Finland once again !

It might be possible to convince yourself 

that Finland is more lake than dry land.  

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In the US, Michigan calls itself “The Land of 10,000 Lakes”.  For very similar reasons, owing to the relatively recent (in geologic terms) retreat of the Northern Glaciers at the end of the last ice age, Finland (and Michigan) have lots of glacial lakes, scooped out of the landscape.  With plenty of snow and rainfall, they have filled in to form beautiful, tree-lined, crystal clear, and ice-damn-cold lakes.  Lots of them.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

On my most recent trip to Finland, I had occasion to stay over the weekend.  One of my friends invited me to go to his Summer Cottage, but he had some family issues and it wound up that he couldn’t do it.  So, he mentioned that to another friend, who then invited me to his.  It’s a beautiful farm that has been in his family for almost 100 years.  Around 100 acres, it looks to be about half open field and half forest.  

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The property sits at the water’s edge on a larger than average lake (Liesjarvi).  On the other side of the lake is a Finnish National Park (Korteniemi) , so it’s wonderfully quiet, with a life-time buffer against development.  And best of all, the sauna is located right on the water. This is a big deal since new-sauna construction is severely  limited these days, to try and preserve the beauty of what the Finns have.  But, if you are “grandfathered-in” as my friend is, you can keep the sauna you have, even if it is right at the water's edge. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This is of course critically important to a Finn, who must, must I tell you, jump into the freezing cold water, ice or no ice, between rounds in the sauna.  Being from a hot part of the world, the sauna is not something that is part of my psyche, the way it is with the Finns, I might do it, but they live it.  (...and no, thank you, I ain't jumpin' in that dang water !)

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The sauna house.  It's a “wood sauna” meaning wood-fired, which have a very high reputation with Finns, compared to the electrically heated variety you would find in an apartment, or a more modern home.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I like to take photos at sunrise.  That’s made all the easier when I travel to time zones where I actually wake up too early anyway.  The still morning air and the crisp Finnish September temperature create a fine mist floating above the water.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

I hiked the path around the property, past other lake-side cottages, as the mist drifted through the trees.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Back at the house, my friend has restored this cool 90+ year old wood fired oven-stove.  Up above it, sticking out of the wall are the damper handles, you adjust them to adjust the amount of air flowing over the wood, and thus the heat created.  Notice near the center is a spigot, with a funnel-shaped thing above it.  This is a place you could pour water (likely cold-ass-water, from the lake) and the stove heats it, holding a couple of buckets full in the central part of the stove.  Then the house wife can fill tubs with hot water, for cleaning, baths, or whatever.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Apples grow all over Finland.  My friend's dad had planted this one in their front yard.  These are actually tiny, less than 1.5 inch diameter, and very sweet !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We drove around the lake to the national park and visited a farm that is run bu people in costume, using tools from 100 years ago.  The fellow with the horse would walk beside visitors who wanted to plow a line of earth the old fashioned way.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

They were making one of these period fences, using all local materials.  The bottoms of the vertical poles are made "sharp" by turning the ends in a fire.  The burned wood is then more resistant to rot. A heavy iron pole is plunged into the ground, making a 2-3 inch hole that the pole fence posts are placed in.  Then the rails and uprights are ties together using thin, split, fir sapling trunks.  Pretty cool looking.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Standing with my friend on the edge of the lake, he pointed to a couple of white specks, at least a half-kilometer away.  I zoomed in with my camera and could make out a family of swans, almost too far for my little camera to pull them in.  The morning before, as I was off walking around the property, my friend got several great shots of them in the water very near the house.  They were courting and chasing, he thinks they are a newly bonded pair.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There are lots of flying insects in Finland.  Like Alaska, they have a very short warm season, so they have to be very active when they have the chance.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

My friend says that a river enters the lake off to the right.  The water is slightly warmer than the cold water of the lake, and helps create the floating mist.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Looking through that mist, my friend, who is an avid photographer of Finnish (and other) wildlife, spotted a loon.  They swim in the water with just their necks sticking up, so I was amazed that he spotted it, again about a half-kilometer away.  It was all my little camera could do to tell it was a loon.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We picked onions from my friends garden while the ladies were off picking lingon berries in the forest.  Both made it to the kitchen table for lunch !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

About 6 liters of beautiful red lingon berries !  We also saw blue berries, raspberries and at least two other types as we were searching for cloud berries, which are golden in color, and look like small raspberries.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

So, if you like blue, 
or green, or red, 
or any of the other vivid colors, 
stop by Finland in September !

Y'all take care,
-Mark