Strawberry Season

In my other blog today I have a picture of a strawberry cake, and Sandra (from sunny Florida) wanted to know whether we grow our own strawberries in Sweden. Yes we do. We usually get the first Swedish ones in time for Midsummer (at least here in the south), and the season lasts towards the end of July, something like that. This year, because spring was late and the early summer rather chilly, the price of strawberries for Midsummer was WAY up, since they are an important part of our Midsummer food traditions. I bought one carton on Midsummer Day, even though it was ridiculously expensive. Today I bought another, but at almost half the price compared to Saturday. I feel pretty certain that in a week or so the price will be even lower. 

There are also strawberry farms where you can go and pick your own and then of course they’re cheaper still. But I buy mine at the supermarket or in the marketplace in town; I only buy them to eat fresh, and not to make jam etc. It’s one of the things that I indulge myself with in the summer season.

PS. The kitchen scales in the second picture once were my grandmother’s, now mine.

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. 

Midsummer's Eve

Midsummer Dance by Anders Zorn, 1897

In Sweden, Midsummer's Eve was formerly celebrated on June 23th, but since the 1950's on the Friday between June 19th and June 25th (and Midsummer's Day on the Saturday). It is probably the most uniquely Swedish of all our holidays. The main celebrations take place on the Friday, and traditionally include raising and dancing around a huge maypole (majstång), nowadays usually called midsummerpole (midsommarstång), decorated with leaves and flowers. The connection to fertility is naturally linked to the time of year.

Folk music is played and some people (especially folk musicians and dancers) wear traditional costumes. The menu usually includes pickled herring (which I never much liked, though), the first potatoes of the season, and the first strawberries. Many people also drink a lot of alcohol; but alcohol was never part of my own family traditions. Actually, come to think of it, neither was the maypole nor the dancing...! In my teens and later, though, I sometimes took part in bigger midsummer festivities, maypole dancing included. I especially remember the first midsummer I was allowed to spend with friends, and stay out all night. (I must have been 18 because I had got my driver's license; so I suppose no one could forbid me, really...) At that age especially, one is supposed to stay up all night (it's the shortest night of the year) and watch the sun rise early in the morning. It was exciting mainly because it was the first time. It was also cold and damp and a lot of mosquitoes...

Traditionally, Midsummer was thought to be one of the times of the year when magic was strong, so it was considered a good night to perform rituals to look into the future. For example, to pick a bouquet of seven or nine different flowers and put them under your pillow and then in your dream you would see your future spouse.

This year, I'm quite satisfied "celebrating" by just having a quiet day to myself, after the past very intense weeks. It's been raining most of the day anyway. I had chicken instead of herring (which, as I said above, I never liked), but I did have strawberries and icecream.

The neighbourhood is very quiet, I suppose most of the neighbours have gone away to celebrate.

At this age, I have no desire whatsoever to stay up all night; on the contrary, I very much hope I'll be able to go to sleep at my usual bedtime, and not wake up until well past the sunrise... ;-)