You’ve all seen the pictures. Reindeers, northern lights, lots and lots of snow. That may be true in Lapland, but it’s not the only truth. This country is more than 1000 kilometres long from south tip to northernmost point. The climate varies from mild and humid coastal areas to continental dry cold. I live on southern coast and this winter has been mostly dark and icy.
0o C. It doesn’t sound very dangerous, but that’s where the troubles begin. That’s the point where water freezes into snow and ice, and the point where ice melts into water. On Monday it rains, on Tuesday the rain becomes fields of ice. If you survive through Monday and Tuesday, you’ll fall on Wednesday when it’s raining again and making the ground extremely slippery. This is an actual weather forecast given to my town for next week. This weather that we consider ordinary would cause chaos in other parts of the world. No wonder that one of the best-selling shoes here are ones that have spikes in the sole of the shoe.
The dark side
It’s slippery, but it’s not all. It’s dark, and in my opinion it’s the darkness that kills you. Lack of snow makes the darkness even darker, snowy sceneries would be much lighter. Here on south coast you can enjoy daily six hours of daylight – can’t say sunlight because it’s usually very cloudy in winter. Fellow Finns up in the north don’t see a thing in a whole month. SAD (seasonal affective disorder) makes us all very sad. We can totally understand the ancient Romans that celebrated the sun in 25th of December. That’s when most of us sigh “It’s finally over”. During the summer all gloomy winter-Finns become crazy summer-Finns that party like the world is ending. In a way it is. Summer is short. The next winter is here before you know it.
Horse people are tough. They take care of their horses no matter the weather. Due to short summer costs are high. Horses eat fresh grass only three months in a year, the rest of the time they need to be fed by other means. Horses have spikes in their shoes, some have even rubber to prevent snow from packing in the hooves. Keeping people and animals safe on slippery stable courts, pecking ice or shoveling snow takes time. Horse owners prefer stables with indoor arenas, so many stables have had to build one.
Inside the walls and under the roof, out of the harm’s way.
But I try to remain positive. There are some positive sides in winter, necessities turned into virtues. Houses are warm and central heating works well. We have steady 20-25 degrees temperature indoors. For example Spanish houses are much colder than Finnish ones right now. We don’t stop when weather isn’t nice. Everyone goes to work, to school, even Helsinki Airport is nearly never shut down due to weather. Freezing periods kill all the malicious bugs outdoors and you can stop watching your weight and say it’s just the fluffy coat you wear. And last but not least, spring and summer wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable as they are today if it weren’t for the long and cold winter.
Best-seller.
-20 degrees. There are periods of cold weather every year but we that’s what warm clothes are for. And when it’s cold, it means the sun is out!
