Juhannus - Midsommar - Midsummer

"Before 1316, the summer solstice was called Ukon juhla, after an old Finnish god Ukko. In Karelia, people had many bonfires side by side, the biggest of which was called Ukko-kokko (the "bonfire of Ukko") Now in Finland the midsummer holiday (Juhannus — or midsommar for the Swedish-speaking minority), is a notable occasion for drunkenness and revels. As in Sweden, maypoles have been transferred to the midsummer festivities, and pickled herring is the hallmark of the coastal areas, where also the Finland-Swedish language and culture have their stronghold. In the rest of Finland, a bonfire (kokko) take the place of the maypole, and smoked fish from the nearby lake is eaten instead of pickled herring. Midsummer in Finland is celebrated at least as intensely as in Sweden. Many people get indecently drunk and happy. The statistics of the number of people drowned and killed in accidents is morbidly counted every year. Also statistics of assaults demonstrates a peak for this weekend." (Source Wikipedia) According to Helsingin Sanomat (leading national paper in Finland) there were 7 deaths in the Midsummer Eve celebrations; only 3 drowned though and 2 died in car accidents and 2 in fires. More Midsummer info... My Midsummer Eve included some house cleaning, 30 kms cycling through Finnish "countryside", traditional Midsommer food with a pint of cider, good company, beautiful night scenerys, camera, sea, mosquitos, hedgehog and staying awake for 24 hours. Now I feel a bit tired, but hey, it was worth it! The weather was sooooo great (no rain this year :)) and the night soooo beautiful! More Midsummer pics... Today I should go to gym, but need to recover first. My workout schedule is changing today, so I gotta check out what my next 4 week training period looks like. I`m gonna continue with Max-OT 5 times per week. This method suits me well and I think the results has also been nice ;)

Näin ajatteli Hermis klo 6/25/2005 02:58:00 ip.