In Scandinavia, we celebrate Midsummer by lighting huge bonfires and burn witches on them. Or well, these days we make straw dolls of witches and burn them instead. It’s such a wonderfully political incorrect tradition!
Despite it sounding a bit homicidal, it’s actually my favorite tradition. It’s the only time of year the people in my little town get together, and it’s one of the few traditions that hasn’t been tainted by people trying to make money off of it. Everyone get together on the eve of the Summer Solstice to watch the bonfire, sing Midsummer hymns and generally have a good time.
Where I live, it’s a tradition to walk in procession through the town while carrying torches. When the procession reaches the place where the bonfire is going to be, everyone help lighting it with the torch fire. Only problem, I always end up covered in kerosene and walk around in fear of lighting myself on fire. It hasn’t happened yet, but I have no doubt I will succeed at some point!
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This year wasn’t that remarkable. Someone had forgotten to put a witch on the bonfire, I very nearly ended up getting charged with sexual assault and my dogs shared their first beer. That pretty much sums the evening up.
It had rained all day, so I had been worried that we had to light the bonfire in rain. Luckily, it seemed to stop shortly before we all got together and it kept dry until the fire had almost burned out by itself anyway. Everything went smoothly, when you don’t count sudden, unexpected movements from my Samoyeds…
I was just admiring the flames, when Shika thought it was a brilliant idea to go say hello to the pack of Dachshunds that had arrived. And, of course, he took the straightest route there… Which was inbetween one of my neighbour’s legs.
That would have all been good and well, if I hadn’t been attached to the other end of the leash… The sudden movement had me stumbling and since the dog went between the guy’s legs, so did the hand I used to hang onto the leash with. I swear, those dogs are going to land me in jail one of these days…
But when you ignore the fact that I nearly groped one of my neighbours, and that someone asked me to get on the fire because we needed a substitute witch, it was a very nice evening.
And I didn’t set myself on fire this year either!
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