185 Days to Spring

Countdown

​Let the countdown begin. We’re heading to the period most of the people here in Finland dread the most, Winter. This is not about being cozy under a blanket and watch the soft flurries falling from the sky. This is about a nightmare that repeats itself every year.

I’m talking about darkness, freezing temperatures, and of course, working outdoors. This has been one of those years when Summer lasted literally three weeks, as the first day of August marked the time to change the summer wardrobe with the winter one. The tomatoes I planted in Spring didn’t even have the time to give a single fruit and are now rotting under the merciless temperatures under 10 C. Was it even worth it? I feel like I’ve wasted five good plants of tomatoes, sending them to a desperate kamikaze mission.

You might think I’m crazy, but I feel sorry for their too short life. Like a general, I watch my soldiers deadly wounded in a battle we didn’t even win.
The problem is that I already know next year, I will still try to plant them once again (will I ever learn?).

Nevertheless, longer summers are still possible, and I’ve experienced them. But they come very randomly, and it’s like throwing the dice, crossing the fingers, and hoping to win.
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Now I know what you’re thinking: can’t I find anything nice to say about fall and Winter? Of course, there is something nice. The fall colors here in Finland are unique, particularly in Lapland:

I love the warm touch of the scarf worn for the first time (after a long summer). The smell of the first hot cereal soups, the days spent searching for mushrooms and berries. The fantastic pictures I get of birds preparing their flight formation to reach the Summer on the other side of the planet.

I also find it enticing when the snow finally falls and gifts us with a bit of light. As you can see, there are good parts to it. I’m just disappointed with the imbalance with which we receive those gifts. There’s one old say about having too much of a good thing, and this is what I’m complaining about.

But, as my husband always says to console me. "Things will change one day, and good things are still waiting for us, so let’s not get bitter for those little things." I simply love him!

© P.J. Mann, 2021

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