#1 Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow (I’d do him.)
#2 Marilyn Monroe (Or Anna Nicole Smith if you’re into that kind of thing.)
#3 Robert Pattinson as Edward The Sparkling Vampire (Or James Dean if you’re older than 16.)
#4 M
Midsummer is over and while I’m happy everyone survived, I have just that much more emotional baggage to carry around after seeing my dad jump into the sea naked. We had a great time, though. There was lots of wonderful food, the Americans didn’t think we were entirely crazy (although they did look very stunned when they realized the frog dance wasn’t a joke), and the sunset was beautiful. I’m a little tired and have to get up for work way too early tomorrow, so instead of telling you about the evening I’ll just show you the most important parts.
First, the pole dancing:
The tall green skinny thing in the middle is the pole and the people holding hands are dancing around it. Ignore the guy in the kimono, he’s our neighbor and his elevator doesn’t go all the way up.
Then, the frog dance:
I have no comment, I’m just happy I’m not in the picture.
Next, I’ll impress you with our big fancy boat:
It floats.
And now, let’s compare our boat to the neighbor’s:
Theirs doesn’t just float. It can also house a big Mexican family while communicating with Mars and negotiating world peace.
Then we all took a sauna, first the guys, then the girls. This here is when the guys decided that a swim sounded like a good idea. It was 11 pm and the sun was just setting.
Later my mom and our female guests also wanted to take a swim, but luckily, my self-preservation kicked in and I kindly declined a swim amongst the blocks of ice still floating around. Hypothermia is not my friend.
But the sunset was actually not half bad once the naked people were out of the water:
Sounds like fun. Traditions like this, even when they don't make sense and involve such things as frog dances, really help bring people together in situations where they can connect with their cultural background before drowning in icy-cold water.
ReplyDeleteNice sunset photos! Glad to hear you had a good time.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun!
ReplyDeleteNaked frozen swimming? Pass.
I'm so glad I did well on the quiz.
;-)
Do they have tadpole dances for the kids?
ReplyDeleteI think I got the quiz right, but I forgot to comment somehow. No wait, I don't know that vampire guy. I think I was just having some internal dialogue with myself, kind of like now.
Lemmikkiiiiiiiiii! You're back! Thank goodness! I can finally stop rocking back and forth in the fetal position and come out from under the table. Don't ever leave me again!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you had a lovely time while I was pining for you. Does that pole go up just for the festivities, or is it always there?
That was really nice of your dad to scar you for life. Most dads would just give flowers that die in a few days.
Why a frog dance, exactly? Why not a fish dance, or a bird dance? Did I miss that part in the previous post?
ReplyDeleteDid you father intend to scar you for life? And why does your father have such a small...boat? Is it because the water's cold there?
And if you invited people from New York and Finland, not to mention a guy in a Kimono, they why didn't you invite me? I like sunsets. I like staying up all night, although not in a sauna with a bunch of guys. I like drinking sometimes, which is usually what it takes to get me to dance. Do you still love me, or did you stop writing because you were bored with me and lured away by the Sirens of the Sea?
Frank - You are so right. And as far as traditions go, the frog dance is one of the best pre-drowning in icy-cold water traditions. It really lets you be one with your inner Finn/frog/lunatic.
ReplyDelete00dozo - Thanks! I think the naked men really make the picture. ;)
ReformingGeek - I can't even remember the last time I went swimming in the sea. I don't look good with blue lips.
mike - Internal dialogue, huh? If you start talking to yourself you'll soon find yourself frog dancing around a chair. Believe me, I know.
Nicky!! I promise, I won't ever leave for a day and a half again! The pole is normally just a wooden pole that lies there all year long until it's time to dress it with leaves and put it up. I don't want to know how many poles there are around Finland with no other purpose than to lie around all year long and act as midsummer poles once a year.
My dad is really nice, isn't he? He very rarely gives me any flowers.
MikeWJ - Well, I guess it could be any dance, but frogs are good because humans can actually leap like a frog. It would be really difficult to swim or fly around the pole. And we sing "The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe. No ears, no ears no tails do they possess." but in Swedish, of course. And over and over again.
Your invitation must have gotten lost in the mail, I swear I thought I invited you. I promise I'll remember you come Christmas. Although, I can't promise you there won't be a sauna then as well.
"The little frogs, the little frogs are funny to observe. No ears, no ears no tails do they possess."
ReplyDeleteI like this poem.
Hilarious. Loved the accompanying photos. I like my blocks of ice in a refreshing alcoholic beverage.
ReplyDeleteMikeWJ - It's not as nice when you have to repeat it over and over again to a mindless melody and do little movements with your hands, pretending to have huge ears and a wagging tail and then hop around like a frog. Come to think of it, it sounds like just the thing you might like.
ReplyDeleteLauren - I like my blocks of ice anywhere except in the water I swim in. Or in my bed. Or in my yoghurt. Actually, I'm with you, I like my blocks of ice in a refreshing alcoholic beverage and that's about it.
I am quite good at the Frog Dance. And as a child, we danced around May Poles, on the first of May of course. So it's probable that I was a Fin in a former life. Or I could just be part of that big Mexican family on that bigger boat for that matter. I nearly drove Alex crazy humming and singing the little song to the frog dance while I wiggled my ears, and shook a tail feather before hopping. Why did I do that? Because it made me feel good.
ReplyDeleteLinda - I've always said that anything that makes you feel good you should do often and loudly. Preferably at night, waking Alex up to the singing and the wiggling and the hopping. And to make the rest of us feel just as good, you should take a picture of him when he realizes he's not asleep because you're celebrating your inner big-boated Mexican Finn.
ReplyDelete