Midsummer

Further north it's light out much later, of course, and the light itself is not just bright but bluer.  In Sweden, Midsummer's eve is the big party weekend.  Traditions of all the villagers spending the evening getting drunk, dancing around the maypole... to counter all the loneliness of the rest of the year.  I remember a painting, though, that evoked Midsummer by just a table set out on a house's patio, with two plates and the leftovers from dinner.  No people, just a suggestion - a couple has been eating, and then left.   They wouldn't have gone back inside, for their house was in a clearing and even with the curtains closed there would be just too much light inside.  Nor do I think they would have gone dancing, for if they were old enough to afford a house then perhaps after their children were asleep or (if older) had gone out with their friends, they would have wanted some time just to themselves. Perhaps they disappeared into the forest, where the trees would shade them from the odd half-light until morning. As from the time they would have been courting  (and courting couples were assumed to give in to their natural urges at midsummer) they would have been in the woods for many years now.  I wonder if they would seek out familiar areas to go back to each time. Or perhaps to always try someplace new, alternating who's blindfolded and who's leading.