Canadian Maritime

My Canadian Aunt, Auntie Lynn, returned home to British Columbia earlier this week. We miss her already. Over the past few years she's managed to visit us quite a few times, but next on the agenda is - so I've been told - my mother's trip to Canada in 2010 or 2011. (Auntie Lynn might accumulate enough bonus points to visit us in Finland one more time before that though.) My mom and her plan to visit the Maritime Provinces of eastern Canada: Nova Scotia, New Bruinswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland too, and after that take the famous transcontinental train Canada 1 back to Vancouver.


What does this have to do with the photo above? Nothing, really. Well, Auntie Lynn did take it on her holiday in Helsinki this summer. I think my mother is helping my little nephew Joshua with his lunch or something. I know I'm repeating myself - like a broken monotonous record - but Joshua is so adorable. A little human person.

Pappa and Benjy

When my brother Danny and his wife Sirkku flew to Finland for their summer holiday, the only place that could accommodate them was Sirkku's parents'. Well, it turned out to be loaded with benefits. According to reports, when baby Daniella and/or Benjy wake up early in he morning, all Danny and Sirkku need to do is open their bedroom door. Awaiting behind the door are two pairs of outstretched grandparent arms. Pappa and Mummi have been up since seven waiting for this moment. Danny and Sirkku hand over the woken baby or two and go back to sleep. For parents of small children, this must truly be a superb perk!


Meanwhile, Daniella's and Benjy's uncle - or "Big Daddy", as it's in Swahili - is at home. This summer he refused to give up his apartment to the African relatives. "I want to enjoy the beach nearby," he said, "for this is my last summer in this apartment." Coincidentally the summer's been the worst for years: we're well into July already, and I haven't been on the beach once. I should have just given up my apartment and got points for being a "good uncle".

Jan Evicted

Jan has been evicted. He had to move out of his room. Auntie Lynn took over. Well, Jan got the good end of the deal. Auntie Lynn brought a lot of very cool gifts from Canada to compensate for Jan's loss. In addition, Jan's new room is the biggest in the house - the attic, that is. No-one bothers the boys upstairs: they play games during the day, venture downstairs only to exchange empty soda bottles for new ones and to fill the bowls of chips, and sleep in late.

Master of Theology

I finally graduated. Last Saturday my parents threw a graduation party for me in their back yard. It was fun. We had wine, sangria, cheese, fruit and berries for “lunch”, and coffee and cheese-cake for dessert. I was very happy that so many brought their children along. For instance, all three of my godchildren (Lily, Oskar, Eddie) were there. The big trampoline and the animals (ducks, chicken, bunnies, cats) were the children's favourite. Many women tried out the trampoline too (“for the kids' sake”, they said). In the evening we had a nice fire, grilled some sausages, and took a sauna. And tried shooting some rats. They tend to follow domestic yard animals. I was just shaking Antti Gorski's hand and welcoming him to the party when another guest (also in a three-piece suit) asked me in a hushed voice, “May I borrow your gun?” Antti - we were still shaking hands - thought to himself, “I came to the wrong party...”

Good Morning Slippers!

Slippers is one of our two cats (MacGyver was introduced earlier). Slippers - named after her four white paws - is a lovely cat. She is fearful of strangers and of objects in people's hands, but once you win her trust, she is not shy about letting you know she likes you. And she's an impressive huntress. Nowadays, when MacGyver (whom Slippers adores) is getting older, it'll often be Slippers who, for example, will attack a neighboring cat twice her size and scare it off our (her) property. Because she is careful and timid with strangers, I think Slippers has most of her lives left. Unlike MacGyver, who probably wasted his 9th sometime in the mid-90's.

Lepojärvi Cabin

Speaking of our summer cabin, here is a picture of the lake. The cabin itself is just 20 meters from the peer. The lake is called Lepojärvi or Restlake (lepo=rest, järvi=lake). The canoe has served us well - my father made it some, what, 15-20 years ago? It's made of fiber-glass, painted camo, both ends have water tight containers, and the comfortable seats are made of overlapping car seat-belts (visible if you click on the photo).

I'm looking forward to the summer season, as stated. Hopefully some weeks will be spent here. The kids, I'm sure, can't wait. They'll probably haul all the animals - ducks, chickens, bunnies - to the cabin where they can run free. There's no electricity, no running water - so a lot of time is spent warming up the sauna, heating the water, preparing food, washing up after food etc. But it's worth it. Sielu lepää, as we say in Finnish ("the soul rests").