All year long we wait for Janis, ligo ligo
Finally he comes tonight here, ligo ligo
All the land can feel his coming, ligo ligo
All the ground shakes as he dismounts, ligo ligo

There, at the bottom of the hill is the gate to Saulaine. The ceremonial wooden structure with a geometric symbol of the sun worked in at its peak is surrounded by branches and young birch saplings trimmed from the woods for decoration. Beside the gate is a table and several chairs that are occupied by the greeting committee.

Olga's father starts up a ligo song as he pulls the car to a stop beside the table. The children take their cue and join in the singing while Olga's mother who has already managed to weave a daisy crown, gets out of the car and puts the crown on the head of one of the women. The woman blushes and giggles and the greeting committee attempts an answering song which Olga's family help them to sing. The parley of songs continues until another car pulls up behind them and Olga's family get a wave to drive on in.

The dirt road into the central yard of Saulaine leads around a large old country mansion with a modern industrial kitchen addition. The kitchen is already busy with cooks preparing food to sell at the canteen. Smells of stewing sauerkraut and sausages waft through the air, accompanied by the sounds of voices laughing and singing.

Olga's father drives past a large old barn up to a smaller building that houses the caretaker and his family as well as the office. There he gets a key to the room they will stay in tonight. Different years Olga's family sleep in different accommodations. Sometimes they camp in their tent in the woods by the river. One year they slept in the hay in the loft in the barn. There are as well some houses and cottages on the property and this year they have been assigned a room in a cottage in a clearing across the road from the main yard.

The room is musty after being closed all winter. Olga's mother wrestles with the sticky windows, to open them to let the fresh air in while Olga's father unpacks the car. After claiming which of the metal frame cots they want to sleep on, Olga, Ilze and Jekabs go exploring.

Saulaine is a wonderful place. There is the large barn with sunlight shining through the spaces between the barn boards onto the lofts full of freshly mowed hay. People will be sleeping here tonight but now, early in the day, the barn is empty and available for jumping and tumbling and burying into hay. Eventually, Olga has such a severe fit of sneezing that she needs to go outside.

There is a playground with a rusty old merry-go-round, teeter-totters and squeaky swings. Below the yard, down a steep hill, there is a freshly mowed field that Olga always needs to run across. She does not know why she cannot simply walk but her heart thrills at the edge of it and her feet respond by running and leaping.

At the river's edge of this field is a sandy volleyball court. The net is set up and already, early in the day, there are men and teenagers batting the ball around. This game will continue until dark with different people coming and going to make up the teams. Olga watches for a while, thinking this is something she will do when she gets a bit older.

Most wonderful of all there is the river, with its deep swimming pools of calmer water, its fast flowing rapids, high sandy banks, boulders and rocks and small sand deposits that serve as beaches. Every year the spring melt runoff alters the banks of the river, offering a whole new world to discover. Often the water is still too cold for any real swimming this early in the season, but Olga's father can usually be persuaded to come and supervise some play in the water.

Father likes to wade in with his pants rolled up to his knees, to carefully flip over skilfully chosen rocks to expose the plentiful crayfish that inhabit the river. Olga never tires of trying to trap the brown little creatures with her hands. She is fascinated by the way they shoot backwards, tails curled under, and is delighted when one backs right into her eager palm. There are little fish, minnows, as well. Swimming in schools, they tickle feet that stay in one place too long. They are almost impossible to catch without a net or container of some sort. In any case, their stay at the river is necessarily brief today. Olga is content, knowing she'll be back during summer vacation, with nets and buckets and much warmer water.

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