Thank you, Donna, for your generous words! I cannot understand why I never responded to you back then. I am now planning my next trip to Finland and came across this essay. I hope you are doing well.
Hi Minna! It’s lovely to reconnect. No worries about not responding, it’s not easy keeping all the balls in the air. That’s exciting you are planning a trip to Finland!
Thank you, Paw! I am so glad you enjoyed it. I grew up in the midst of Finnish nature, and studied it with my childish eyes, and smelled it with my childish nose -- and the memories stuck.
This reads like a dream. Of the many gorgeous phrases, this one stood out for me: “the taste of the berry that should be picked when alone with ones thoughts.” 💚
Thank you, Julie, for the absolutely humbling kind words! I cannot fathom why I never responded to your lovely note back then. It means a lot to me that you read and enjoyed this text, and that you took time to write a comment.
I was a very contemplative child, and I spent a lot of time wandering alone around our forests and fields. I looked at plants and rocks, and the birds and animals I could see. I made up stories in my head about what had happened there before I was there. It was peaceful and safe and a true blessing to have nature at our doorstep.
"I look down at the broken reeds. They form mysterious patterns. Messages about something that once was and now wishes to tell us… something? But the wind chases away the thoughts. It is not for humans."
This moment is reminiscent of a Pynchon device where he describes natural curlicued shapes as glyphs from an ineffable language.
Spectacular writing and images Minna. Thank you for transporting us to another world.
Thank you, Donna, for your generous words! I cannot understand why I never responded to you back then. I am now planning my next trip to Finland and came across this essay. I hope you are doing well.
Hi Minna! It’s lovely to reconnect. No worries about not responding, it’s not easy keeping all the balls in the air. That’s exciting you are planning a trip to Finland!
Very nicely written. Such imaginative, capacious descriptions of nature!
Thank you, Paw! I am so glad you enjoyed it. I grew up in the midst of Finnish nature, and studied it with my childish eyes, and smelled it with my childish nose -- and the memories stuck.
This reads like a dream. Of the many gorgeous phrases, this one stood out for me: “the taste of the berry that should be picked when alone with ones thoughts.” 💚
Thank you, Julie, for the absolutely humbling kind words! I cannot fathom why I never responded to your lovely note back then. It means a lot to me that you read and enjoyed this text, and that you took time to write a comment.
I was a very contemplative child, and I spent a lot of time wandering alone around our forests and fields. I looked at plants and rocks, and the birds and animals I could see. I made up stories in my head about what had happened there before I was there. It was peaceful and safe and a true blessing to have nature at our doorstep.
"I look down at the broken reeds. They form mysterious patterns. Messages about something that once was and now wishes to tell us… something? But the wind chases away the thoughts. It is not for humans."
This moment is reminiscent of a Pynchon device where he describes natural curlicued shapes as glyphs from an ineffable language.
Thank you, Dane, for this lovely comparison!
Well done, Minna! I felt like I was there.
Thank you, James, it means a lot!