 14.
My husband changes into wool long underwear.
And I’m starting to think he’s onto something.
Knowing what to wear is part of being outside. Wool socks beat cotton socks. Especially when they get wet. Which they will.
Maybe it’s time to dig out my wool underwear, too.
Day 3: Time for another layer?
Want to join the challenge?