Midsummer

It’s The longest day of the year. It’s called midsummer or summer solstice or (in Norway) St.Hans Aften. People are celebrating this evening, this long day. I remember many of those evenings in Norway. The sun would be above the horizon until 11pm and it would re-appear at around 2am. For those among us who need darkness to sleep, it was a difficult time. Some people hung dark curtains over the windows. I never felt that way. I still can sleep in broad daylight. It doesn’t bother me a bit. Bea always had an eye cover. Having a bonfire is what most people do on St.Hans Aften. Unfortunately, many times it had started raining around midsummer night and then it was damp or downright pouring. Bugs were always plentiful and if one didn’t have a repellent one would look like a German Streusel Cake the day after. Many times, we did spend the evening inside, were simply forced to. Tonight I have no fire and no guests hanging around. But I will be sitting up a bit longer than usual and remember by-gone years. Today I also remembered our friend Earl, who left this world about a year ago after a year of battling cancer. It was a very sad time for us. I called his wife Carol today and we talked about Earl. It still hurts.