Festival of Light

Here is St. Lucia about to proceed through Helsinki by horse-drawn carriage for today's festival of bringing light to the darkest time of year, and an article from today's news:

Sunday is Santa Lucia Day, the festival of lights. According to tradition, Lucia, a young woman dressed in white and wearing a crown of candles, brings light during the darkest time of the year. This year, Ellen Husberg, a student at the Swedish School of Economics in Vaasa, was voted in as the national Lucia during a charity fund drive. She was crowned by University of Helsinki rector Thomas Wilhelmsson at the Helsinki Cathedral at 5 p.m. After her coronation, she descended the steps of the Cathedral and lead a procession towards the city centre. Many other towns and schools also select their own Lucia. Over the next weeks and months, these young women and their entourages visit hospitals, retirement homes, prisons, orphanages and schools, bringing light, song -- as well as buns and coffee. Schools also have their own Lucia Day celebrations. Since there can only be one Lucia at school, many little girls, wearing store-bought plastic crowns, stage their own Lucia processions at home for their families. The Lucia tradition can be traced back to St. Lucia, an Italian martyr who died in 303 A.D. The Nordic Lucia tradition began in the 18th century in Sweden. In the 1900s, the tradition spread to the Åland Islands and to other Swedish-speaking regions in Finland.

I can really understand creating a festival of light at this point in the year! Best wishes to all for light and warmth this winter - and maybe some buns and coffee too.

Sharing Thanksgiving

We did it - we had Thanksgiving on the day, and we both took Friday off too, so we've had a typical overfed long holiday weekend and it's been great. We invited several friends over for dinner on Thursday so they could taste the traditional turkey and trimmings and Gerald's bird was very well received - one Polish guest was fascinated that he cooked the whole bird and asked for instructions. I was able to find classic Ocean Spray canned (whole berry) cranberry sauce and Libby's pumpkin too, so the tastes were authentic. Gerald said my crab-apple sauce went great with the meat too. I harvested from trees in our yard a few months ago and cooked them whole, mashed & strained them into sauce and added a lot of sugar as it's very tart; it's bright red naturally so adds a nice touch of color to a plate. He said I 'out-Finned the Finns on that one' by foraging something right in the middle of town. Gerald also shared his sugar cream pies, and our American friend Angela did a green bean casserole, and her sweet potatoes with marshmallows dish raised not a little suspicion, as did a pie made from a pumpkin. But everyone was adventurous and very appreciative of our sharing this holiday cuisine with them. We had a house-full, and the apartment kitchen got buried in dishes, with people underfoot as we were setting the food out, just like home! I made cream of turkey soup yesterday, and have more stock for another day, and it looks like we'll have turkey and stuffing for dinner again tonight with the last spoonfuls of cranberry sauce.

We did not completely hibernate though after our big feast - we went to the big Picasso exhibit Friday - a comprehensive show from the Picasso museum in Paris, so we've had our taste of culture too. But staying awake is certainly a challenge now in this darkest time of year. We're at 6.5 hours of daylight now, but also in the midst of weeks of rain so that adds to the light deprivation quite a bit. Sunrise: 8:52am and sunset 3:24pm and we're still not used to evening beginning mid-afternoon. But today is also the first day that most Christmas decorations will be hung, so that should brighten things up. It's time for the excellent Christmas markets now too and, may I ask, where did 2009 go??

Our last first snowfall

We woke to a white world this morning and it's still snowing now, steady but no blizzard. The seasonal shift is on with the hunger/fatigue/what time is it?? confusion but we are more aware of it this year, and maybe it's tinged with nostalgia as this may be our last true winter onset. Next year at this time... that's a saying we are now using a lot to adapt, as we look toward a move to the southwestern desert zone next summer. But we are also taking our vitamin D!

I currently am having some problems loading pictures from my camera so I'll share some BIG news instead. Did you notice the story of the world's largest cruise ship recently built here in Turku, Finland? It set sail last week, with a stop in England and then on to Miami. Having been on the ferry to Stockholm, which we all thought was huge, I cannot fathom the size of this vessel. The Swedes and Danes had a fun night watching as it passed under their bridge with a 2-foot clearance! That's after they lowered the telescoping smokestacks. Here's a bit from the AP:

KORSOER, Denmark — The world's largest cruise ship cleared a crucial obstacle Sunday, lowering its smokestacks to squeeze under a bridge in Denmark. The Oasis of the Seas — which rises about 20 stories high — passed below the Great Belt Fixed Link with a slim margin as it left the Baltic Sea on its maiden voyage to Florida. Bridge operators said that even after lowering its telescopic smokestacks the giant ship had less than a 2-foot (half-meter) gap. Hundreds of people gathered on beaches at both ends of the bridge, waiting for hours to watch the brightly lit behemoth sail by shortly after midnight (2300GMT; 7 p.m. EDT). "It was fantastic to see it glide under the bridge. Boy, it was big," said Kurt Hal, 56. Company officials are banking that its novelty will help guarantee its success. Five times larger than the Titanic, the $1.5 billion ship has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a small golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater. It has 2,700 cabins and can accommodate 6,300 passengers and 2,100 crew members. Accommodations include loft cabins, with floor-to-ceiling windows, and 1,600-square-foot (487-meter) luxury suites with balconies overlooking the sea or promenades. The liner also has four swimming pools, volleyball and basketball courts, and a youth zone with theme parks and nurseries for children.

There's some realtime video of the voyage at the ship's website www.oasisoftheseas.com if you are interested. And of course the quintessential Finnish quote:

Aboard the Oasis of the Seas, project manager Toivo Ilvonen of STX Finland confirmed that the ship had passed under the bridge without any incidents. "Nothing fell off," he said.

Masters of understatement that they are - a quality I find too rare these days.





So happy winter everyone! I'll return to readying the den for hibernation now, but hope to be able to post some of our own pictures again soon, or maybe some small news from Finland.

We're back to our routine after some wonderful visits this summer and not having as many adventures to share, so I thought I share something else I enjoy here and that is Finnish stamp design - they are quite interesting and varied. The snowflake design is transparent and the sauna pictures are scratch&sniff with a birch aroma - Claire sent some of those on her recent visit. The post offices here sell a lot of other supplies and gift items too and are a great place to spend some euros.

We are enjoying a balmy start to autumn here so far, but do feel the chill in mornings and evenings; it's another month until official 'winter time' in Europe.

Suomi stamps

Claire has arrived for a visit and luckily the annual Helsinki Festival is still going on. She missed the French company Les Plasticiens Volants and their balloon procession through Helsinki but Gerald and I saw it. Here are some pictures and I suggest you look them up the web too, to see moving images - really spectacular in person though. We also saw a Russian clown troop last night, Teatr Licedei, performing "Semianyki", a hilarious mostly pantomime show of family life - they too have some online footage - and as Claire studied 'clown' this last year, she was very happy to catch this comedia performance. We'll also see the Belarus Free Theatre Sunday, so she'll get quite a dose of far away art this visit. Gerald and I saw Kraftwerk (German) and Buika (Spanish/flamenco) and so we've been getting around this festival all while staying in town, and all of it has been really inspired. Even the canoe exhibition in my neighborhood! Art everywhere to bring summer to a close.

Festival of the Arts

Floating giant balloons! As I was happily watching the cute fish floating through the plaza, Gerald pointed behind me and there was a huge fanged sea snake emerging from a side street, then it chased the fish a bit and descended down into the thrilled crowd too. The kids were fearless. What a wonderful performance - the puppeteers just walked right in the crowd and the jellyfish in particular was beautiful with its tentacles opening and closing as it ebbed up and down. We couldn't see the others - a whale, a lobster, some seahorses, because there were so many people - more than the Madonna gig even! I'm so glad we got to see more of the festival this year as we won't be here for it next year.

Porvoo

We had a busy July with a welcome visit from my brother Chris and his wife Jo. We did a bit of travel around the region - to Stockholm, Tallinn, and then to this small historic wooden Finnish village east of Helsinki. As I've posted Stockholm and Tallinn pictures before, here are some of Porvoo. It has an old fishing dock and a medieval cathedral that dates from the 13th century. We took a 3-hour boat ride on a nicely restored wooden ferry through the scenic archipelago to get there, then a one-hour bus ride back - a very pleasant day trip.

We can hear her singing as I type. We walked down to check it all out and I took some pictures to share with you - as it happens! I am not a Madonna fan, although we are both from Michigan and near in age, but watching them mount this superstar enterprise has been interesting. I must admit I much preferred our evening listening to the 57 year old Chrissie Hynde & the Pretenders a few months ago - that is one rockin' chick! So - no pictures of the front of the stage as it's pointed to the sea, but here's our view of the scene in the neighborhood (continuing on page 2), including a young fan who couldn't get a ticket - isn't she cute? And they are still running the ferries to Tallinn beside the venue - we were on that same green and orange ship with Chris & Jo just over a week ago.

Hyvää Madonna Päivää!

There's a big party in our neighborhood tonight - 100,000 extra people are here to see Madonna performing her first concert in Finland, and tickets sold out within a few hours. 85,000 are inside the new concert venue they've just built about at the end of our block, and another 15,000 are cruising the perimeter. Here is the port area before the stage was built and then after - it's about 3 stories tall so it's set back a ways. They've recently cleared out a huge shipping and container operation from this port, ahead of building a new residential area soon. It's a whole new world tonight.

Midsummer magic

Midsummer is celebrated on June 19th this year, usually with bonfires such at these on the shores of Seurasaari Island. If the weather holds (iffy forecast at the moment), we may go see them this year and I'll take pictures. In addition, the island's website shares the following ways in which to make the most of the special solstice forces:

MIDSUMMER SPELLS
In Finnish tradition, the Midsummer Eve has always believed to have magical qualities. People do all kind of spells and charms. Most of them are in some way or another, linked to ones love life.

Midsummer night´s magic

On Midsummer Eve, young people ate salty herring, which made them very thirsty. The person who offered a glass of water to you in your dreams was considered to be your future spouse.
Ruovesi 1919

On Midsummer Eve when you secretly put a table into the cooking shelter and set it with nine different meals and start to eat, then all the boys (girls) you have been dating will come and sit around the table; but only your future spouse will sit next to you.
Nurmes 1891

How the girl´s flame of love was lit: On Midsummer eve, the sauna was heated with old pine tree branches, the water was fetched from three different springs and the bath whisks were made of alder twigs, which were torn from the ground.
Liperi 1916

When four young girls eat bread and butter on a four road crossing at midnight`s eve, the pictures of their future husbands will appear on the road.
Pihtipudas 1939

At midnight on Midsummer eve has the water of the springs turned into liquor. Tammela

When you sleep at Midsummer eve, you will be sleepy the whole summer.
Kauhava

On Midsummer eve, the women used to go behind the door of a pigsty, kick the door and ask the pig in how many years they will get married. If the pig didn`t answer, it meant that they will stay forever unmarried.
Luvia 1938

The boy/girl who wants to see his future spouse has to borrow the wedding ring of a married couple and on Midsummer eve, dunk it in a sparkling spring of water. After this the girl has to wear boy`s clothes and the boy girl`s clothes and put the ring into the mouth. Then, when you look at a spring, you will see there your sweetheart`s picture.
Pielavesi

On Midsummer eve, people used to sit at midnight on a big stone which was in the middle of a field or on the top of a building which had been three times rebuilt. There could be more than one person, but you had to be silent and believe that what you hear will happen. A laughter meant pleasure, bells marriage, a child`s cry children, a cuckoo`s call the number of the years of staying unmarried, the knocking of a hammer death, a faraway rumbling big changes in life and the ringing of church bells the death of a close friend. Muurla 1928

On Midsummer eve, you have to put under your pillow nine pieces of paper, written on each of it a girl´s or a boy´s name. Next morning, you take one of them. The name on the paper is the name of your future spouse.
Kiikoinen 1935

If you wanted to hear the voice of your future spouse, you had to climb on the roof of a food shelter which had been three times removed and shout into the woods. Then your future spouse was supposed to answer from there.
Sulkava

When you come from the Midsummer eve´s sauna you have to put a stick of firewood between your teeth and go backwards to bed, then your future spouse will appear to you in your dreams.
Sievi 1936

You take branches from nine different trees and sweep all four corners of a four roads´ crossing.
Then you will hear the barking of a dog from the direction where you future spouse will appear. You have to throw the branches quickly away before the dog comes and frightens you so much that you become sick.
Tuuteri 1944

On Midsummer eve, it was usual to put seven cups on a table upside down and hide under each cup an object, for example money, a key, a ring and so on. Then a person who hasn`t seen the setting lifts a cup. The object you find, predicts your future: if there is money, you will become rich; if there is a ring, you will get married; if a key, you will become a lady of a house.
Ikaalinen

On Midsummer Eve, if you mix mud of nine different sources and spread it over your whole body, you will not freeze during winter time.
A parish in Kuopio 1936

On Midsummer Eve people, used to go to rye fields and gather dew from the grass and wash their eyes with it. Then they gathered the dew into a linen and hanged it out on a tree. After this you were supposed to meet your future spouse.
Vieljärvi 1943

from: www.seurasaarisaatio.fi

Around the world in 15 days

We visited the US mid-May and went from Michigan to Indiana to northern California and back to Michigan before returning to Finland. We saw most everyone and had some quality time with the girls in the redwood forests and Blue Lake, where we caught an excellent show of the graduating MA students in Claire's program.

And I finally met Nolan - the newest member of the family. He's a happy and healthy California boy, and quite good too. California provided beautiful weather and vistas and delicious food too, and I got to visit my old neighborhood Noe Valley, in San Francisco, our last night there. It's still a charming part of town, though more high end than the late 70s when I called it home. Here's a picture of Trinidad, up north on the "Lost Coast" past Arcata. Everywhere we looked in California was like looking at a postcard. It was a crazy chaotic trip but we managed all the travel with no major glitches. Hopefully, as we just have a year to go over here, we won't need to cover quite so many miles and time zones (3) in one visit again. I do prefer vacations you don't need to recover from, actually!

Happy Vappu Day!

Today all of Finland celebrates Vappu Day - or May day, and it's day for picnics in the park or barbecues in the yard. We joined friends in the main park in Helsinki, where everyone else was congregating and had lovely sparkling Rosé wine and snacks. The weather cooperated and so the place was packed - everyone was super friendly. I took a picture of our blanket neighbors - and they raised their glasses in a toast - very genteel! The celebration is for the coming summer and sun and also similar to our labor day. Students celebrate the coming end of the school year and they wear these jumpsuits covered with ensignas and buttons - and fright wigs, top hats, sparkly antlers - anything fun. Those who have graduated wear their white graduation caps and this does not have an age limit so it's nice to everyone donning them in such a big crowd. We also came across Gerald's coworkers by chance - they were going to try to play cell phone tag to meet at some point, and then we just walked just past them as we entered the park. We shared fruit skewers and goat cheese snacks, and they reciprocated with two types of cheese cake.


Everyone is still there partying but we've come home for a siesta, and if I were really mean, I'd snap a pic of Gerald zonked out on the couch right now - but I'll be nice and share these other views of Vappu Day in Helsinki - which include the return of the Messerschmidts too - a very festive day in Finland!

Return of the witches

Although we are not yet seeing spring yet (and I will not share how grumpy this makes me), I'm happy to report the Easter witches did return last week to cast their spells and offer willow branches in exchange for candy. I guess we are now on the chocolate circuit, which is great. I was able to ask "kuva, ok?" (picture, ok?) this year, so we're doing better than last. We went out for sapas on Friday (Finnish tapas) at one of my favorite Helsinki spots, Juuri, and Gerald and I both got this perfect dessert. Chocolate cake, caramel sauce and sea buckthorn berry mousse!



I neglected to get a picture of the sapas, but here is their menu description with asterisks by our choices:

Sapas are small Finnish appetizers whose roots lie in hand-made cooking and Finnish food traditions
* Season`s mushroom soup and nettle and cheese pastie
* Lingonberry marinated salmon on maltbread, tarragon - garlic oil
Nettle marinated whitefish, blackcurrant - mustard sauce
Freshly salted whitefish with confit made of tomatoes
* Smoked small perchs from lake Pielinen
* Finnish baltic herring pasty with white radish salad
Crayfish - cottage cheese filled cabbage leaves, melted dill butter
* Fresh sausages à la Juuri, vodka mustard
* Worschmack of game, creamed sour bread
Slightly smoked reindeer heart with gelée made of rowanberry wine
* Beetroot and nut stew and small mushrooms
* Roasted swede with cauliflower puré
* Grilled salsify and rosehip jam

Here's the restaurant's link: http://www.juuri.fi/viinit/13?task=view
These sapas are fantastic and a great way to discover new cuisine.

We have mail

A gift from home...need I say more? Thanks again, Tami & Lindsay!

A Black Swan

Here's something I've never seen before (picture by Petri Kuhno). So beautiful! And the brief YLE article:

A black swan was sighted this week in Hartola, a town some 200 kilometres north of Helsinki. This is the first time the waterbird has been seen in this part of the country.

Petri Kuhno, the avid bird watcher who spotted the bird, says he believes that the black swan joined a flock of whooper swans (Cygnus cygnus) migrating from central Europe.

The black swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large waterbird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. There are also a few small black swan populations in central European countries.

Black Swans have a mostly black body with the exception of the broad white wing tips which are visible in flight.

Busy Neighbors

We had a lot of activity in the neighborhood today. Two tugs just came to clear the ice and then pull the Eira coal ship back out to the gulf. Friday I took this shot of the bridge building crane operator coming down for his lunch break. Quite the commute! It was below freezing and light snow too.

Certainly puts the sense of working for a living in perspective. The most impressive thing was watching the crane assemblers a few months ago, in similar winter conditions - one climbed all the way to the peak of the structure and set the cables to balance the whole thing. I do hope they are making really good money.

Gerald is doing great. Almost two weeks since his gall bladder surgery and only one setback involving breaded/fried meat Friday, which he will need to avoid from now on. He's doing fine with most everything else, and has through this week off work too to get his energy back up. We're still in winter here and we haven't had the temperature swings they've had in the midwest. Just hovering around 30F, inching up by tenths of degrees, and not too much sun yet. But the paper reports today that migratory birds are beginning to return now, so that's a sign of things to come. This winter has definitely seemed longer than last, so the spring will be that much more welcome.