Midsummer is upon us.
Well, not quite yet, as the longest day will be on Saturday, but Friday is midsummer eve and that is the day to "celebrate" the spiritual start of summer. And for once, the weather looks like it might actually be sunny and warmish, which is rare. Quite often, it is pretty miserable.
So what we are going to do is head into the country to my sister-in-law's summer cottage to grill some burgers, have a sauna, and lose the winter fur coat. That doesn't mean shave the privates - rather, take a dip into the lake for the first time after the winter. The water is pretty warm in some places now, but that doesn't mean that warm. Still, with a sauna a few steps from the lake, it is a nice way to cool off between rounds.
Normally more drinks would be involved, but since I am driving, it will likely only be a glass of champagne with lunch, and a cider in the sauna. I am not a big drinker anyway, but it would sometimes be nice to get tipsy. It is rare.
I don't know what the rest of the plans are for the day, but I am hoping that either we get home early-ish or they are willing to put the AUS-USA game on, because I would like to watch. It is very likely that it is going to be a blowout game in USA favour, but still, perhaps the underdogs will come good and get a surprise win, to silence a few critics.
But, I guess if I can't watch it, it isn't the end of the world, though I know that a couple of the family are into football and they might be keen to kick back with a beer and tune in. I am sure if Finland were playing, it wouldn't be an issue - but they don't qualify. I could also watch it on my phone - but it is not quite the same.
We will be off by lunch time, so I have no idea if I am going to be online much at all, or if I will just resign myself to eating and pretending to listen to whatever conversations they have in Finnish - nodding occasionally, and making some sounds as if I understand.
It would be easier if drinking.
Lots of northern European countries celebrate midsummer in some way, because summers are so short and require taking advantage of. Any reason to grill and have a drink too - just like the pagans did it.
What I will try to do throughout the day and evening is take some photos and put them into a short post to show what it kind of looks like. I probably won't write much in that, unless we are home and I can do it at the PC, but pictures are nice too.
Oh, and on the longest day of the year, the sun will be up for 19.5 hours, and it won't get completely dark where I am. Further north, the sun won't set at all.
Any plans in your neck of the woods?
Taraz
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Do you ever miss talking with Australians in English? The sound of it? When I lived in the UK back before we had the internet so widely I would crave listening to the sound of my countrymen. Even being in an english-speaking country could make me homesick. I don't know whether that makes sense or not. Just that. I was thinking this week of Pauline Hansen saying that SBS should be a pay to watch or defunded and that if you in Australia you should speak English even at home. So watching the news in your home language shows that you aren't willing to embrace this culture. I thought it was so ignorant and sad. You can speak the language of your adopted country and try to understand its nuances but there is nothing like your mother tongue.
It has been so unusually warm this week down here in Vic. I can't remember a mid-winter like it. At first I thought it was because we moved to the coast and it was generally warmer but f****** it's been so crazy mild we've hardly had the wood burner on. As I write it's pissing down rain and should do for the rest of the week and it's a whole lot colder but even then not Finnish cold.
Yeah I do. Finns have a great sense of humor (sarcastic sense and often dark), but it is also different to the Australian style and people are less open. And then in English, it doesn't come through in the same way, or I don't understand :)
And then there is the very real coming issue that it doesn't matter what you speak because AI will always give us a common language. What happens to language identity then? What happens to the "have to speak local language to work" filter?
The weather is changing everywhere. Climate change is a thing, regardless of whether we caused it or. not. As I see it, we should be looking to reduce pollution so even if we live in a hot environment, at least it isn't hot and shitty.
Sounds both British and part of my family's humour which often doesn't go down very well haha... I adore the Finnish chic down the road whose humour seems very much my thing.
Oh I didn't even think of the AI common language. Nope, nope and nope. I suppose it's a whole different Earth. Like we are about to go galactic where Earthians have one language and off world we will encounter others/aliens with separate languages and the whole dilemma will repeat on a many worlds scale.
I think Australia and America game is played in Seattle, I work ten minutes away from the stadium on foot. Lots of soccer fans out and about and the game is still a day away...
Yeah it is in Seattle. Probably a good atmosphere around there.
I just hope it isn't a blowout. If Australia play well, they can win.
We are having a cookout tomorrow evening too, but not because of midsummer eve or Juneteenth, but because our great niece is in town and the family wants to see her. Plus Fathers day is on Sunday.
Juneteenth - is that really a thing? It sounds made up.
Father's day here is in November - and it is a bit of a non-event compared to mother's day :D
What are you grilling?
Yes it is. I don't live in an area where it is really celebrated though. Too Caucasian in my neck of the woods I guess. Right now I have some veggies smoking that we are going to turn into salsa, then I am going to grill some bratwurst for my inlaws.
The event goes hardly noticed here, but I like to give it a little nod and a wink of recognition just for the sake of balancing things out. We give the mid-winter one so much emphasis, strange we blank the mid-Summer.
I'm always a little sad at this time of year because soon the gradual shortening of the days will start. I love le bright mornings.
Looks like we'll have good weather too, that in itself makes for a good weekend.
What do you do for mid-winter?
Me too! And it used to be different when I was a bit younger in the summer - going out to terraces and bars when it was light, coming out when it was light. Never had to see darkness :D
I didn't do much, work mostly...lol! ,but I did enjoy a couple of beers in the sun later in the day , took a little time to sit and stare at the sparrows
Indeed, summer seems to be starting next week here as well as across Europe, with temperatures expected to exceed 30°C. I hope the next two months won't be too hot or too dry.
30+ would be really hot here. Might get a couple of those kinds of days, but not many :)
It's been two months now we have entered in summer and facing more then 30°C everyday, but the Nature is doing something different now, it's June 19th, we usually see 40+° but today it's just 27°C... I was feeling cold at night...