SALAMAJÄRVI 3: SIBERIAN JAYS AND PENGUINS

”The people in the neighboring hut are way too loud.” ”Yeah. The wall isn’t that thick.” //
”Which of the following is not a prime number: 419, 615 or 827?” //
”I wouldn’t necessarily want to listen to their quiz all nigh long.” ”Me neither.” //
”Besides, the answer is obviously 615!”

”On last year’s winter trip the temperature was around minus 30 degrees Celsius. Now it was only about minus ten.” //
”And I have now learned the most important difference between the two.” //
In -30 C going to the outdoor toilet is just plain terrible. //
”I’m freezing!” //
”I’m freezing!” //
”I’m freezing!” //
”In minus ten degrees going to the toilet is tolerable.” //
”Like — I’m not sitting here for the fun of it but it’s not that bad.”

”I often take my woolen cape along on hiking trips. It’s very useful.” //
You can wear it indoors or when going to the toilet. //
You can also wear it as a skirt. //
When sleeping, you can use it as a blanket… //
…a pillow… //
…as well as a bed sheet. //
You can use the cape to protect your hands from hot pots and heater lids. //
Inside a proper cape you can fit a friend, too.

”The taxi will be here in half an hour. Let’s get going.” ”We have less than a kilometer to walk.” //
”Yes, but it’s better to leave on time.” //
”Hey! Was that a Siberian jay?!” ”?” //
”Where?” ”Over there?” ”Can anyone see it?” //
”It went that way!” ”Could we see it again?” //
”…and this is why we leave on time.”

Waiting for a taxi on a national park parking lot: ”I’m a bit cold.” ”Shall we play the penguin game?” //
”HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A PENGUIN?!?” //
Waiting for a bus at the bus stop of a small town: ”I’m a bit cold.” ”Shall we play the penguin game?” //
”Have you ever seen a penguin?”

Loppu // The end

SALAMAJÄRVI 2: SKIING ON A SWAMP

”This is some… small, white polypore.” ”Polypores are funny in the way that…” //
”…their habitat is not just ’forest’ or even ’old spruce forest’.” //
”Rather, it’s something like ’in an old spruce forest under the trunk of a spruce that fell 20 to 40 years ago’.” //
”You’re right there. What’s also good about polypores is that…” //
”…they don’t fly or run away when you’re trying to identify them.” ”Haha, true!”

”Z” //
”Z — ! I’m a bit cold.” //
”I wonder where my woolen socks are…?” //
”Oh, no! They’ve probably fallen down on Ilu’s face!” //
”!” //
”Thank you! And sorry.” ”No problem.”

A note for my non-Finnish readers: the Finnish proverb ”suksi suolle” literally translates to ”go ski on a swamp” and means pretty much the same as ”get out of my sight”. Skiing on a swamp is pretty nice, though.


”When I was a kid I always wondered why they told you to take a sitting pad on a camp.” //
”I don’t need a sitting pad!” //
”I’ll just sit here on this rock.” //
”Oh the sweet childhood summers! Then I started hiking and camping in other seasons as well.” //
”And I learned that you don’t sit on a rock in the winter because your butt gets wet or freezes.” //
”Unless you have a sitting pad which is a great piece of equipment. Recommended for everyone.”

Jatkuu // To be continued