I have always loved Marimekko prints, but they make a whole different kind of sense when you experience them in their own landscape. Today I bought what looks like a roll of gift wrap, but is actually a paper runner in one of the iconic flower prints, which you cut to fit your table. Coming in from a cold, blustery, dark day to a room where cheerful beauty beams up at me in hot pink, yellow, and lime green hues, I see now in the playful images an aura of strength and recognize how they capture the determination to find and create joy in the face of a harsh climate. When we lived in Minnesota, we loved events like Saint Paul's Winter Carnival, with its ice sculpture contests and kite flying on the frozen lake; seeing Turku’s bike riders, bundled up and steady on their big, fat bicycle snow tires, likewise makes me smile at the refusal to be stopped by the weather. Sidewalks are covered in gravel to make the ice less treacherous; the city avoids salting the roads because it’s so bad for the river and the environment. Because of the generosity and hospitality of our new friends in Finland--our hosts and “buddies” from the Fulbright organization--we’ve already seen how many apartment buildings have built-in boot brushes outside the front door, restaurants provide rows and rows of hooks for coats and hats, and private homes have their very own little saunas tucked inside bathrooms. Today my iPhone tells me that despite temperatures in the 20s, wind, snow showers, and only 6 hours of daylight, I walked more than 16,000 steps as Benjamin and I explored the town, starting with a somewhat desperate morning search in the dark for breakfast on a Sunday, and then I went back and forth from downtown to my apartment, gathering groceries, household supplies, and a few colorful knickknacks to brighten up my apartment. I am grateful to be healthy, strong, and able enough to navigate the snow and ice, and to have the means to procure the teas, coffee, and chocolate that the weather calls for. I’m determined to find new ways to not just endure the winter but to relish the beauty of twilight hours, sparkling lights along a frozen river, and new friends’ smiles over home cooked meals.
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