Tuesday 19 June 2018

Summertime and the Weather is Fine

19th June today.  We're on the verge of endless days of scorching summer heat.  I love summer up till 20th June and from then I have noticed that temperatures start to soar and I start to sweat and suffer.  Working on the hottest days I have a small towel hung over my shoulder to wipe my brow and the outdoor shower is put to good use.  I hope the new water metre doesn't mean a bigger water bill.  


Mid-summer is celebrated on June 21st this year.  Here in Greece we don't actually celebrate mid-summer or the solstice. 

Solstice, longest day of the year will be celebrated on June 21st in Britain.  Mid-summer in Scandanavia seems to be on June 23rd. 

The 24th in Greece is a church celebration, another pagan event taken over by religion.  It is the fiesta to celebrate the birth of  St John the  Baptist, along with a couple of Pagan parties.  23rd, on the eve,  is when we burn the May wreath on a bonfire and the children and agile adults leap the flames to be flea free for the rest of the year, ye gods and little fishes.

The 24th is one of the many St John fiestas.  Our local, tiny church, dedicated to St John celebrates on 24th September or thereabouts.  The eve of his birth-day is also the observance of a greek tradition called Klithona, which is something to do with maidens and dreams of a future husband.

I guess elsewhere there will be weaving of Maypoles, observance of sunrise at Stonehenge, smorgasbord and schnaps.

Sunrise in Greece is offically 6.03am and sunset at 20.51pm.  That makes for just over a 14 hour day, although the sun starts to rise about half an hour earlier and it is not till half an hour later in the evening that darkness sets in.

Cicadas are trilling away furiously now, more and more adding to the chorus every day.  We tell the weather from our insects.  When it is going to rain the ants appear and when the rain is finished the cicadas start up.

Kalo kalokairi (good summer)


11 comments:

  1. Oh no, sadly for me, days will start to shorten again.
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. Don't worry Maria, you won't notice it for a couple of months. But, yes, winter is now approaching. Hard to believe!!!

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    2. Ps shorter days are good news for me. I'm a winter person

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  2. We got a couple of days of real heat/humidity. But T-storms came through, and changed the weather, for the better. I completely wilt, in humidity. Can not "take it" anymore, now that I am older.

    You have to give the "old church fathers" credit. -grin- They figured out how to "graft" the new religion, on top of the old pagan one.

    They grabbed old pagan dates, and make 'em theirs. Sort of! -chuckle- The business of celebrating on "The Eve Of" still hangs on, though.

    Love the sound of insects "trilling."

    Whatever the reason, it's always nice to have something to celebrate!!!! :-)
    Humans have always been humans, and continue to be.

    Be cool however you can.

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  3. It amazes me how the early church got away with all these changes from the pagan. I suppose the people were just happy to celebrate anything. Quite a few churches here are built on the sites f Roman shrines too.
    We are forecast for thunderstorms tomorrow. Rain will be most refreshing and it will make the garden grow like mad. Pumpkins are taking over the front yard which is usually dust by now. They give a bit f green colour.
    I can't take the humidity any more either. I'm a zombie for most of summer

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  4. Flea free, eh? I wonder whether I could train the cats and the dog to do a bit of fire-leaping..
    Hard to believe we are at the midsummer stage, I am sure it was winter only last week. I hope you get some refreshing rain - and low humidity for the rest of the summer!!

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    1. We have a nice breeze which is keeping us cool at the moment

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  5. We are having quite a cool June here. I have had the heating on a few evenings. But it is better than winter time so mustn't grumble.

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  6. We had a bit of a heat wave here, and very dry. Solstice is not really a big thing here in Canada. I guess we're just excited to have any kind of warm weather, we celebrate just having the snow go away! My husband has always wanted an outdoor shower. He would like yours. -Jenn

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  7. June 21, 2018

    Happy Midsummer’s Eve...!!!

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