A Life in Waiting

With Maria having completed her first real client contract and not having any other pertinent obligations for another week or so, we decided to drive out to her family’s summer cottage in western Finland, on an island called Kemiö.  So Tuesday morning we head out around mid-day for the 2 ½ hour ride to get there.  What was quite surprising to me was that as soon as we left Helsinki, Finland turned into farmland.  There were no suburbs, no Westchester like towns and villages, but mile after mile of farms.  And the farms are not the manicured farms that you see throughout the US or in the Southern parts of Europe, but rather just muddy patches of land.  Most of which were overrun with pools of water, to the point that a few looked to be small lakes.  After a few discussions about this with Maria, I came to the conclusions that these are how the farms are kept here, and that they were not run down or abandoned like I had previously thought.  I would imagine that it was due to the type of produce being grown, mostly beets and hay.  I wish I took some pictures to describe it, but at the time it didn’t seem like a photo opportunity.

We arrive in the small town ofTynglax, on the island of Kemiö where the cottage is located at around dusk.  This place was as far off the map as I have been so far in my travels.  It had the feeling of the cabin we use to go to as children with our Pop Pop to go hunting in the Catskills.  It was down this long dirt road with the only other buildings around being those of the rest of Maria’s family’s summer cottages.  With it being mid January, we were the only ones there.  It really was an amazing place.  A two room cottage, with the bedroom just off the main room it had all the amenities of a city flat.  Actually it was better outfitted than our place in Töölö.  Also in the main room, a much expected fireplace sitting square in the middle made of soapstone.  A perfect escape destination.

I wish I could fill in this part with wonderful stories, but our days were mostly filled with sitting around talking, playing canasta, and neglecting any sense of responsibility.  We did however explore the area around the cottage, giving Lexi plenty of time to feel like she was back at Upland Lane.  About 50 meters through a rather thin wooded area, was the bay.  Nice open spot with a swimming area and dock, a place I look forward to returning to come summer.

One highlight of the trip was the long awaited introduction to Maria’s grandfather.  He lives on this same island in the center of the village, and keeps an eye on the cottages throughout the winter.  He was a quirky old man, but I really enjoyed his company.  As he put it, he’s forgotten more English than he remembers, as he used to work internationally. 

So on our last full day there (Thursday the 17^th), we called her grandfather to let him know we were on the island and we wanted to meet him for lunch.  No sooner did the words come out of Maria’s mouth, did he inform Maria that he would be over in 30 minutes and hung up.  As we were basically still in bed at this point, we jumped up, cleaned the place and got ready for him.  After our surprise visit, we all drove into the village and had lunch at the only restaurant in town.  We parted ways after having a surprising excellent meal of pan fried perch, the local catch and some homemade root beer. 

All in all it was a great little get away.  Make’s me realize how much we were missing by not having some small getaway perhaps up at Hunter Mountain or some other spot in the Catskills.  It really helps to clear your head by having a place like that at your disposal. 

(Once again, like I needed a getaway…)

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