Thursday Thirteen Midsummer
1. Tomorrow, Friday the 23rd of June, we celebrate midsummer here in Sweden. Many workers begin their annual five weeks vacation now, so of course we like to celebrate it :-)
2. From the beginning it was more of a way for the farmers to celebrate the start of the summer and the fertility season. They offered floral decorations to the nordic goddess of fertility, Freja, to get healthy growing crops.
3. Now it has become the most Swedish of all traditions. If we ever really appreciate and love the Swedish Flag, this is the day. You see it every where, even as a table decoration.
4. Mostly the festivities is held out in the countryside, which means that Swedish citys - even our capital Stockholm - is more like ghost citys this holiday. People is deserting from the city at the latest the day before. It’s rush traffic out of town.
5. The main traditional thing to do, is to go out picking flowers and making wreaths to place on the maypole. The maypole is a tall pole with a cross on it, which we dance (quite silly :-) around singing some very traditional songs. This is so traditional that we do it even if it rains. And it does. Often. Not only where I am…*lol*
6. Midsummer is also the time when the swedish people which still is left with some folk costumes, dust them off and wears them. Once in a year time. Maybe also for some wedding event or something similar. It’s very popular with weddings at Midsummer.
7. Now we comes to the next most essentials besides Love: The traditional Midsummer Menu. It is boiled new potatoes, different sorts of pickled herring, red onion and soured cream to start with. The main course is often some grilled meat or salmon. As dessert it’s the first strawberries of the summer with whipped cream we really associate with Midsummer - or summer generally.
9. We drink cold beer and spiced schnapps (snaps in Swedish) to that and every time we refill the glasses, it’s time to start singing again. We like drinking songs (snapsvisor), and there are really speedy ones sometimes…. Oh, and did I mention that it usually comes some rain during the festivities? So it’s very common that we carry the tables with all the food in and out between the showers! *lol*
10. In the evening the dance is starting. The ideal is an outdoor dance floor situated some where beutiful, maybe at the shores of one of our 100 000 Swedish lakes. It’s a magical night and also very romantic. Many Love storys in Sweden starts (or ends!) this night.
11. Young girls were earlier practically vacuumcleaning *lol* the meadows for seven different kind of flowers on the way home from the dance, since there is this saying that: if they put the flowers under their pillow that night, they will dream about their future husband. Nowadays I’m not so sure any more, if the girls don’t want to get married or if they just believe in this tradition ;-)
12. Midsummer Night is the lightest day of the year and in Northern Sweden the sun never sets - i guess they get compensated for the dark winters when they hardly have any daylight at all. Here in Stockholm the sun will set, but it will not become completely dark.
13. We’re going to celebrate it with good friends in their home outside Stockholm, more like the countryside, a really traditional Midsummer with it all (so it won’t be any post here tomorrow, Friday). They have two horses at their home too, so they said we even will take a trip with a horse and cart. Awesome!
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