The Ghost of Midsummer Past

… The title alluding, of course, to “the ghost of Christmas past” in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens…

On my way home from the very crowded Midsummer’s Eve celebration in the museum park on Friday afternoon (link to Friday’s post in my Picture Book blog), I passed this smaller maypole of different design in a totally empty park closer to home. I knew there had been a smaller celebration there the day before – probably for elderly people living in the buildings close by – but as I passed on the actual Eve, it was deserted. Coming from that other place (where all the people were) the impression of loneliness was increased.

Looking through the photos now, some memories from the past came fluttering by. For young people, Midsummer’s Eve is a night to stay up late – preferably all night – together with friends. I do remember some such Midsummers. Since I spent them with friends from church though, and none of us drank alcohol, it never got really “wild”. For some people… unfortunately, Midsummer is drinking, to the extent that they can hardly even remember the next day what they did the night before. That (I’m glad to say) was never part of my own experience. But staying up all night was, on a few occasions.

I was never really a night-owl by nature, though. And these days I certainly am not! So what all this rambling down Memory Lane is leading up to… is that on this Midsummer’s Eve, in fact I had an unusually early night. I was going to add that I took David to bed with me, but then realized that very few readers will know who – or what – DaViD is. He’s a portable DVD-player. Well, now that I’ve enlightened you on that point, I can write it: I took David to bed with me. We watched one episode of Monk (American detective series) and then I told him to shut up and close his eye, and then I did the same; and I dare say we were both asleep by 10.30 pm.

Ironically, on a New Year’s Eve, an early night is not to think of, because then everyone is shooting fireworks all night long and especially around midnight. But on Midsummer’s Eve, it can be blissfully quiet around here, because 1/ fireworks are not part of the tradition, and 2/ most people seem to be celebrating Somewhere Else.