I'm going to bore you with a lil story for this one. Credits'n'stuff is in the end of all this. This is the only time of the year that I am really homesick. Today Sweden, and many other places in Europe, celebrated the summer solstice, all of them in their own way and for their own reasons. When I grew up we always had a maypole, or midsommarstång to dance around at Midsummer Eve. It was a tradition that we shared with millions of others since Medieval times. What most people don't really care about today though is why it's being done. In Sweden the summer solstice was considered being the most magic of times, and it was perfect for rituals that would tell what the future might have in store. Me and my younger sis used to run around during the evening at Midsummer Eve trying to find at least 7 kinds of wildflowers to put under our pillow that night. It was said that during that night we would dream of our future husbands. I don't know about everyone else who did this, but I never had any dreams about any of my future hubby's, I can tell you that much ;) But it was fun. These days it's not that much about the old fashion kind of magic and folklore any more. It's more about the party and the decorations. Not a lot of people do know that they dress a maypole in leaves and flowers, and that they put up young birch by the front doors because from the start it was believed to bring good luck and fortune. Midsummer Eve is just as popular as Christmas in Sweden and it's a big holiday. And except that it is the longest day of the year, it is also the brightest of nights. In the north parts of the country the sun won't set at all tonight. The maypole in this render was made for me by Paul (Trepz) and to dress it was even more of a challenge in Vue than in reality :p In the end I decided to use Ivy, and then I exchanged the leaves for Birch leaves :) The flowers were painted in the ecosystem painter. It put a lot of strain on my laptop and I had to exclude the people that I had plans for dancing in a ring around the maypole :( In any case - I hope you put this long day into good use :D C.