Dear customer

"Yes, Ma'am, I understand that you are looking for a Canada Goose jacket. They are right over here. Yes, they are the best down-filled jackets available on the market." (Why is the stereotype for a CG jacket buyer so set? Swedish Finn. Loaded with money. Brand-conscious. Sometimes with horrid fake tan.)
"No, we don't accept reservations or put these jackets on hold. There is such a large demand that it's first come, first served. You'd like to try the S size? Ok, let me undo the security lock. Yes, these are so valuable we do keep tight track of them." (The black ones go right away. Bubble gum pink and Turquoise are still waiting to be snatched up.)

I can understand that people want top quality. But it seems a bit much when you have to call from another country to ask when the shipment will arrive. And the craziest instance...For one lady customer, a certain model of the women's CG jacket didn't have a visible enough logo for her liking!!

Dear customer, go spend some time in a third world country where children beg for food and live in the dump. Then rethink your money spending habits and how you find your sense of worth! Would appreciate that, thanks.

watery wanderings

i love that helsinki is surrounded by water.
i hope it freezes so we can walk on it again this winter.
i love that water is so reflective. the same view can
either look menacing, melancholy, tranquil or vibrant
depending on when you happen to pass by.

marketing strategies

i read on an outdoors clothing label: "engineered for maximum snugglage." it tickled my find-the-right-word fancy while shocking my compunction for correct language usage.

it's not a dictionary word, but can't i say that i'm engineered for maximum snugglage too?! :)

in the wings

My hopes and dreams--
shy actors and actresses
peeking from behind the
curtain, giggling and
fluttering
wondering when their
time will come, what part
they will get to play on the
great stage.

Because they're so young, they
just need a little push
on the tush
to get going.

meet me in Helsinki

I encountered a lady and her dog on my morning walk today. I have kept my fancy for walking, you see. And she interrupted my reverie and music by remarking on the beautiful day. For on such a brilliant day as today has been, with sunshine and cold wind by the bay, you cannot keep the joy of seeing sunlight to yourself, no, it is not possible, I say!

Then there was an unusual pick-up line by a tattoo artist waiting for the metro. "I collect beautiful things. Can I take a picture of your face?" As he left, "Now you are part of the collection." Charmed, I'm sure?

And then I stood under the Stockmann clock, watching people come and go, some waiting worriedly and others greeting cheerfully. Foreigners, a boyfriend waiting for a kiss, painted high school girls, a young mothers' club composed of smiles and prams. And then a friendly face and a hug, as I became another meeting under the history of the rotating clock and we melted into the cityscape.

I also have a new friend from a faraway land. As we talked over a cup of coffee, we saw an old horse-drawn buggy glide by on the darkening street outside our picture window. The driver must have been a fan of Santa's style, or at least his facial hair! But we were absorbed in our tales and coffee, our stories of loves and losses. Unobtrusively, night curled around our little corner to eavesdrop before we even noticed he was there!

And now, my last meeting of the day is here with you. I wonder whether your day had as much of the unexpected and joyful as mine did. I hope your heart was warmed by a friend's touch and your funny bone tickled by the expressions of a stranger. I hope someone looked you in the eye and told you that you were wonderful. My wish is that you would fall sleep tonight with peaceful thoughts and wake to a new morning with irrepressible hope.
Until we meet again...

curtain call

nature's funny i say.
can't seem to make
the curtain call on time--
some trees, they're all
stark and brown
bare and awkward to see.
others are magically
yellow and pale while
some are curiously still
green. stage fright
could be the cause of
this delay. or might
simply be the Director's
genius that knows
that the Autumn Act must
advance in stages to
show off the intricately
choreographed dance of
the falling leaves.

a memory

a foggy morning
montes de oca

fall

Back in Finland, where the leaves are turning colors and the air is 20 degrees colder than in Spain. Brrr! At the end of the Camino, I felt ready to come home. But I confess to feeling a bit of culture shock upon arrival, a bit of melancholy that seems to be part of the season. I am sure that after a bit of adjusting we will find a routine. We haven't really settled back in yet, as we are spending time in Heinola with my parents before they head back to Ecuador next week. We are staying at my cousin's home and trying to get paperwork and errands done. After weeks of walking and a steady routine, it seems the world (even in Finland) rushes by too fast. Sometimes in the mornings, I have stared at my closet and wondered why it is so difficult to figure out what to wear. For weeks we didn't needed to think about that, just wear the shirt that's clean or dry.

Anyway, just some ramblings on a fall night. Candles are burning and the evening is waiting to be enjoyed with family. Some tea. Dear friends to be seen soon, wood trails to be walked, mökki sauna to be heated. Each season has its loveliness.

arrival

Greetings from Madrid! We are here for a few days to visit family before heading back to Finland.

The arrival in Santiago de Compostela was long-awaited and quite loud, as eleven of us went hand-in-hand down the narrow streets to the plaza and cheered like mad as we arrived! It was like celebrating the win of a soccer game. We went to mass and patted St. James on the back, because apparently those are the traditional things to do, but then four of us zoomed to Finisterre in a rented car to visit what the medieval mind considered "the end of the world." Most of our crew continued to Finisterre on foot, but we had already pre-booked our tickets and were short on time. After weeks of beautiful landscapes, it was also impressive to gaze over the sea in all its vastness.

It takes some getting used to being in a car or a bus. There are no more clear routines in the morning or at bedtime. There is no more walking for hours or daily washing of clothes; no more constant hugs and kisses, or the jokes we got used to sharing with our camino crew. Our friends took us to the bus stop in Santiago when we left, and it was such a desolate scene to leave them teary-eyed, leaning against the shop windows in the shade as we waved goodbye. I do hate goodbyes. The Camino is one of those unique community experiences that is something of a world of its own. I don´t know where else you would bring together such a random group of people like a lawyer, a road-constructor, prison guards, a taxi driver and a life coach, for example.

My uncle told us he thought we were crazy when he heard we were going to do the Camino, and that he didn´t think we would make it. Well, it´s true we are crazy but we did make it! And it was AMAZING!

final days

We have been walking through Galicia for a few days now. The scenery is beautiful, with plenty of pastureland and forest, mountainous terrain and changing cloud formations. The presence of cows is particularly pungent. But I will take the ups and downs of this road with its greenery over the flat dry terrain of Castile and Leon any day!

We have only three days of walking left! It`s hard to believe that we have walked across almost the whole peninsula in the last few weeks! The blisters haven´t been bothersome, and after a second round of bed bugs, I hope to be free of the little critters for the rest of the way...

What makes the days so beautiful, other than the scenery, is the people, obviously. We generally move in a group of eleven (2 Germans, 1 Brazilian, 3 Catalans, 1 Madrileño and 1 Asturiano---those last five are all from the different regions of Spain--and us), arriving at our destined town at different times and with different levels of pain and enthusiasm. If there is a kitchen, we cook together. A few days ago the Germans made fantastic schnitzel and apple dessert. And last night we made crepes for everyone, since that is one of the tastiest offerings of Finnish summer cuisine. Our group is loud, full of fun people, and it will be sad to part ways in a few days.

In the meantime, making the most of every moment, and enjoying the Way...