After the Storm

St John's day, the Finns pet party and barbeque celebration, was cold and stormy in the whole country. The strongest storm was measured in Kaskinen. We even had a short power cut, which is not very common here.

The following Sunday was cool and sunny. We walked the dogs to Camping Marianranta located in a lovely spot in the northern tip of the island close to the beach. We had huge slices of a magnificent cake, made by Marja-Leena Roos, whose family also run the camping in summers.  We heard that the only camper destined to stay overnight during the storm had cancelled and there had been no damage at all. Most cottages had been occupied.

We had a look around the town and saw trees cut down by the storm. A really huge spruce was lying close to the railroad. It must have been one of the oldest trees in town, and as it was located close to a commonly used shortcut over the railroad, it is known to many a town-dweller.  Shame, really!

There has been quite a lot of discussion on trees in Facebook recently, after an old oak was cut when a statue was placed in the town park. Some people would like to see a lot of trees cut down so they would not fall on people in heavy storm.  Others, like me, believe in the stamina of our trees.  There have always been storms and these trees have had to suffer a lot.  Yet, here they stand, most of them totally untouched by the forces of nature.  Also it would be quite impossible to make rational decisions on which trees to cut.  The fallen ones mainly look no different from the ones standing next to them.

Another topic surfacing the public talk every year is the pavements.  I'll tackle that issue in my next blog, because I think it is something extremely interesting and also idiosyncratic.  Nowhere else... But to get a bit started, I took the picture above. where you can see the difference between more or less public areas that are taken care of by two different individuals.  Again, some would claim the the part that has been well cared for is the ideal.  In my eyes the flowery part looks far better.  And yes, I know the flowers are more like weed, they'll grow just anywhere you let them.  Still. they bring colour and a sense of careless charm, which I particularly enjoy.

The storm gave us water, too, and finally everything has really started to grow in my garden.  The well is full as well.  My flower-beds, that have been more or less of a mystery, are starting to gain shape. I'll need to photograph it all to know better next year, as now I'm afraid I have removed some nice plants as weed.    A lot is blooming now.  However, it's starting to feel like the end of summer.  A very strange year!

Tomorrow I'll go and see a really nice garden belonging to two ceramic artists, Raija and James Murray.  The garden in the southern end of Kaskinen is in the national list for garden visits tomorrow, the 1st of July.  Their garden, where hens and other domestic animals run wild, has a strong feel of an English garden, probably because James comes from Ireland.  I have of course seen it before when I have visited their beautiful ceramics shop, but tomorrow I'll concentrate on the garden.