National sleepy head day

Today, believe it or not, has been Finlands National Sleepy Head Day!

Yes.. on 27th of July, there is an annual event for it too... held down south in Naantali (nearer to Turku and Helsinki regions broadly speaking..)

I don't know the history of this event, how it came to be... but Unikeonpäivä as it is called in Finnish, celebrates the lazy, sleepy person of the house!! Tradition has it that the last person to get up, should be dowsed with water... preferably by dumping them into a large body of water...better the local river or the sea if nearby. Preferably not a ditch I would imagine! Failing that, having water thrown at them is the next best thing. That person then gets called the lazy or sleepy one (or both perhaps) all day! (Weird eh?)

Having read a little online it is apparently based on the story of the Saints of Ephesus who slept in a cave for some 200 years during the Middle Ages whilst hiding from persecution by Decius, the Roman Emperor at the time. How that translates to chucking someone in a river I do not know!

In the city of Naantali a person of note or a celebrity is chosen every year to be to person who is thrown in the sea at the port. Believe it or not, this happens at 7 a.m! Doesn't sound like much of a lie in to me! Afterwards there are many parties and celebrations that go on long into the day. It's become a real family event! It was covered today on YLE.fi and the person chosen to be the sleeper was the West Finland county governor - Rauno Saari. Here is his picture from the Yle site.




Funny eh? The sleepers identity is kept secret until the event starts and generally they will have done some charitable or beneficial works for the city to be chosen. Perhaps we should start this off in Sodankylä? I can think of a few people I wouldn't mind suggesting as the sleeper!! (Wicked Witch of a grin!)

The last person up today from this household was Lazy Jake, so he had a bit of a sprinkling.. but I was lenient! It is the summer holiday after all... not that he smiled about my lenience! :D

I am sorry that I myself have been blog quiet for the last few weeks.. I promise I have NOT been asleep! :D What with working full time I have been rather busy of late... plus my Mother came to visit from the UK for a couple of weeks.... more on that later.

You can read more in Finnish at this link:


http://yle.fi/alueet/turku/2009/07/rauno_saari_molskahti_unikekona_mereen_888516.html

Plus a little here in English:

http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/07/sleepyhead_day_888443.html

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More on midsummer...

I found this today at the YLE news website and just confirms what I was saying about Finland being very quiet during midsummer and alcohol consumption!



http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/06/finland_closes_shop_for_midsummer_808326.html

And sadly, this one too.. every year there are statistics for drink induced drowning... sad.




http://www.yle.fi/uutiset/news/2009/06/at_least_nine_killed_in_midsummer_mishaps_816666.html

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All content, unless otherwise noted, is © ArcticRainbow and may not be reproduced in any form without express permission from the author, except for credited links directly to articles or to the main site. (I don't bite...just ask!) :D

Hyvää Juhannusta / Midsummer / Litha

Here in Lapland, Juhannus is already in full swing!

Technically friday is Juhannusaato (Juhannus Eve) and everyone is out celebrating, having sauna together and getting drunk! Today there are very few people working.. it is similar to a Bank Holiday - classed as a holy day and on saturday.... Juhannus itself, EVERYWHERE is shut within Finland!

We've been out today visiting the family of my younger son's girlfriend... and on the way home, by the side of the main road are dotted the occasional log buildings. I say its a main road, which it is, but it is naturally heavily forested area either side and not that busy at all - in fact so dead today, that I don't think we saw even another car on the way home - and it's a good 3/4 hour journey! There was one building, that we noticed on our drive out.. although we knew what it was, we remarked on how much it looked like it was on fire, with smoke oozing out of the logs.. but it was actually an outdoor log sauna.. on its own in the field - a long way from any other building. On the way home, several hours later, were seen five large men, brightly red hot in colour, sat outside with just a white towel around their lower halves...around a camp fire, having a good drink. This is the style of Juhannus! Never mind the mosquitos...sauna, fire, drink! :D "Hyvää Juhannusta!" (Happy Midsummer!) - Wish I'd have had the guts to stop and take a pic of them!! :D

However, I found some great images at this link
The header image and many other stunningly beautiful photographs are located here

The Finnish flags are flying everywhere and of course, there is no night to be seen for several weeks yet.. and so everyone will be up for the majority of the night.. if not all of it! If you are walking home from an event at 2am, 3am, 4am or what ever... it all looks the same as if it were 4pm for example! It takes some getting used to as it can seriously mess up your body clock if you let it.

I will leave you with an image of Tupasvilla...(Cotton grass / Eriophorum vaginatum) in bloom in most swamps now!

View more here..


May I wish you all.. a very happy and safe Midsummer where ever you are!

This from Wikipedia:

Before 1316, the summer solstice was called Ukon juhla, after the Finnish god Ukko (The God of Thunder). In Karelian tradition, many bonfires were burned side by side, the biggest of which was called Ukko-kokko (the "bonfire of Ukko"). After the celebrations were Christianized, the holiday is known as Juhannus after John the Baptist (Finnish: Johannes Kastaja).

Since 1955, the holiday is always on a Saturday (between June 20th and June 26th). Earlier it was always on June 24th.

In the Finnish midsummer celebration, bonfires (Finnish kokko)are very common and are burnt at lakesides and by the sea. Often two young birch trees (koivu) are placed on either side of the front door to welcome visitors. In Midsummer night the sauna is typically heated and family and friends are invited to bathe and to grill.

In folk magic midsummer was a very potent night and the time for many small rituals, mostly for young maidens seeking suitors and fertility. Will o Wisps were believed to be seen at midsummer night, particularly to finders of the mythical "fern in bloom" and possessors of the "fern seed", marking a treasure. An important feature of the midsummer in Finland is the white night and the midnight sun. Because of Finland's location spanning around the Arctic Circle the nights near the midsummer day are short or non-existent. This gives a great contrast to the darkness of the winter time.

Many music festivals of all sizes are organized on the Midsummer weekend. It's also common to start summer holidays on Midsummer day. For many families the Midsummer is the time when they move to the countryside to their summer cottage by the lake. Often Finns spend the whole of July at the summer cottages. Midsummerday is also the day of the Finnish Flag. The flag is hoisted at 6 pm on Midsummer eve and flown all night till 9 pm the following evening.

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Happy 'would have been' 100th Birthday today....

To my Grandad. Gerald Clement Grant - born 15th of June 1909.

He was one of identical twins...so I should also be saying Happy Birthday to my late Uncle Ron too! Grandad is shown above in the only image that I have of him digitally. This photo was taken on the day he gave me away in July 1988.

He would have been 100 today had he still been alive. However, he died when my eldest son was only 5 months old.. and now he is aged 18! (Where do the years go?)

An odd thing happened to me today, really odd, which is why I decided to share this birthday fact......

I was at work, with my head in a computer, when all of a sudden, I heard someone talking out in the corridor. I was pretty sure it was Finnish, but I was in that sort of 'zone' where it could have even been English.. but the tone of the voice suddenly caught me. My god I thought.. that sounds like my Grandad...and it really did.. in fact, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if he had walked in through the door of my office! For a split second, I thought he was out there.. OMG, it was REALLY weird.

As soon as I clicked on the voice, it was gone. Was there someone out there that sounded like him.. or had I picked up on him? Had I zoned into another frequency? (It wouldn't have been the first time I've heard voices from spirit).. and no I don't need locking up! LOL!

I settled myself back in to my chair and looked at the date. Suddenly I remembered that it was his birthday today and that my Mother had reminded me recently that he would have been 100.... Ohh it felt r-e-a-l-l-y weird ...

So, if you can hear me Grandad. 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY in the BEYOND'....

Sorry, no message from the Queen! :D



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All content, unless otherwise noted, is © ArcticRainbow and may not be reproduced in any form without express permission from the author, except for credited links directly to articles or to the main site. (I don't bite...just ask!) :D