Photolog of this spring
I love taking photographs. I am not good at it and don’t have any experience with light, angles and all of that other fancy terminology that goes along with taking pictures. Our Canon QuickShot camera is coming to the end of its life and the Mr. and I will have to open the debate on what to invest in next.
I do have a phone with a camera on it, so I find myself whipping it out of my pocket to try and catch a good shot of something.
This spring is no exception. Now I am a lover of winter – 100 percent, and many of you who read this blog already know that. But don’t you find it amazing year after year how the arrival of spring elicits a response of, “Man, I forgot how nice it is in the spring.”? It has happened to me – again. In looking back through the photos I have taken over the past few weeks, I can say that I have documented spring rather thoroughly. If I had to give the following gallery a theme, I would call it “Signs”
Enjoy the signs…
Äitienpäivää – Mother’s Day
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers (and dads doing double duty as a dad/mom) out there!
I bought my own Mother’s Day present – tickets to go and see a World Championship hockey game. While seeing Germany and the U.S. would not be my first choice, it will be fun anyways because I’ll be going with my family! 
I got this in the mail a couple months ago. It is an advertisement for do-it-yourself storage services at a company called Pelican Self Storage.
I have a theory. Consumerism and materialism have exploded in Finland in the last 10-15 years. When I first moved here, people were very modest and did not spend a lot of money on things. Now it seems that people have LOTS of things and they don’t want to stop shopping for things they don’t really need. (I should talk – my book shelves are overflowing…) Is it that people have so much stuff that they can’t keep it and have to put some in storage so it’s not in the way?
I noted my observations back then to the Mr. and he told me a few days ago that now there are commercials on the radio speaking to exactly that issue, “Do you have so much stuff that you need to store it? Give it to us and we’ll make your life easier…”
Actually I think the reality is that a lot of people are on the move between residences and they have to store their stuff while they wait to move to their new homes. In fact, in this respect, do it yourself storage is an important service – because where would people put stuff otherwise? I know several families who have purchased (or built) a new house and had to move to a rental apartment temporarily while they waited for their house to be readied. Being able to to put stuff in storage at a place such as Pelican certainly eases the stress levels that go with the house moving rumba!
But having so much stuff that you need to put it in storage and actually pay for it? Well that just doesn’t seem cool…
Think about it, it’s just stuff. Do you really need all of it?
Hauskaa Vappua! Happy Labour Day!
Tomorrow is Vappu / Labour Day in Finland. Wikipedia refers to it as Walpurgis Day (never heard of that before). It is one of the biggest celebrations on the Finnish calendar and coincides with the beginning of spring.
Speculation about the weather on Vappu is always a news piece in the media. Tomorrow it looks as though it will be a normal Vappu as far as the weather goes, unsettled.
Tomorrow is the time to enjoy good food, good fun and a couple glasses of bubbly.
So enjoy the festivities, stay warm and don’t drink and drive!
Picture of the day
Spring pleasures…
It was pretty brisk yesterday, so I broke out my kite. And yes, it is my kite – not the Little Miss’
Who says adults can’t have fun eh?
Have a nice weekend!
Redemption for my Earth Day post
I thought I should share this picture with you after my brief Earth Day rant on Monday.
Last weekend it was very warm outside and the snow has been melting quickly.
A little trip on a nearby bush trail revealed the nicer side of spring.
Like that? Yeah, I thought you might.
It’s Earth Day…
… But you wouldn’t know it looking at what the melting snow and ice has revealed over the last few days.
I’d like to take this opportunity to rant about what I believe is a blatant disregard for the environment by a growing number of people. I am getting really, really annoyed with the people who treat the earth like a dump. Use the garbage cans, stop littering, quit letting your dogs crap everywhere (and then leave it there) and do the courteous thing, butt out and then put your butts in the garbage!
This is disgusting! (The bus platform outside of the Iso Omena Shopping Centre in Espoo)
