Solstice

Tomorrow Monday it is solstice, the longest day of the year. The nights, because I live relatively far north, do not really get dark at all. If you go even further north, past the polar circle, the sun doesn’t set at all.  The weekend after solstice we celebrate midsummer, so I have a long weekend coming up. I am working all weekend though, but hopefully I will still get to participate in some of the festivities going on.

Midsummer celebration goes back a very long time in Scandinavian history. In Sweden midsummer represented a time for sacrifice before Christianity came along, so it is really a pagan holiday. In Finland it is also known as the birthday of John the Baptist. But these days, really and truly, midsummer is just an excuse to party. Everyone who has a summer house by a lake goes out to it, those who do not have one goes to visit someone who does. There will be lots of barbequing, dancing, bonfires, and, of course, vodka.

On Tuesday I am going to play the only kind of soccer I like, swamp soccer! I will write something about that afterwards.