Yesterday was the summer solstice for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. How did you celebrate the arrival of summer and the longest day of the year?
In Thousandlakez, midsummer is a paid day off, which means we all empty the cities and head for the closest lakeside cottage to get hammered.
Since Sami is still Far Far Away, Annika took me in and we revived an old tradition of spending midsummer at her parent's house in Hämeenlinna. I was eager to get my groove on, so I made the hour-long drive on thursday as soon as I got off from work. On friday morning I was already at the square of heavenly peace:
On thursday evening when I got there, I was immediately greeted by the herd of dogs that reside here.
Pepi here frenched me as soon as I got out of the car, and being deprived of hugs and kisses for over a month now, I was not far from spooning that dog. She loves me to bits and pieces for some reason that is beyond me, but I suspect it's because she knows I'm most allergic to her. The three other members of the pack, the minidogs, don't shed as much but are equally adorable.
On friday morning, we di what every Finn does on midsummer: packed a lot of food and a lot of drinks, and headed out to Annika's lakeside sauna. The sauna, sadly, was busted from only 40 years of active use, so we had to borrow the neighbor's lakeside replica. That is where we met our man for the midsummer: Batman.
Batman is "4 years old, soon six" (it must work differently in bat-years) and will not be featured in pics here to protect the privacy of his lair. He did, however, let us in on the secrets of owning your batmanism heart, body and soul, in the sauna:
"What's your favourite soda?"
"Batman-soda"
"Really? What does it taste like?"
"Like Batman"
Heart, body, and soul!
We stayed to watch the midsummer bonfire, and I tried to convince Batman I'd make an amazing Robin, but apparently I don't wear spandex that well. So, after drowning my sorrows of this unsuccessful career-change in a few a-mazing hotshots, it was time for the bonfire. It's a tradition here, to have a midsummer-night bonfire, but it's usually too dry or too rainy for that.This year, however, it had just stopped raining, and with the help of 10 liters of gasoline leet skillz, the fire was going.
Late in the night, we headed back to our lakeside cottage and went to sleep. I stayed for most of saturday too but had to come back home in the evening because I have to wash a lot of clothes before I head to Turku on tuesday. Unless I choose to walk around nekkid after the operation, of course.
All in all I enjoyed myself like a queen. Annika and her parents are always so welcoming, and it's always fun to go there since I know the neighbors and a lot of their friends from 10-12 years back by now. It's always fun to get up to date on what everyone is doing, and I really forget time and space when I'm there. I think I even got a little of the weight I've lost back because I was so totally spoiled over there. I swear, I was fed like I was going to be the main dish at the christmas table.
Once again, it was pure heaven. I can't really describe what a silent lake, good friends and good food do to a soul, so I think I'll end this post with a pic.