Mette's 50 Birthday Weekend

Between funerals and birthdays, the winged FTD flower delivery man gave up running with wings on feet and settled for a panel van. It was a tough week with Mona Maria Rasmussen's funeral but a week and a half later, we were able to bring together some close friends for a scaled-down birthday supper at our house. Scaled-down means 20 people instead of 50, and having it in our house instead of a hall simplified the logistics considerably. It also allowed me to take a much greater role in organization so I was able to decide, all by myself, which toilet I would scrub first.

Once Mercury gets on his hardhat, all he needs is a nipple twist to get going.

Like most Danish celebrations, it was centered on the meal table and the elapsed time between starting appetizer and serving of dessert was 5 hours. Five hours was just the food part; there were cocktails, appetizer, short speech from the husband, main course, quizzes and games, dessert, and late night bumper cars as the departing guests maneuvered the narrow road on the way home.

Quizzes between courses

I powered out at 3AM but Mette and 3 friends stayed up to watch the sunrise over the ocean. This weekend happens to be "Pinse" or Pentacost which is when the Holy Ghost came back down to keep the Christian religion going and beat the Muslims to the best real estate. 
A Danish tradition on Pinse is to stay up on Saturday night to watch the "Pinse Solen Danse" or the Dancing Sun. The sun isn't really dancing; if you stay up all night, chances are you have had a few more drinks than your optical nerves can handle.

Mette, Sanne, Hanne and Martin

Pinse Solen Danse

So what does a 50+ year old do the next day? How about a Veteran Machine festival? Huh?
The town of Græsted has an annual car/motorcycle/tractor/army tank weekend that is like a car show or threshing demonstration but ON STEROIDS! You want cars? There are old cars, American muscle cars and just plain weird cars. 

This car was smart before the Smart Car. Steen, not so much.

Trucks? pickup trucks, delivery trucks, semi trucks and army trucks. Steam powered stuff?  How about tractors from USA and Europe, stationary engines, baling machines, music pipe organs, and lumber sawing machines? Noise? How about gathering 200 people around a rebuilt Rolls Royce WW2 aircraft engine with propeller and CRANK IT UP! 

They had an old 1930's Bucyrus drag line digging a hole! Who wouldn't want to see that? Top it all off with a WW2 trenches and infantry role play with explosions, fighter planes, machine guns and Allied forces winning the day and you've got yourself a damn good Sunday afternoon. These guys take the word "enthusiast" to a whole new level that's hard to believe. I love these quirky things about Northern Europe.

The Brits assisted the Resistance by dropping food, guns and books about proper table manners at Tea.

If you squint you can see soldiers, jeeps and ambulances. Three fighter planes are in the air also. If you don't squint, you see the back of a guy's head.

Monday had to be a bit more subdued so Mette took a sunrise row at 4AM with her rowing club. The rest of the family slept and missed an awesome sunrise. Fifty is the new 20! 
(If 20 year olds enjoyed watching a 1905 steam tractor billowing coal smoke and moving at 1 km/hr).

4AM on the water with just the grunts of the old girls.