June 19th, 2014

Dear Friends,

It was great to see so many of you at our Midsommar celebration.  The weather was clearly in an operatic mood that day; presenting a complex production with three distinct parts:  The first act was a bit of a mess, featuring a long boring monotony of humidity and drizzle, punctuated by moments of extreme tension (on the part of me). Things started to come together in act two, however, when we defiantly made our way to the park to find the scene had changed into something out of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Not even the grass was wet! We spent almost three glorious hours eating several kinds of herring, meatballs, my smorgastårta (which was a triumph, if I do say so myself) and homemade gravlax.  The meal was finished with some Swedish drinking songs and a Prinsesstårta made by Clarelicious herself - a rhapsodic combination of sponge cake, raspberry jam, pastry cream all covered in marzipan. I'm still thinking about it.  

But that all changed abruptly in act three when the sun went down somewhat abruptly at 8:30 and the rain started. Nothing says, "Party's Over!" like sudden darkness and a torrential downpour.  We had to flee in haste with our belongings and I fear we may have left our best jar of herring behind, which was the tragic final scene.

Despite some uneven performances, I have to admit it was one of my favorite productions yet!