It is midsummer celebration day in Finland, which is normally a time to hang out with friends and family, having a drink in the countryside. However, we haven't done that this year for various reasons, so it was the three of us like normal, seeing what we could get up to.
Not much.
Most things are obviously closed, as the city normally gets pretty deserted during midsummer, though "luckily" this has been changing in the last few years. I think it is partly because more people are giving up owning a cottage in preference of travelling internationally more, which leaves stragglers in the urban areas.
We went and played minigolf, and it was full.
After the round, we had a table booked at a large converted farmhouse in the countryside, about a thirty minute drive from the city. We hadn't been to this place before and it was a pleasant surprise at how nice it was. Again, the stragglers that had nowhere else to go or were too old for the cottage, had booked tables there too, so it was an early dinner for us.
It is also too windy.
The other reason to go out to the country was to enjoy the bonfire tradition, where there is a large fire built that burns through the late night - even though "night" is relative here at the moment, since it doesn't get completely dark. However, because the winds are so high, the bonfire at this place couldn't be lit for fire risk, as it could light up the surrounding forest. So, we walked around in the sun (and the gale winds) for a bit, and then headed on home to play word games and Uno.
Quite different to the midsummers twenty years ago.
But, it is nice to have a long weekend and spend time as a family. The weeks before summer vacation are incredibly busy for me and I still have one week to go to try and kick as many of my tasks forward, so that I can hit my quarterly targets for bonus. thirteen weeks work in eight weeks of extra work isn't exactly the easiest, but I am still going to aim for it.
The rest of this weekend however, we have no plans I think, so we might take Smallsteps to the local amusement park, even though she is still too short to go on most of the rides. She doesn't have tall genes, and most of her friends are able to enjoy the "big kid" rides - though she will have to wait til next year - or perhaps the year after.
I am tall enough, but I get motion sick on the rides now.
Well, from now on, the summer days will start getting shorter again until we are in the pitch black 18 hours of the day around Christmas time again. Which makes me a bit sad - perhaps I should move us to Spain.
There is still something to look forward to tonight though.
A gin and tonic.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]