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all this lush greenness
Plus a great gig I went to yesterday; my friend M was playing in Tampere together with Bridget Martin. Not that many people present, but I really enjoyed hearing M and his band - it's been a long time.
miss H and a shop window full of balloons
(And the fact that this was taken at 10 p.m. amazes me! I mean I know there's a lot more light in the summer - I just didn't remember how much more. Wow.)
Despite all the not-so-good things mentioned in the previous post, there are always many many small things which make me smile. Let me show you some!
part one: cross stitch
It's been somewhat rainy and pretty cold lately; after the super warm weather in the beginning of May the cold felt crushing. Still, summer's coming faster and faster, the leaves in the trees are really big; and the evenings are lighter and lighter. The fact that it's light outside after ten feels really amazing! In spring I'm really happy to live in southern Finland - in Eastern Finland the leaves were still tiny a week ago.
Been stressed out, working, not sleeping well, a bit ill, and traveling between Helsinki and Tampere. Didn't want to bring that here. Sorry to all who are waiting for an email! I'll be back soon.
I think May might be my favourite time of the year. I love late spring - when it starts to be more about green and new and fresh and less about rain and pools and mud. (Early autumn - say, September, and early October - is another favourite, when the leaves are turning red and gold, and the crisp mornings may still lead the way for a warm sunny day.) I love how all the green arrives little by little, at first, and then bam! just erupts in one night - or that's how it seems. A green explosion. New leaves, bigger every day, are bursting from trees, and those new wrinkly baby leaves are so pretty.
By midsummer the wonder of spring has ceased, there's almost too much green around, and in all it's voluptuousness it's ordinary - no magic anymore.
Yesterday J and I enjoyed some caffeine (him: coca cola, me: coffee) at my favourite outdoor café for the first time this year. Many more times to come, I think!
Someone had hung flowers on a scaffold.
Today is my mum's 60th birthday. Sis, her family and are catching a train on Friday, so we'll be at the parents' for the weekend to celebrate. Happy birthday, Mum!
First of May is the closest we uptight Finns get to a carnival. It's a big day for working class & left-wing parties, but for students too. Most of all, it's time to celebrate spring (even if in some parts of Finland there's still snow). Like Sandra said about Swedes '....Valborgsmässoafton when the Swedes celebrate spring and drink lots of alcohol...' - that's how it is in Finland, too.
The two parties I attented to the night before, however, were nice and quiet with lots of good food. The feast continued on the First of May, as I went to a traditional picnic with my friends (though this year not to Kaivopuisto park, where tens of thousands of people go for First of May picnic every year), and later to have a very fancy dinner at my sister's - which has become a tradition to us. So lots of eating - but I did manage to down a couple of glasses of cava, too. :)
I think I was looking very appropriate for the celebration when I took the first shot; I have a huge crab balloon for the nephew (most kids get balloons on First of May) and my 'student cap', which you get when graduating from school and then get to wear for a day every May. Sounds silly, I know! Plus the fact that it's white velvet really makes it quite impractical for celebrating student style (i.e., getting sloshed). Having been prim and proper in my early twenties, my cap is still embarrasingly white, though!
