When the sun is setting, between dusk and darkness, there is a moment when the light turns blue. And the world stops for a heartbeat.
No one in our household is big on drinking water. We all drink at mealtimes, but between meals we just… don’t. I keep making vows to improve and often carry a water bottle around for a week or two. But nothing sticks. The girls are a little better, but not by much.
At night, however, they wake up to drink – and to alert me the moment their bedside bottle runs dry.
My office is in the centre of Helsinki. In winter, the streets nearby are usually quiet when I leave in the evenings. But put an ice rink there, and suddenly not even –12°C keeps kids (big or small) from appearing in hordes.
The first time Stuart visited Finland was for Christmas 2010. It was an exceptional December. Over one metre of snow blanketed Helsinki, and the city was running out of places to plough it. Parking lots and walkways disappeared under snow mountains in an attempt to keep the streets clear. The temperature dropped below –27°C the day before Christmas Eve in Asikkala, where we were spending the holidays.
Everyone kept saying how rare that winter was, but I don’t think Stuart truly understood it until we moved here. The past four winters have shown how much muddier a typical coastal winter is. Because of the sea, day temperatures rise above 0°C on more than half (sometimes two-thirds) of days in January and February. Snow melts, turns slushy and heavy, mixes with sand and dirt, and becomes cold mud. Not exactly postcard-perfect winter scenery – at least not before the next snowfall briefly covers it all again.
Therefore, even with numb fingers, a frozen-solid car, and limited time outdoors, I love these crisp, sunny, beautiful winter days. You can see the cold in the air and the way light reflects.
–10°C would be perfectly fine, though. –20°C is pushing it.
There is a wonderful Finnish word, mökkihöperö, loosely translated as “going a bit loopy from too much time indoors.” After a weekend mostly stuck inside because of the –20°C temperatures, the girls were definitely going mökkihöperö. And, with all that excess energy, so were Stuart and I.
The easiest solution is a half-day at an indoor playground. Alanna and Kiara are big enough to run around on their own, so I can (albeit with a lot of interruptions) sit and edit photos. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones who had the same thought. Do you have any idea how hard it is to recognize your child among 50+ others, all yelling “Mum!” at regular intervals? Luckily, it’s a big place.
It has been freezing in Espoo today: -19C. Most of the time, a temperature like this keeps me firmly under the duvet. However, I have been wanting to photograph frozen soap bubbles for years. I lured Alanna to go out with me, and we had fun playing with the bubbles. Magic in the air! But only for a short burst. The soapy liquid got too thick, and our fingers too cold.
Kiara was not too bothered by the cold. She went skating.
Eight years ago, I got to day 168 of my ‘365 project’. Then my morning sickness got the better of me, and I spent the next 7 months trying to keep my food down and my energy levels sufficiently up to continue with the absolutely necessary. In March 2018, my twin girls, Alanna and Kiara, were born. And you can imagine the rest.
Over the years, I have often wanted to restart the 365 project. But the time is scarce, and it was never the right time. It still is not. But I’ll give it another go anyway.
My project, my rules… I will take a photo daily, and will try to post as often as I can – but realistically, it will not be every day. I will take at least 30% of the photos with my camera and not with my phone (although some of my best photos are with the phone).
And maybe I’ll cheat all once in a while. I’ll try to make sure no one notices.
Drinking fountains are a great place for people-watching. I am always surprised how many people loiter around even after they have their bottles filled. Especially when there is a long queue behind them.
When I was a teenager, I played a lot of cards. We played a lot with my family, but also with friends – someone always had a deck of cards in their backpack. Somehere along the way, I learned to shuffle cards in a ‘fancy’ way. After that, it really did not matter if I won or lost – I was always considered a great card player.
Merlin is a very sociable little dog. Except when we meet big and excited dogs. They are scary… Merlin has a habit of inviting these big dogs to play – while standing between my legs (it is safer that way…). He is small enough to fit comfortably – but the other dogs are always not.
Today in the park we met a small and very bossy dog – Merlin again made a hasty retreat. Some friends are just not meant to be.
I used to have a bad habit of being late. Luckily Stuart is (possibly) the world’s most patient person. When we started dating, he once waited for me for over an hour in a restaurant where we were supposed to meet. The waiter already gave him a sympathetic ‘I don’t think she is coming, mate’… But already then, Stuart knew me well. I did come.
In recent years, I have found myself to become more and more punctual (although Stuart might disagree). What makes this weird is that South Africa as a culture is highly un-punctual (depending, naturally, on the subculture) – I remember once arriving to a house party 45 min later than the invite indicated, just to surprise the host who had just gotten out of shower. Whereas in Finland, if you arrive 5 minutes late for a dinner, you are late. And should apologise.
I guess I just always have to be different.
Blue Moment 