I'm not doing anything particular to celebrate it, though I did go visit this huge, exciting port area which is now torn down and open to all before they start building a new city district there. I also got some food treats, some cheeses etc which I'm going to enjoy later on.
The Midsummer's celebration is a bit of a weird one in Finland. Just about everyone who can goes to the countryside, to summer cottages, rented cabins, countryside relatives. That's sort of what one is supposed to do, it seems. It stems from an idealized image of some kind of a countryside elysium, where cities do not exist, where young men and women, pure of heart and mind, play in the fields (full of flowers of course) in the warm summer's night, where there are no mosquitoes, there is the scent of fresh birch branches in the sauna and the cuckoo cuckoo's. Of course there is a lake nearby.
The reality is something different, of course. Right now it's only about +12 or +13 C and it has been raining most of the day so far. The countryside is ALWAYS full of mosquitoes, that's a given. I'm pretty sure city kids often get bored out of their wits forced to stay in the countryside for an extended time. Quite possibly countryside relatives often get endlessly tired of their visiting city relatives. If there are problems in a family, extended holidays are a typical time to heighten those problems - not helped by the consumption of alcohol, which is quite excessive around Midsummer's weekend in Finland. Of course, it's excessive at other times too but Midsummer's celebration is a time when it goes absolutely over the top.
Actually, I quite like roasting sausages on an open fire on a summer evening. But not when it's like this:
The Midsummer's celebration is a bit of a weird one in Finland. Just about everyone who can goes to the countryside, to summer cottages, rented cabins, countryside relatives. That's sort of what one is supposed to do, it seems. It stems from an idealized image of some kind of a countryside elysium, where cities do not exist, where young men and women, pure of heart and mind, play in the fields (full of flowers of course) in the warm summer's night, where there are no mosquitoes, there is the scent of fresh birch branches in the sauna and the cuckoo cuckoo's. Of course there is a lake nearby.
The reality is something different, of course. Right now it's only about +12 or +13 C and it has been raining most of the day so far. The countryside is ALWAYS full of mosquitoes, that's a given. I'm pretty sure city kids often get bored out of their wits forced to stay in the countryside for an extended time. Quite possibly countryside relatives often get endlessly tired of their visiting city relatives. If there are problems in a family, extended holidays are a typical time to heighten those problems - not helped by the consumption of alcohol, which is quite excessive around Midsummer's weekend in Finland. Of course, it's excessive at other times too but Midsummer's celebration is a time when it goes absolutely over the top.
Actually, I quite like roasting sausages on an open fire on a summer evening. But not when it's like this:
Rainy Midsummer's Eve from Maria Niku on Vimeo.
7 comments:
Well Maria, I think I would agree with you here! Luckily for us, we are having quite a pleasant spell at the moment, so I hope our midsummer's eve isn't the wash out that your film depicts!
To be honest, I haven't noticed anyone celebrating midsummer here at all...maybe they think it's something only for hippies and esoteric types ;-)
oh yes, being outside, camping, around a campfire is always much much better when the weather is good.
We are into summer now, so no rain until probably end of Sept./Oct. and then it won't be much.
have a good weekend.
Hi Maria - it's nice to come back and see you again. Your weather in midsummer seems to be strangely similar to ours in midwinter - except that today we have brilliant sunshine, even though the max temperature is forecast at 16 degrees. However, I expect yours will get warmer again, and ours colder. Too cold for me!
I should scroll back and see what your mother's PhD subject is, but as time is tight today I'll ask you instead. Again, I'm so impressed with the way you celebrate learning in Finland. It must be a very enlightened country. Certainly your social infrastructure seems to support this.
How are you balancing your photography / film work and your research? Last time I was here you were getting a lot of professional interest in your pictures through one of the sites, which sounded very promising.
I quite like the idea of you as a sort of Finnish Renaissance woman, gifted across genres, areas of intellectual pursuit and media. Live the life.
Hi Vally,
Yep, all that druids and Stonehenge stuff :-) I don't know why it's so big in Finland. Maybe because it's only about half a century ago that the country was an agrarian society.
Hi Grace,
It's fun to think of the different climates. Does it get dry there in the summer?
Hi Margie,
Good to hear from you after such a long while! I hope life is good even if it's busy. I'll visit your blog as soon as possible to catch some details.
The subject of my mother's thesis is poetry in Martin Heidegger's philosophy.
As for my research and photography: luckily I'm in a situation where I can choose my schedule. Sometimes it just happens that the work isn't getting anywhere. Then it's no use forcing it, and I can go out with the camera. Also, I have a key to the library so I can take pictures in the morning, and go to work later, or vice versa. I'm still in the photography site, though I haven't sold more than one picture so far.
oh, it gets incredibly dry. Fire danger the whole nine yards. have to be careful of so much as cutting the grass, the littlest spark could start a horrible forest fire. ( I am in a rural area, lots of open land ) We have had such little rain this winter and last winter, there still is the threat of water shortage. The hills go from green to brown. I love the sun, but by August, I wish for just a few drops of rain to wet things down.
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