skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I
t feels very different walking this path towards the bus stop in the mornings. Both light and warmth are missing!
It's about time to start singing all those songs of encouragement: C'est toi ma lampe, La ténèbre... and the like.
When light is scarce, I'm more aware of old age sight - which nowadays is called "adult sight" in Finnish (a great euphemism, right). Not only am I aware of it but just joined the club called Where's Mi Glasses.
Oh, and I don't think I'll be very active on these blogspot pages any more. Joined Facebook, and want to save the best bits of time still to non-virtual existence.
"I climbed the spire of Cologne Cathedral" says the card I bought at the height of 100 m on Saturday.
The Cathedral is huge and impressive - just like in 1972 when my parents first took us there.
The trip hosted by the local Thomasmesse people was very enjoyable. Despite the many unknowns, we found our host families, got to know Cologne (and also Bonn), and experienced a truly touching Thomas Mass.
Strangers before the trip, we also had a beautiful time together. It was absolutely encouraging to experience so much trust and openness by both the German and Finnish participants. What could be better?
I participate in a seminar on Virtual Work. They rave about this concept called Creative Foresight Space where modern meeting rooms are equipped with "creativity-enhancing elements" such as digital images, sounds, lights, even scents. In one room, for example, one can choose between Forest, Lake and Field spaces.
Oh well. The more I listen to the speaker, the more I long back to my own home office right next to the real Baltic sea and a real forest. Nothing digital.
The speaker continues... and has now moved on to praise Second Life.
I'm increasingly willing to stick to First Life.
My last week @ Oudezijds Achterburgwal 100 was not a silent one. In fact, it may well have been one of the noisiest ever in my life.
There would be many stories to tell. Some may appear here, later. Need some time to recover and... well, regain my centeredness.
...And it felt good!
The famous Happy Foot who's been posing for a number of pictures on various occasions - also various continents - is back! Just today, the foot delights in sunshine, sea, summer, salt water, seagulls, and Sunday. It's been an encouraging week, rich with encounters and experiences.
The happy foot is aware of simultaneous sadness of life as well. My current sadness is associated with having met my parents early this morning. I picked them up at the airport at 4:30! What I saw was a beautiful old couple. What I'm touched by is, apparently, the fragility and apprehension I also sense in them, and myself.
After several work-intensive weeks, this weekend has done good to me. I spent Thursday (Ascension Day) and Friday with the Morbacka Friends, followed by a very summerlike weekend with bike rides, music, and other freshness. In-depth conversations. Rowing! Joys and frustrations along the way. Good insight into what's going on in my life these days.
The picture on the left witnesses an important exercise we went through on Friday. Some explanation: this is what a 50-euro donation would be used for if (when) we found new regular sponsors for Morbacka. - Hey. Think about it!
Oh my goodness! After all these months, an unforeseen loss of secrecy seems to have taken place.
Let's blame it on vappu! (Vappu is the traditional 1st of May celebration. Drink filled across these latitudes.)
The view from the kitchen window suddenly got much brighter. Wow - small things do matter!
You will also notice that there are already visible spots of green colour even though it's only April. Very unusual! I'm having mixed emotions.
After a busy (and fun) week, I have spent almost the whole day on my own. I'm writing a set of two speeches on Psalm 147: "How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!"
It has been a good day.
For the first time since leaving Company A, my availability for new jobs is zero. This is great news in the sense that this will clearly alleviate whatever financial worries I had.
The less great news is that I sold one of my current projects based on a wrong estimate :-( In practice, I'll need to find an extra 10 days out of nowhere by July. Can't think of any easy ways out, except for very rigorous time boxing mentality. Discipline!
In practice, this means also overtime, however much I try to avoid it. And saying no to many fun things in life (blogging included).
Indeed he is risen!
The picture was taken just a few moments before the Easter Mass, with its "rolling of the stone".
During the four days of Easter holiday, I decided not to touch work, nor to spend hours at the computer. Quite reasonable indeed. Also the principle of concentrating on one thing per day proved good. After Prayer at the Cross (Friday), Mass (Saturday night), extended lunch at my sister's (Sunday) and my friend's birthday party (Monday), I feel well rested.
In the time of a warming-up globe, one needs some faith to walk on water!
Only four weeks ago, when people still parked their cars on ice, right in the same spot, we walked across the strait to visit the "new" carmelite convent now situated on the nearby Vartiosaari island.
My weekend was filled with spring warmth and choral singing. I have been working quite intensively and need some looseness.
Two weeks ago, my Dutch friend asked me if we still have snow over here. And I thought: what a silly question. Of course we have. For many weeks to come.
Today, I must admit I was wrong. They write about the shortest winter ever being recorded - "winter" referring to days when temperatures average below 0. This "winter" lasted only 40 days while previous ones lasted 120!
So today was the day when this totally needless equipment made its return to the basement, in the hope of new life to come, in due time.
There's no doubt though. New life will certainly come. In fact, it is really enjoyable walking around our island, watching the ice melt, and hearing birds sing. Maybe the bike is already willing wake to up from its hibernation...
Churchyards tend to be my favourite place of interest wherever I travel. So it was also in Rättvik this past weekend.
What made this Sweden visit different was that this time there was a group of 9 friends who came with me to experience a silent retreat in Berget.
Again, I've been to a beautiful, peaceful, silent place... which one can hardly describe with words. Yet I'm trying to convey just some of the atmosphere, hoping that a picture will help. (Which seems to be a recurring pattern in this blog.)
Due to the late arrival of winter, travel and other commitments, it took this long until it was time to officially open the 2007 Skiing Season.
It had been over ten months since the last time. It felt so beautiful again! It's beautifully freshening. And, in my case, it takes place in a very beautiful setting (BTW the Baltic seems to have frozen well enough by now). It's physical. It strengthens your body, mind and spirit.
It's one of those things that you luckily don't miss when you haven't got it. And when you've got it, it feels so heavenly that you wonder how some people can possibly survive without ever skiing.
The picture on the left shows the morning view I had from my little Utö hut called Linnunpönttö. I find the view absolutely restful and calming.
Back home on the mainland - which, in fact, is not mainland but another island albeit located in a larger city - I'm still being carried by the calm.
The ferry ride as well as the rather long drive home went quite enjoyably. Back home, I want to carry on with the good island life i.e. doing one thing at a time, and avoiding excessive fuss. So far, it's going quite well.
The silence on Utö is unforced and natural.
Some ice is finally building up in the harbour bay. New snow flakes are gently falling. The wind is fairly mild, fortunately.
I arrived here after a long drive, and a 4-hour ferry ride on Tuesday. The next ferry towards mainland leaves on Friday! Life on the island forces one away from busy-ness.Yesterday, after many hours of warmth and cosiness (and some board game excitement) with my host family, I made a late evening walk in the village. Five or six houses altogether showed signs of habitation. It is very different from life in a city! I feel so privileged to have come here. There is a time for everything. City life can wait.
After a silent retreat, one does not feel like writing long stories on the Internet.
After a silent retreat, the views are clearer - for a while, at least. No more fog!(N.B. The "fog photo" of my August blog entry was taken pretty much in the same spot as this one.)
"Feeling God's presence is simply a matter of awareness. Of enjoying the now. There are moments when it happens. Then life makes sense." Richard Rohr
After many weeks of storms and other confusion, the world is back to how it always used to be, and how it is supposed to be over here.
The views outside are back to normal, and so are the sounds. Walking in the snow sounds so... gentle. Great music indeed.
Light overcomes darkness!
And so it is in our lives, too............
... you may see some - if not much - slight change of colour in today's view from the backyard.
Those who have not experienced real Finnish winters would already call it snow!
Today is Epiphany, the last day of Christmas.
My Christmas was an rich combination of solitude and community. I need both to remain balanced. Both belong!
On the left, I'm sitting on the balcony, listening to the broadcast Announcement of Christmas Peace from Turku (the deepest of Finnish traditions!) at noon of Christmas Eve - unhurried, with some nostalgic stance to it. What could be more conventional?
The community bits came from celebrating Christmas Eve at my sisters', Boxing Day at Arja's, and New Year's in Morbacka, with over 15 others. And meeting my home prayer group, of course. As a bonus, three new friends from the Netherlands ended up staying here. What joy and enrichment!
It feels very different walking this path towards the bus stop in the mornings. Both light and warmth are missing!
.jpg)