We celebrate the day of Janis well into the evening, ligo
ligo
Olga gets her second wind when they arrive back at the central yard,
that is full of noisy jovial people. The canteen is still doing brisk business. The singing group scatters and
Olga's mother takes her family back to the cottage, to change out of their ceremonial clothes and find the hot
dogs and marshmallows for their own campfire. Olga puts on pants and a sweater but replaces the daisy crown on
her head.
They still have some walking to do, back across the field once more,
to find the campfire their close family friends have been tending. As before, people sing out when they
recognize her father and he responds with answering songs. Some of the songs are getting sassier and using more
colourful language now and there is some raucous laughter between the singing.
Eventually Olga's family get to their campfire. There is a brief
break in the singing while people roast hot dogs and marshmallows and eat their fill of Olga's mother's potato
salad. But soon again, someone starts up a song, though now it could be any well loved song from the vast
repertoire of Latvian folk songs. Olga joins in the singing, that continues for her until she can no longer keep
her eyes open.
Olga seldom remembers the moment she arrives to her bed, someone
carried her or she walked half asleep. She only remembers lying there, drifting in and out of the beginnings of
sleep, listening to the sounds of the voices of the children of Janis singing. Singing long into the night of
Janis.
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