Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Qupperneq 16

The First Day Of
Summer Is Here
Or didn't you notice?

Words: Nanna Arnadottir
Photo: Art Bicnick
NEWS Much like the economy and
religion, the arbitrary First Day of
Summer celebrated in Iceland is
one part optimism and three parts
resigned acceptance.
We all come together and agree that
April 20 is the first day of summer,
despite what reality might prove
to the contrary. For many Iceland-
ers, it's also a day that carries with
it the smell of sweet nostalgia.
According to folksy Icelan-
dic wisdom, if the first day of
summer is especially cold, then
winter and summer have "fro-
zen together." Apparently this
is seen as a sign of a warm sum-
mer to come, but we Iceland-
ers have been burned too many
times now to fall for that old tale.
So what does the first day of
summer mean to us now? The
Grapevine asked a few locals for
their thoughts:

Kolbrún Kristín Karlsdóttir
The first day of summer for me is
when my mentality gets a fix after
the long dark months of winter. By
this time the winter should be be-
hind us—in theory—and my men-
tality shifts to looking forward to
the bright summer nights ahead.
Also, the first day of summer is
about planning summer gifts, like
am I going get my daughter a sum-
mery gift like a ball or summer hat
or something like that? That sort
of thing.
Árni Leósson
When I was a kid, the first day of
summer meant the excitement of
hearing the Summer Parade shuf-
fling down my street with a brass
band and the local scouts hold-
ing the national flag and jump-
ing outside to join them. So in my
memory it was always sunny and
warm on the first day of summer
and lots of fun and games.
The reality is, however, that
the first day of summer is basi-
cally celebrated during winter
here in Iceland. It's not like we
are in denial about that but it is a
very strange date to pick for this
particular day. It is even a stretch
calling it the first day of spring.

Ingveldur Lára Þórðardóttir
First day of summer for me will
always be connected to a smell
and that smell is connected to my
childhood. It's the smell of a brand
new brown “brennibolti.” It's a ball
used to play brennó, an Icelandic
version of dodgeball.
My siblings and I always got
summer gifts on the first day of
summer, be it snowing or not,
and usually the gifts would force
us to go out and play. It was pretty
much a given that one of us would
get that brown little ball that had
that dry rubbery smell of summer.
They had these crevices in them
that made them perfect for co-
louring and decorating. You made
your own personal artwork out of
your ball. I loved those balls. Hated
the game, but loved those balls.
Katrín Þ. Hjorth Þórðardóttir
The first day of summer was al-
most the best day of every year
growing up. We'd get a gift, usually
an outdoor toy like a skip rope, hula
hoops or a brown brennibolti. The
brennibolti balls were always the
best. Back then there weren't, you
know, Happy Meals and little plas-
tic toys everywhere like these days.
It was a real novelty to get a gift,
even if you couldn't use it for many
months because of bad weather.
With my kids now, on the first
day of summer, since they've got so
many toys already all they ask for
is quality time with me instead!

Matthias Arni Ingimarsson
For me, the first day of summer
means at least one more day of
snow.
Inga Rós Antoníusdóttir
Considering that the first day of
summer often goes hand in hand
with snow or sleet, I definitely
don't connect it to a real summer
in any way. As a kid I remember
getting summer gifts, usually a
new summer outfit or an outdoor
toy to play with. The neighbour-
hood would be filled with kids in
T-shirts and denim jackets, jump-
ing rope and playing ball with their
lips turned blue in the freezing cold.
It's quite amazing that a whole
nation can be tricked into believ-
ing that the seasons have changed
because of a date marked on the
calendar. Now, as a parent myself,
I buy my kids small gifts, tokens of
summer, to celebrate a long, fun
tradition. But I still yell at them
when they go out the door to re-
member their jackets. After all, it's
still winter.
16 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06 — 2017
Summer, schmummer. We don't like sun anyway.
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