29 November 2007

Longing for Summer

Nordic Longing (by [Zakkaliciousness])
Such is the lot of the Nordic tribes. Longing is an inherent trait, an ever-present emotion, in our hearts and minds.

And that which we long for most for much of the year is the summer. Or the promise of summer. Or the mere sensation of it. Our folk songbooks and hymnbooks all praise the summer with their wistful, longing lyrics. When referring to a beautiful girl you can say in Danish that "she was a mere 21 summers old". No need for years. How many summers have you lived? That is important.

When it is upon us, we forget everything else. We are ecstatic, giddy, silly. For the rest of the year, we long for it.

That is why this photo is so important. For this girl's skirt - one splash of yellow on a winter's day - is enough to keep us going for just a while longer. It is enough to quell our longing for a bit and nudge us over into expectation.
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6 comments:

  1. Michael Carøe Andersen29 November 2007 at 15:38

    How poetic and true.

    - From a Dane in Prague, longing for summer and biking

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  2. Colville-Andersen29 November 2007 at 19:03

    Thanks for that, Michael.

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  3. DeepBlueSea30 November 2007 at 09:03

    I lived many years in Sweden (Gothenburg) and I recognise this longing = längtan. It brings so much drama to the passage of the year. Here in Melbourne we do have seasons but not enough to create that deep longing. We're a bunch of softies down here....

    But having said that, Sweden has a bit toooooo much of the icy drama and too little of the warm sunny drama...

    In my blog today I posted a shot from my backyard. Quite different from your cph experience I'm sure.

    And I rode my old peugeot to the market, stocked up on sausages and wine. Tomorrow is the summer season's first barbeque.

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  4. Colville-Andersen30 November 2007 at 10:35

    Sigh... barbeque... the longing returns.

    I remember when living in Melbourne years ago I longed for the sun in a December filled with rain... :-)

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  5. Anonymous30 November 2007 at 18:51

    Some people like winter. I like it because riding in the winter (Minneapolis) is fun as hell. And people think that you are crazy.

    I appreciate all four seasons and glad that I live in a climate that actually has 4 discernible seasons.

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  6. Colville-Andersen30 November 2007 at 19:19

    indeed, anon.
    four seasons are wonderful.
    wish we actually had real snow here... riding in snow is great.

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