On June

I don’t have a favourite month, mostly because all the months have their particular charm. Also, I’d probably feel compelled to pick my poor, unloved birth month, November; and frankly November isn’t my preferred month (but don’t tell it I said so!).


June, on the other hand, is one of those months everyone can agree is lovely. Living in Norway (or anywhere far north in the world) there is one thing that makes June extra special, and that is the light. We have light! Lots and lots of it! If the darker months (like November, but really, let’s try not to make November any sadder, okay? It already has a hard time dealing with the fact that nobody really likes it) – if the darker months seem, well, dark, there is always June to look forward to. We have what feels like endless daytime (some parts of Norway really do have endless days a few weeks, but I’m not far enough north to enjoy the midnight sun). It’s still light out when it’s supposed to be your bedtime (almost no matter when your bedtime is), and consequently many of us stay up much later than during the winter. That’s okay, though, because with all the light you don’t really need as much sleep (or so goes the common myth that I zealously obey to).

Another reason I like June is that it is strawberry season. Norwegian strawberries are (in my opinion) the best in the world, largely because of all that light; and they will soon be ripe. Strawberries with milk or cream, with or in ice cream, on cakes, as jam, or eaten directly from the box while you dip your feet in the fjord out on some island... Ah! It must be what heaven feels like!

June is also one of the few months when Norwegians enjoy something that in most parts of the world merely qualifies as “spring”. Norway will never be the warmest place on earth (unless the global climate change creates a completely new balance), but I am satisfied if our temperatures reach the 20s (celcius). That is enough for summer dresses and walking barefoot in the grass, and maybe for having an occasional bath in a nearby lake. (That must also be what heaven feels like – in fact, I think heaven probably feels a lot like June.)

Finally, June is a great month for writing. (You almost thought I’d go an entire post without mentioning our little wrimo, BuNoWriMo, didn’t you? Ha! Seriously, though, I won’t keep bringing it up, but we really have a great group gathered [link still in the upper right corner, if you want to join], and with all the happy vibes and encouragement going on it wouldn’t surprise me if we max this challenge with 5 million words altogether – which is HUGE!)

June has always been a great month for writing for me, though. First of all there is the vacation aspect. June has traditionally been the month where my (seemingly) endless summer vacations from school started (though this year I have no vacation at all – my thesis takes no time off *sigh*). With no school, June was when I had the time to write (before the July laziness kicked in). Secondly, the long, light nights also helped. I have lots of memories of sitting up half the night watching the swallows glide across the sky (they must never sleep!) while writing. One of my first epiphanies (the realization that I wanted to be a writer) came one such night when I was about 13. During those many hours of light and the very few hours of darkness I wrote my way through three (!) pens and countless notebook pages, ending up with something of a “writer manifesto”. I have departed somewhat from that since... But the feeling of June as the month where anything is possible stayed with me. Thus, it is only fitting that June will be the month where I finish my first novel (yesIcanyesIcanyesIcan!!!).