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Midsummer - and no suck!

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  • Midsummer - and no suck!

    Over here in Finland, Midsummer is Serious Business. On Friday, the shops largely closed at noon, and the highways and railways out of the city were all filled to capacity. Bonfires will be lit all over the country today, and a large proportion of the population begins their long summer holiday and will therefore not come back for a while.

    So, I took the limited opportunity to refill my freezer in preparation for the weekend.

    On the way over to my friendly local co-operative supermegahypermarket, I noticed that the local roads were considerably quieter and emptier than usual. A lot of people had already left the city to beat the rush, while others were still packing up. Certainly nobody was going to or from work, or making deliveries. The sun was shining brightly, making it a wonderful day.

    Once inside however, it was clear that a lot of other people had the same idea that I did. In sharp contrast to the local roads, the store was busy as heck. However, it's big enough to cope, and I didn't find they had run out of anything that I wanted. The queues for the checkouts were long, but they were fairly evenly distributed, most of the checkouts were open, and people waited in a quiet and orderly fashion. Indeed there was, as far as I could see in both directions up and down the checkout lanes, no suck going on at all.

    What are the odds?

  • #2
    Maybe Finns are more polite than lots of others?

    Or maybe it was just your turn for some good stuff! Enjoy!
    When you start at zero, everything's progress.

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    • #3
      Quoth Chromatix View Post
      Over here in Finland, Midsummer is Serious Business. On Friday, the shops largely closed at noon, and the highways and railways out of the city were all filled to capacity. Bonfires will be lit all over the country today, and a large proportion of the population begins their long summer holiday and will therefore not come back for a while.
      When does midsummer occur in Finland? I always thought midsummer was the middle of summer, which is August 6.
      "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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      • #4
        Midsummer in the Scandinavian countries is summer solstice (or the weekend closest to it, so as to get a chance to sleep it off ).

        ETA (or in Denmark St. Johns eve, June 23.)
        Last edited by Mikkel; 06-23-2012, 04:45 AM.

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        • #5
          Quoth Ironclad Alibi View Post
          When does midsummer occur in Finland? I always thought midsummer was the middle of summer, which is August 6.
          Midsummer (Litha) is always on the summer solstice, regardless of what country you're in....in the northern hemisphere anyway.

          Summer begins on 1 May (Beltane).
          It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

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          • #6
            Quoth Pagan View Post
            Midsummer (Litha) is always on the summer solstice, regardless of what country you're in....in the northern hemisphere anyway.
            I never knew that. I learn something new every day.
            "I don't have to be petty. The Universe does that for me."

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            • #7
              Quoth Pagan View Post
              Midsummer (Litha)... 1 May (Beltane).
              Ooh, is Litha along the same lines as Beltane linguistically - the Irish/Gaelic/? word for a certain quarter day in the year? Are there words for the other solstice and the equinoxes? I based a world-building calendar on those eight days and my research didn't turn up names for the not-cross-quarter days.
              "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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              • #8
                Quoth SongsOfDragons View Post
                Ooh, is Litha along the same lines as Beltane linguistically - the Irish/Gaelic/? word for a certain quarter day in the year? Are there words for the other solstice and the equinoxes? I based a world-building calendar on those eight days and my research didn't turn up names for the not-cross-quarter days.
                Some names/days have Celtic origins, some are Germanic. How did you not find these? Just Googling "quarter days" or "cross-quarter days" brings all of these up.

                Samhain (31 Oct)
                Yule (Winter Solstice)
                Imbolc (1 Feb)
                Ostara (Vernal Equinox)
                Beltane (1 May)
                Litha (Summer Solstice)
                Lughnasadh (1 August)
                Mabon (Autumnal Equinox)

                That's the Celtic calendar. Solstices and equinoxes, within a couple of days, always always occur at the same time. That's simply a function of the Earth's journey around the sun.
                It's floating wicker propelled by fire!

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                • #9
                  ^^ Thanks!!

                  I think I missed them because I was being selective with my research and only looking for small specific things. >.< Also it was some time ago.
                  "...Muhuh? *blink-blink* >_O *roll over* ZZZzzz......"

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