The sun that never sets, almost

We spent Midsummer once again in my parents cottage in Polvijärvi, Northern Carelia. Midsummer, known as “juhannus” in Finnish, is one of the bigger festivities in Finland — almost everyone abandons the cities and go to rural areas to spend some quality time with friends and relatives in tranquility. Some people select being drunk, too. We stick firmly in the first category, and had excellent time off.

The cottage is not that far north in Finnish scheme of places, but it is still quite up there for most of people living outside Finland. So, there no real darkness even in the middle of the night. Sun does set, but it does not go down enough to have complete darkness.

The weather was excellent during the whole extended weekend. There were some rains now and then, mostly minor showers, and then constant sunshine. There were no winds during the evening, which made the lake look superb.

I took a couple of snaps on Thursday evening, a week ago that is, after eleven in the evening.

The time difference between the images is about twenty minutes, but the effect was dramatic. The yellow hues were gradually replaced by orange and red ones, making the landscape darker and somehow more vibrant.