6 months, day 27 - Midsommar

As I mentioned before, we were invited to spend the midsommar (midsummer, in case that wasn't obvious) celebration with a colleague of James's and his family at their summer house in Årsta Havsbad, about 30 kilometers out of the city. Check out this video to learn about midsommar if you're interested. Midsommar is kind of like Thanksgiving and Fourth of July in one: it's all about food, family & friends, and some summertime shenanigans.

James, Augie and I slept in the little house on the property; about 20 feet from the main house, it held a bed, a table, a little bookshelf and this view. (We went to the main house for things involving running water):

We had lunch (pickled fish, new potatoes, local schnaps), then walked to the town's midsommar celebration along a footpath:

And emerged from the woods to find this scene. At the center is a maypole, and around it people are doing fertility dances:

But not Augie, who was sleeping:

We trundled home to have fika and play a Swedish lawn game:

The three of us sat on the dock for awhile, watching the water, surrounded by sun and wind and nature:

And eventually we settled into a delicious dinner of fish, potato salad, grilled vegetables, and I don't know what else. We talked late into the evening, as the moon rose over an island in the distance:

It was the first night that we've really been able to notice the light all night; in the city, we're surrounded by buildings and can't quite see the sunset or gauge how dark (or light) it is at midnight, but out in the countryside we could. When Augie woke me around 1am, I stepped outside. It was still a bit light, though the sun was below the horizon. By 3am it was morning light.

When we got up around 9am, we tried to take a dip in the Baltic Sea, but this is as far as I got:

That's our little house on the left, and the main house set back on the right:

We had breakfast and played the wooden stick game again before heading back to Stockholm:

This is out of chronological order, but here's a shot of Augie's response to, "It's time to take a nap."

As far as I can tell, the point of the day is to surround yourself with friends and family while eating and drinking heartily, soaking in the sun, surrounded by nature. If I were to invent a holiday, it would be exactly this. I look forward to incorporating this day of feasting, drinking, and having fun with people we love into our family's traditions.