Finland - Rovaniemi

Reindeer

Hello and welcome to Finland, just spent the last two days in Rovaniemi the capital of Lapland. While here we have visited a Reindeer Farm, crossed the Arctic Circle and encountered the dreaded mosquito ..... as well as thunder storms and downpours. Also had visits to Arktikum (www.arktikum.fi) an excellent museum showing the past and present life of Lapland, as well as other interesting exhibits, this is a MUST if you visit Rovaniemi, the other Must, is Santas Village, again this sits on the Arctic Circle, there is a Post Office where you can mail your cards, or leave then for delivery in December. Leave Rovaniemi today and head to Kuusamo in the heart of the Finnish ski area. Here are some pictures ....

Reindeer Farm 

Baby Reindeer 

Arctic Circle 

Eight Seasons

Four seasons did not suffice for Laplanders and the Sami people in the olden days. Instead, they structured time into eight periods: autumn-winter; winter; spring-winter; spring; spring-summer; summer; summer-autumn and autumn. The four main seasons were supplemented in this way by four “half-seasons”.  The warm, moonlit nights of August belong to summer; however, August comes with a hint of autumn’s crispness and its piercing, melancholic light. It only takes a couple of cold, frosty nights, and the autumn-summer turns into autumn. When leaves begin to fall and lakes become covered with fog and ice at night, autumn has arrived in full force, though it is not quite yet autumn-winter.

Pakkastalvi (‘frosty winter’) is the first season of the year. The New Year festivities have come to an end, and it is dark, cold and quiet until March or April when, soon after the Lental Season, hankikanto (‘the spring of crusted snow’) arrives. The amount of light increases significantly, even though it is still dark and cold at night.  With increased light, everything in nature begins to awake. At the first sign of spring, jäidenlähtökevät (literally ‘ice break-up’)  begins: snow still covers the ground, but the first plants begin to appear, and reindeer give birth to calves.  The first stoneflies begin to crawl on the snow near the waterfront.

Once the sun no longer sets, the ‘light green summer’ (keskiyönauringon aika), or the time of the midnight sun, begins. With 24 hours of daylight, the entire ecosystem lives in ecstasy.  The ‘harvest time’ (sadonkorjuunaika) begins when the willowherb blossoms, and days begin to get shorter.  This is followed by ruska or ‘colourful autumn’ when the fiery autumn colours remind us that soon the ground will be covered by ice and snow again. And then... the ‘first snow’ (mustalumi) arrives, only to melt during the first days of mild weather. The frost that follows this period of “black snow” will freeze the ground.

The last season, ending the yearly cycle, is Christmas (joulukaamos), a period of constant darkness. The long polar nights are followed by the greatest celebration of the year: Christmas - a celebration of rebirth, light and letting go of the old.          

There were valid reasons for dividing time into eight distinctive seasons. By predicting weather and carrying out seasonal tasks according to the weather signs, the northern way of life gave birth to the northern state of mind: a mentality which imitates nature. Nature is in a constant state of change, simultaneously in the present season while on the way to the next. This is also true of humans: we are constantly in a state of flux; always moving on and preparing for tomorrow.

The structures and institutions of society may change, but mentalities, moulded by nature, remain practically unchanged through generations. In this way, the eight seasons have also remained. In a number of ways, they still influence the things we do, what we feel and how we think, all the time. 

Sami Kota