And the Pagans Played Shuffleboard at Midnight.

Ok, so there probably wasn't shuffleboard at the ancient Pagan festival celebrating the Summer Solstice. But they did gather to celebrate and party on the longest day of the year which usually took place at the end of June. Although the longest day has shifted its date over time, today it usually falls on June 21st. Still celebrated by neo-pagans and other groups, the longer days around the solstice are known as Midsummer. (Shakespeare? Midsummer Night's Dream? If anyone wondered when it took place, now you know! Hooray for cool useless facts!).

But I was fortunate enough to be on vacation in northern Europe during these days a few years back and was able to experience the longest day of the year, a day in which the night never got dark and the sun never truly "set". At midnight (see above picture), my husband and I were playing shuffleboard on deck of the ship taking us to Stockholm, Sweden without the aid of lights. When we went to bed, it was still light and the sun had just started its brief dip below the horizon before it rose again a couple of hours later. We were up early to see its full return as the ship navigated its way through the many little islands of Sweden. It was calm, peaceful, empty of the party-goers of the night before. It was also slightly unnerving to have things drenched in sun so early in the morning.

So to the real point of this post.

I did a poll asking when my blog title picture was taken - yup, here it comes (drum roll) - and only two people guessed correctly (most likely my own family members). Believe it or not, my blog title picture was taken a little after 4:00am.
I remember at the time looking at the little houses and summer cabins on the islands and wondering if their residents were all still asleep. I think if it hadn't been so beautiful (and for the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to pull myself back out of bed again due to the late night before) I would have gone back to my pillow to join them in their midsummer night dreams. (Hopefully minus the heartache and donkey).