Waning winter

Birch on blue.  I think the twigs are starting to change colour like they think spring is coming...or maybe they just look different now that the sun makes it significantly above the horizon!

Well, I can't exactly say that "spring has sprung," but we are creeping towards the end of winter.  We are gaining almost 45min of daylight each WEEK! The sun actually feels warm now...and it is sunny out!  Warm is relative though...most mornings are still around -10.  The pussy willows (pajunkissa) are starting to come out and there is a stiff crust on the snow from the occasional daily thaws...but these thaws also bring slurries of mud, ice, gravel and water covering the sidewalks, gutters, and roadsides.  It's a bit of a mess to walk in... and a challenge to maintain balance on a bike when a layer of compact snow disintegrates under your tires to become slush.  Even worse when it re-freezes into irregular, solid, slippery ice. Sunburn season is starting...I actually used sunscreen last weekend and still gained freckles!

Look...it's above 0!! ...at least in the sunshine it is....

Why did I need sunscreen last weekend?  Well, most importantly it was sunny out, but I also spent the day basking in the sunlight out on lake ice and ice-fishing.  I understand why people ice fish now...but only in the good weather.  As Aku said, "This is only a hobby; we don't do it to survive. So, when your feet get cold, we'll go inside and have hot chocolate."  This is the kind of ice fishing I can deal with!

Sitting in the sun...staring at the hole in the ice (avanto).  I've been told that there are actually a lot of fish in these lakes, but I have yet to see much evidence of that.  There is a story that days like this one are the reason the Finnish flag is blue on white.  Sky and snow.

I have to admit that in Finland is the first time I have really spent time on lake ice.  I have a vague memory of doing it as a child, but that just involved being really cold.  The first key factor to consider is footwear; dry and warm feet are essential.  This is a challenge because (especially at this time of year) there is often water on top of the ice from melting snow and there is the snow that has been covering the ice all winter.  This can be deep!  Winter boots are great for warm feet, until you factor in the water.  Rubber boots are better for dry feet, but they don't do much for keeping feet warm.  People who live here often invest in some pretty heavy duty -40-style rubber boots. I do not have rubber boots here (yet...I will soon!) so settled for my winter boots.  These were pretty much saturated within an hour.  I had to change my socks and shoes and was restricted to areas with a crust over the water after that.  The second factor to consider (I already mentioned) is the sunlight.  It's getting stronger, my skin is particularly white from the Finnish winter, and it's reflected off the snow and ice.  Sunglasses and sunscreen required. The third thing to consider is your bum.  Seriously. You need a seat that will keep you off the snow and dry.  Sitting on the snow or standing for the day are not options if you plan to be out more than a short period of time.  And finally...bring something to drink; it can be warm (tea, coffee, minttukaakao) or cold (beer...). These things make it much easier to look down a hole in the ice for hours.

My first ice fishing catch ever.  What a whopper!!  ha.

We had limited success as far the the fishing goes.  We caught a few perch (ahven)...and I think I kept the smallest fish I ever have in my life.  Actually, I don't think I've ever even caught a fish that small!  But the exciting news is that I did catch something, which I more than I can say for any past fishing attempts here.  At this point, my Finnish hunting successes have been far greater than my fishing successes.  This is something new for me.  The rest of the weekend was great too.  A really cozy cottage, campfire with sausages, sauna tietysti, and lots of practice understanding and (sort of) speaking Finnish.

that fish above is the tiniest one I caught....I think it was about 7cm long...maybe 6

One of the things that I really enjoy about Joensuu (and most other Finnish towns I have been to) is the way the neighbourhoods are planned out.  Each neighbourhood has a few hundred families and a small grocery shop.  In between the developed areas are green spaces with forests, walking, and skiing trails.  Parks are fairly common and there are extensive green spaces around any lakes or rivers.  Here in Joensuu (literally meaning "river's mouth") there is a river that flows into a fairly large lake. There are paths along the entire river and lake shore.  Last week I took an afternoon and went up river to a park on a river island.  There are walking trails through the managed forest with shelters at regular intervals.  Each shelter is sort of a half-teepee made of wood around a fire ring and firewood provided.  So we had a fire and looked out on the river and listened to the sounds of the impending spring.  There was an open area on the river with the river flowing through.  A mild wind rustled the tops of the Scots pine and birches, and made the pussy willows whip around on the shore of the river.  The silky catkins were not yet out, but the buds are swollen.  And the birds.

One of the cabin-like shelters (not the half-teepee).  you can rent them out for the day/afternoon/evening and have a picnic dinner with friends and family even in the worst weather.

It seems that the birds here speak a different language too :-) !  Really, they're just different species than I am used to in Canada, but it certainly made me aware of how much I listen to birds.  I have never realized this before.  I have always considered myself to be relatively oblivious of different bird calls and am only able to recognize a few.  This started to change when I worked at Alex Fraser Research Forest with Cathy who is an amazing resource and teacher when it comes to these things.  However, the more I learned, the more I realized that there was a lot more that I could learn! So, now that I am starting to hear new birds moving into the area here, I realize that I listen to the birds more often than I thought.  Try it yourself.  Go outside and just listen...chickadees, crows, pigeons, sparrows, robins, woodpeckers...it's another whole world that changes through the seasons!

Woodpile.  Koivua on paras!

Anyways, that's enough for this week!  Probably more politics and history next time though...

the luxury cottage for the weekend.  It was great!