Thu, 6 Aug

It seems the longer I'm in Finland, the more difficult it is becoming to remember what day of the week it is, and what the actual date is as well. The ebb and flow of the daily routine, I guess, are melding into uniformity. Not boring, just uniform. It was another absolutely spectacular day in Finland. From what I hear, last summer was cold and wet... I'm glad I could bring some of that dry, Idaho-style summer weather with me (although it looks like Moscow is cooling off for a bit of a change). It was a quiet day in the office, and a quiet day in the station. Most everyone was somewhere else. I hauled my linens up to the station for a trade-in. They have a full-time cleaning woman who keeps the place imaculate, and does the laundry for the linens in the guest houses (and maybe the station kitchen too). She speaks zero English. When I dropped off my stuff, she was no where to be found; probably off cleaning some remote corner. So, I did a quick Google translate and left her a note in Finnish. Scary, eh? I always run the translation backward just to double check. Well, about 20 mintues later she delivered the fresh towels and bed linens, with a huge smile on her face. Maybe she thinks I'm becoming fluent in Finnish. Ha ha. Or just appreciated my effort to speak to her in her native tongue.

Another little Nordic tradition is the wrap for the comforter for the bed. It's like a giant blanket sock into which you stuff a warm comforter blanket thing. The first time I dealt with the task it reminded me of trying to put tooth paste back into the tube, but tonight I restuffed in record time. Ah, life skill development. Here's a few more photos of the Suonenjoki. I recall my first trip around the lake, or the widespot in the river, this June and there were scant few boats. It appears that the population might be peaking.