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.
It’s that time if the year when the autumn just crashes in. Right now, the majority of leaves are still green. The trees are yellow only in spots, reeds are turning brown and streets are painted with fallen leaves.
In a week, the world will be all yellow and brown. With a dash of red.
Finns are not very good at building neighborhood communities. In general, Finns are not very good at casual socializing. Having lived in our current house for five years, only now – through Scouts – have I realized there is actually any community activity at all.
So today was a Soukka Neighborhood Day. The girls participated in a Scouts skill trail, which rewarded participants with a free crepe and jam.
Grassroots participation.
All over the world, the New Year is a time to reinvent yourself, to start something new.
However, September as a fresh start is only a concept in the Nothern Hemisphere. In the South, the school year begins around the start of a calendar year, so there is nothing “new” about the fall.
That means we get double the nudges to reinvent ourselves. With the best intentions.
First day in the second grade.
New backpacks, pencil cases, and sweaters.
I wonder how many years we are still allowed to walk the girls to school on their first day.
