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.
Food tastes better when eaten outside.
The nearest “beach” to us is just a quick hop away. It’s a secluded little strech of sand, and you can’t get there with a car. Consequently, it is often pretty quiet.
With the weather being great, we went for a picnic on a whim. We grabbed whatever we fancied from a store and cycled to the “beach” for a few hours of games, snacks and scenery. The girls even waded to the water, but it was still way too cold for a swim.
Best night of the week.
As a kid, I loved Finnish baseball (pesäpallo). It’s quite different from American baseball – most notably, because you pitch the ball up, not across.
So, when I came across a set of used pesäpallo equipment for kids at some sale or another, I did not hesitate for a second.
The girls’ success rate of actually hitting the ball is still low enough that we can practice in our backyard. I do not expect that to last long.
I would still love to pick the sport back up myself, but unless you are part of a fairly serious team, you can only really play in summer. And in summer, there is so much else to do.
When it is not homework, it is fun.
As a summer activity, we are collecting flowers with the girls to press them. With my mum, they are also catching bugs to inpect and draw.
Anything to keep them engaged in reading and writing.
Moving from Johannesburg to Espoo transfers you to the opposite end of the spectrum in almost any criteria imaginable for comparing cities.
Some contrasts are obvious. Johannesburg has more than twice the people of entire Finland, and around 20x Espoo. In Espoo, kids can walk and cycle safely to school, whereas in Johannesburg… not so much. People smile to strangers in Johannesburg, but in Finland… not. And then, of course, the weather is just a little different.
In summary, Finland excells at fundamentals, but Johannesburg is amazing at everyday luxuries: easy outsourcing, endless restaurants, beautifully maintained gardens…
In Johannesburg, you may go to sip coctails on a beautiful terrace on Sunday. In Finland, you likely go for a hike in a forest.
It’s easy to dismiss basics when they are well cared for. But the lack of them makes yor life difficult. Just consider the multi-hour blackouts that regularly plague Johannesburg.
But occassionally, I just really miss the luxuries.
The house belonging to kids’ scout group has a handfull of beehives at the edge of the property. The bees seem pretty used to strangers coming and going, and they paid no attention to me or my camera.
During spring, the kids sell the honey (there is a bigger farm further away) as one of their fundraising initiatives. This time of the year, they just observe the bees.
And learn to stay away.
Our summer cottage has been in the family for longer than I’ve been alive. I have spent every summer by this same shore. Some little things have changed, but very little.
I got into photography in 2008. Since then, I have probably taken 500 images every year with this same scenery as a backgroung – often even from this very same spot. That’s nearly 10,000 photos.
And it is still worth taking just one more.
Swimming, boating, fire-cooked crepes, sauna, bbq, hammering, hand-picked wildflowers, ice cream – long days outside and never-ending bedtime giggles.
A perfect day for little people.
In a few weeks, the day will be at its longest in Finland. Stuart struggles to sleep in the light, but I have no problems. I love the long evenings. It feels like you gain a whole new day after working hours.
Even when the sun sets below horizon after 10pm, it doesn’t actually get dark anymore. This image is taken at 23:55.
Dusk.
When Merlin, our late Schnauzer, was in puppy school, he surprised me by learning the command ‘leave’ in 5 min. He surprised me even more by actually obeying it – regardless of what he found on our walks.
It was harder with kids.
Finnish forests are full of delicious berries and plants. It takes a lot of repetition to ensure the kids do not experiment with anything, even when they think they know. Lily of the Valley is easy, but some plants are easier to confuse – and more poisonous.
At least we don’t live in Australia.
The first ice cream of the summer!
Well, of course,we have had ice cream in the past months. Actually, in the past week. But not from an ice cream kiosk. (At least, not most of them. A mall kiosk does not quite count.) And we had not eaten any outside. (Almost none) And nothing in our T-shirts, with the sun shining.
Hard to explain why, but this was definitely the first ice cream of the summer. And it was great.
Blue Moment 