Excuse me, Have You Seen the Magical Fern Blossom?

Midsummer or Jaanipaev is a big holiday in Estonia. This year if fell on a Tuesday, so it's essentially be a long weekend. Many Estonians spend midsummer eve at their summer house with friends and family. They build a bonfire and watch the sun set and rise in the course of a few hours.

I didn't go to summer house, but I did trek to the wilds of the Tallinn suburb to witness Jaanipaev festivities. The Estonian Open Air Museum was open in the evening and had a few bonfires going, along with food, dance, people in costume explaining Estonian farm life. There was also plenty of rain.

Even though summer solstice was on June 21, Jaanipaev was celebrated 24 June.  Supposedly, if you find this mythical fern blossom, you'll have great luck. And if you don't manage to stay up to watch the sunset and sunrise, you'll have a horrible year. I know I should have tried to stay up -- I could use the good luck -- but I fell asleep at around 2am -- about an hour before the sun was due to rise. My luck can't get any worse, and frankly, I needed the sleep.

 The bonfire gave off a lot of heat, which was nice since it was a chilly night and the rain didn't help matters.

 The rain gave way to a beautiful rainbow.

This was the night sky around 1:30am. It hasn't really been very dark at night. The thing that scares me most is that this might be how bright it is during the winter..