Constitution Day and oystercatchers

I went digging through the archives and apparently, I'm more fascinated with oystercatchers having sex sitting on eggs than I am Norway's Constitution Day. It's a day of sack races, balloons, ice cream, hot dogs, throwing up in the bushes only to go right back for another ice cream, and forced to do all that in the Nice Clothes. No matter the weather.

The local elementary school has a 17th of May parade, with an appreciably shrunk school band this year from earlier years. I think that may explain why there was no flea market for the school band last fall: Not enough people. A parade just isn't the same without a band, so I hope they keep theirs. It's nice that Lyshovden skole still marches around our neighborhood, though no one here attends the school any more (rearranged school districts). It certainly is a pretty parade, with everyone all dressed up for the day, including the kids.

Earlier this afternoon, one group had a dry run (I guess), giving me a better view of some the Norwegian national costumes (bunad). You can see a blond woman in a gorgeous Hardanger bunad in the middle of the photo, and to her right, a woman (partially hidden) in a dark blue Bergen costume, which is a new invention. Behind them is a woman in what I'm guessing is a vestlandsdrakt, a modern-day generic West Norway costume first introduced during the 1994 Lillehammer Olympic games.

Now I'll go warm up some rømmegrøt (sour cream porridge), which is traditional fare for a day like this. You can go watch the birdies. Get the live stream; it's very relaxing to watch the bird just breathing while it sits on the eggs.