The North Pole will slowly begin to turn away from the sun after reaching its climax last Thursday, the Summer Solstice of the Northern Hemisphere. In Sweden it’s a holiday and a time of celebration. We raise May Poles, eat pickled fish, drink herb infused spirits, dance silly dances, and sing songs about frogs having no ears. It’s a mix of pagan, Christian, and other influences that has evolved, mainly, over the last 100 years, or so it seems.

We kept to the pickled fish, beer, and potatoes, and skipped the May Pole and the earless frogs. None the less, it was a fabulous day with blue skies and sunshine, and family. The weather is generally problematic on Midsummer, usually a mix of sun and rain to keep everyone anxious about whether to eat the pickled fish outside, or inside. This year we didn’t have to worry, not a raindrop to be seen so we spent the whole day outide, and into the late evening playing music games.

The weeks leading up to Midsummer, and the day after were another story. Rain, wind, and more rain. Some short spells of sunshine between the showers kept us from loosing hope altogether. We fear that the summer will be like last year, when it rained away altogether. Well, it remains to be seen, it’s still ahead of us.

Took a coupe of photographs of Cooper reluctantly wearing a crown of flowers in honour of the day. Other than that I didn’t take any pictures on Midsummer so I have little proof that it was a fantastic day. I have some of the week before, and the day after that clearly show the dull and dreary weather we’ve been having. As pictures I actually prefer them to the sunny, blue sky stuff. More mood, more emotion. I posted some on Instagram and called them “Nordic noir”.