17 May 2012

17th of May - Constitution Day

I sit at my desk, ready to work - a bit delayed to be honest - and think about Constitution day. For me it's been a quiet day, celebrated with good food and good friends. 17th of May is a childrens' day,with unlimited icecream and soda, cakes and sweets. A day we wave our flags and sing our rather pompous national songs. This year its a little different. We're in the middle of the 22nd of July court case, and on some level it was nice to take a day off from it all. I feel for everyone directly involved in this, and I hope something like this never happens anywhere else.

On a lighter note:

This is from the backyard of my house, I'm the cry-baby in the middle. I was never one for wearing skirts and dressing up. I look like I'm about three years old, so it must have been taken in 1964 or 65.
 A few years earlier ...


This is the oldest picture of a 17th of May celebtration I could find. From Oslo 1898. Although the celebrations started at least as early as 1823.


From the changing of the flags on 7th of June, 1905 when the Swedish/Norwegian flag was lowered, and the Norwegian flag was up for the first time.