"Why this is very midsummer madness!" -William Shakespeare

It wasn't quite mad, yet it wasn't quite the normal weekend either. Normal? There is no 'normal' weekend here. In fact, I have been living in perpetual spontaneity since we moved here! There hasn't been a week where we went to bed at the same time, or where I woke up at the same time, yet. Sometimes when I go to bed I think "man, I can't wait till Fall, so that the days are evened out again!" But I know that it will never happen. Anyways, back to the subject; Midsummer weekend.

Midsummer evening was a Friday night, and most people had the day out of work. We spent ours at Franks parents summer house with their family. Not really doing much, just eating out doors, enjoying the sunshine, and me pretending to be a kid again. Not growing up going to the summer house every summer and free day, I don't quite have the memories that everyone else has. The memories that make the summer house a glad retreat from every day life. A place to go and reminisce, and just be glad simply because of the fond memories attached. For me, I get slightly bored sometimes, so I have to make memories for myself. I always have this itch to go explore places like I did when I was a kid. Climb on rocks, pick flowers, look into all of the nooks and crannies. Wade, fish, find baby birds nests...  So, in the pretense of amusing Fanny (who really does need amusing quite a bit) we head off and do all of the things I long to do. Midsummer evening, we clambered around a cluster of rocks and I picked wildflowers for my midsummer crown.

That evening Franks aunt and uncle were invited over for coffee. So what do they do? they float their entire summer house over to ours (no joke!) Actually there is a story behind the floating summer house. They are not allowed to build anything permanent on the land they own on an island (some gov't regulation) so, until they get permission for that in about 20-60 years (if ever) they have done all kinds of creative "non-permanent" things on the land. For a while they had a huge mansion of a tent until if recently got  a hole in it (?). That is when Kenneth (Franks Uncle) decided to build his floating summer house. Something sturdy they could live in, yet not actually have it built onto the land.

Saturday Frank helped his dad build a deck/dock at the summer house, and it was more relaxing, trampoline jumping and later sauna and swimming. Sunday was church services at a local park on an island called Köpmanholmen. The small island was surrounded by boats, big and small, and packed with people and children. The services were so peaceful, with the lull of the preachers voices, and the rustle of the wind, and the singing of the birds. The sun was high, and the air was so warm. It was a beautiful day to be out on the sea, which is exactly what we did afterwards. We piled into two boats and motored our way out to the edge of the Ostrobothnian archipelago to have coffee on another island and simply enjoy God's creation. I will remember that sunday, because it was the first time this summer that I was on the sea and was not chilled by the wind. Frank wishes I would go out on the boat more with him (and more willingly) but I try to explain that it isn't the boat or the sea that I don't like, but being cold. Oh, how I hate being chilled! If everyday were as warm as that day on the sea, I would be out there every day. One random thing I learned that day also; I saw a mamma duck with the most ducklings I have ever seen in one badelynge, with probably 15-20 ducklings! I pointed it out to Uffi, and he explained that another duck had abandoned the ducklings and the duck I saw had adopted them for her own, and that it wasn't unusual with that type of duck. Pretty cool!