How do you know if it's hygge, mys, koselig, or gezelligheid?

It's finally getting cold here and we're trying to embrace every Scandinavian philosophy that we can discover about enjoying life despite the short days and chilly temperatures. Hygge is old news, so is Swedish logam. Today's word is friluftsliv, another Norwegian word. It translates as open air living and emphasizes getting outdoors no matter the weather. So even though it felt like zero degrees, we went for a long walk as soon as we got up this morning. My eyebrows froze, Sam's glasses were perpetually fogged, but we got to see unusual stuff--interesting ice formations where freshwater enters the ocean, bufflehead ducks doing their amazing dives (but not close enough for a decent photo), and more mallards than we've ever seen in one sighting. And no matter the weather the coast is lovely. Now it's getting dark. Maybe we'll give koselig a try tonight and see if it works better than hygge, mys, or gezelligheid. How many words do Northern Europeans have for this stuff?!

The Rockland Christmas tree made of stacked lobster traps
The Rockland Christmas tree made of stacked lobster traps


Ice where a stream enters to ocean
Ice where a freshwater stream enters to ocean (note how they winterize the ships!)

Sunset the other night at our turnaround spot
Sunset the other night at our turnaround spot

We had the beach to ourselves! Yay! Water temperature 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Boo!
We had the beach to ourselves! Yay! Water temperature 47 degrees Fahrenheit. Boo!

Candlelit coziness. How do you tell your hygge from mys or koselig?