Summer Solstice!

Well today is the longest day of the year
meaning the longest daylight period and shortest night

So, we celebrate Sankt Hans afen
Or St. John's Eve which is a holiday here for most
(not MTP)
(and which is why Sebastian had no daycare and stayed home with me)
don't worry, he was an angel.

But now we're home
and MTP's parents have come over for dinner
we will eat on the terrace
a roast of beef, creamed potatoes, salad,
a strawberry tart for dessert

for appetizers she brought
tortilla chips and salsa
crabcakes, mostly for my benefit for MTP is allergic
preserved olives and garlic

after dinner, we will take a bottle of wine,
the baby in a buggy and probably something to lay on the grass
in the field next to our home

Where for the past few weeks
the entire community has piled branches and twigs
forming a huge start to the bonfire

the kids will build a twig witch effigy
which we will toss at the top to start the fire
people will then gather around, hold hands in a circle, give speeches and sing songs
then we will slit our wrists and drink each other's blood

Okay that's my imagination running away with me
(tell you boy, it was just my 'magination...)
but you get the gist?

Dark 'burn the witch' pagan ritual made happy holiday

Actually it does have roots in the church's witch burnings
but the bonfire is more to ward off evil spirits

I gotta quit talking and get experiencing
food smells fantab!
Ciao.