One reason for coming to Sweden around midsummer was to profit from the longer days. Where we are on the west coast, it is only really dark between 22:30 and 03:00 in the middle of June. What we had forgotten though was that June is also the 'best' time for the gnats or midges! Anyone working outside in the evening is bathed in a cloud of tenacious tiny gnats that makes any task impossible unless it involves rapid movement. An hour or so outside one evening results in a week of itching and skin that resembles a first-date nightmare.
The only amusement that petrol-headed hubby got from this was thinking about the homophonic Summernats, a hotrod festival held in Canberra each year. Actually, we don't have to go too far to see flash older American cars here in Sweden. Each week-end, a group of owners of 'raggarbilar', loosely translated as 'babe magnets', meets in a local sea-side village to show off their cars. Despite having large V8 engines, these cars are generally driven quite slowly, presumably to attract the 'babes', although many of these are the same age as the cars and the owners themselves!
He will probably wish to take me to the Summernats now as another 'surprise outing', something else to thank the gnats for!
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