The Magic of Winter – Week 15

Morning after the snowfall…the moon makes it feel more like nighttime

I’m sitting at my window, watching the second snow fall of the season, and I can’t stop the sense of wonder, beauty, and tranquility that accompanies each fluffy flake of magic.  When people ask me which my favorite season is, I always say fall, because in my mind winter isn’t a season…it is my normal way of life.  Spring, summer, and autumn are just a mild distraction, a slight inconvenience that reminds me how much I truly love the snow.  Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and I certainly agree, for when the snow returns, the joyous chorus that sings within is deafening.

View from my window

This week has been all about nature knowledge.  Sunday evening we celebrated Silja’s birthday with lots of chocolate cake and Irish coffee, but for some reason the festivities did not settle well with my GI tract and I spent half the night emptying my stomach of sugar, spice, and everything nice (and maybe a few things that weren’t so nice).  Thus come Monday morning, I wasn’t really feeling up to class so I snoozed in my bed, hoping that by lunch time I would feel a bit more normal.  That didn’t happen, so I stayed home for the day, but ended up missing the few topics of the week I was genuinely interested in:  evolution, ecology, ice formation, and snow.

Tuesday I returned to class, incredibly bummed out, but I didn’t have long to sulk as we sped off towards a nature museum in Tampere.  The museum was a perfect addition to our lessons for the week as their taxonomic display of Finland’s native flora and fauna was exceptional.  After lunch, we went to recruit some customers for our professional exam in the spring and we took a short trip to a bird-watching haven outside the city.  All-in-all it was a very educational, relaxing day and I really enjoyed learning more about the migration patterns of different bird species in the area.

Vapriiki Museum

Wednesday we discussed evolutionary psychology and Henkka managed to capture all of our attentions with a fascinating discussion on sex and the male versus female psyche.  After lunch, Henkka was kind enough to repeat Monday’s lectures (I wasn’t the only one who had been absent) so we spent the afternoon in the forest, discussing ecology, lake ice, supercooling, and winter survival techniques of different species.  It was a wonderful afternoon and I learned so much!  There is no better classroom than the great outdoors.

Thursday we received the unfortunate news that Henkka was out sick, so we ventured to Seitseminen National Park on our own and completed a short hike through the old growth forest.  It is hard to describe in words how beautiful the old growth forests are here in Finland.  With towering spruce trees, vibrant pines, and robust birches, the forest feels constantly alive thanks to the bounty of mosses that cover everything below.  I’ve even come to appreciate bog species found in Finland, as long as I don’t fall into any holes…In the afternoon we continued to work on the customer gig scheduled for February and Silja convinced me to help her bake for the upcoming birthday festivities scheduled for the weekend.  Hurray!  I do love a good party.

The lake where we discussed ice formation…it’s fascinating!

Friday it was back to customer – gig work.  We managed to spend the entire day calling customers, planning snowshoeing routes, discussing food plans, etc.  That evening it was time for the…PARTY!!!  Both Mikko and Silja have birthdays in November so we combined the celebrations Friday night.  Everyone stayed for the festivities with the exception of Seishi and Fari, who both needed to return home.  Charlie found some decorations and silly-string so we turned our room into a disco and danced the night away.  I hit the sack early in anticipation for my day of hiking and woke up refreshed and ready to hit the trails.  There is nothing like fresh snow to rejuvenate the spirit!

Surprise!

The following morning Mira and I woke up early to go chase the sunrise.  We missed it…so instead we went out for the sunset with Ralph and Charlie.  We also snuck a few beers to sip on by the lake.  It was the perfect way to wrap up the weekend.

Ray-Ban crew – minus Charlie…

Sunset by the lake

Beers by the lake – I love Finland!

Next week is knife-making.  I guess it’s time to find out if my dreams of becoming a legendary blacksmith are just that…dreams.

See ya!

-Em