Low angle light and other celestial phenomena, including the stars at the President's castle

Moonset over our neighboorhood, about 10am 11/24/2007

In the middle of the day on the ski trail, the sun hits the treetops,...

...filters down through the forest...

...and some sunlight even reaches the forest floor.

One quarry outside of Kaustinen is locally known for this rock formation which contains a lot of mica. Some local people value this rock for use in fireplace mantlepieces and other decorative masonry. Here, the low sun reflects off of the mica flakes in the rock.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all,

Last week Finland celebrated her 90th birthday. Until December 6th, 1917, Finland was a Duchy of the Russian empire. You can read all about it on the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Independence_Day. Veterans of Finland's "Winter War" were particularly honored, as most of them have now reached a fragile age. Very few of these veterans will still be around for Finland's 100th. The city of Kaustinen organized a special candle-light vigil for all veterans, alive and deceased. Finns very solemnly and respectfully honor this day.

On the evening of Finland's Independence Day (called itsenäisyyspäivä), some friends invited us to join them for viewing the nationally televised Independence Day celebration at the President's castle in Helsinki. (Nearly all of Finland watches this spectacle.) President Tarja Halonen and her husband shook hands individually with what seemed like an endless stream of invited dignitaries and Finnish icons of various disciplines. When they had greeted what seemed like 2,000 guests, our friends said that there was another door where the diplomats come in. So there was more hand-shaking and slinky gowns and tuxes. Despite the seriousness of the occasion, the Finnish tabloids (yes, Finns have them too) directed their lidless eyes at some of the more popular and/or controversial characters present at the occasion, inspecting and analyzing with arcane gossiping efficacy every outfit, word, gesture and contextual significance. Perhaps American popular culture has had an influence here.

Eli says: We did have quite a bit of fluffy snow here, but it all melted in last week's rain. One of the first words we learned when we arrived in Finland was "kasvihuoneilmiö," (greenhouse effect). Most people here acknowledge global climate change unhappily. Last year, for example, Kaustinen had its first "black" Christmas, with virtually no snow. I cannot complain too much, being aware of the numerous extreme climate conditions throughout the world. For the sake of the local economy, however, I hope for abudant snow and below-freezing temperatures soon.

Music studies are progressing. I asked my teacher, Risto Hotakainen, how many tunes he actually knows by heart and he figured in the thousands. I believe it. There is a saying here in regards to fiddling, that it comes "aidin maidossa," or in the the mother's milk. I guess over the centuries a definite collective consciuosness has been nurtured and continues to manifest through many talented young players whom I have seen perform over the past months.

LynnAnne says:
I promise that I will never complain about the darkness in December in Minnesota again!

Right after I sent the last email, it rained for two days and all the snow melted. The bike paths were quite muddy. It was so dark that the daylight-sensing streetlights outside our cabin stayed on for two days. But now I'll quit my bellyachin' and tell about something more interesting, about what the moon appears to do here this time of year.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, it snowed, starting with a wet snow. The temperature dropped steadily during the snowstorm, so the snow stuck to the trees. Everything turned beautiful again (and the streetlights would turn off during the day, at least betwen 10 and 2 o'clock). The next day, a Saturday, was the first completely clear day we have had in about a month. When we looked outside, the full moon was setting (around 10 am). We started to realize something interesting about the moon. In Minnesota, when the moon is full, it rises at sunset and goes down at sunrise. It does the same thing here, but at this time of year, the moon is up almost around the clock when it is full. It rises in the north and sets in the north, passing just below the horizon for a few hours while the sun is "up." (The sun only gets a few degrees above the horizon.) What the moon does of course makes sense if you think about it, but we hadn't thought about it until we saw it. I spent the better part of the day (only about two hours between 11 and 1) outside taking pictures in the winter wonderland. Here are a few of the better ones. http://finmail.blogspot.com/

Eli says that the darkness doesn't bother him. He practices a lot. Well, Eli says that he doesn't practice a lot, so we have a difference in perspective. The people who work in the Folk Arts Center say that they have never heard any student practice half as much as Eli does. He really is an amazing guy. I think people like him have lived before in history, people who played their instruments a lot when the weather wasn't good for farming. In Scandinavian folk tradition, good fiddle players learn to play from the sprite that lives in waterfalls, rapids, and lakes, called Näcken in Swedish. I am developing a theory on how that belief came about. Perhaps the person who played a lot during the winter brought out his violin in the summer, after all the crops had been planted, and played for the people in his village. The villagers were amazed and they whispered among themselves: "How did he get so good?" The musician didn't want to sound like a geek and admit that he practiced eight hours a day all winter, so he said that he had learned to play from the waterfall sprite. In the Scandinavian folk belief milieu populated with elves, gnomes, trolls, and other little people, the idea that fiddle players learn to play from the waterfall sprite seems as believable an explanation as any other. Here is the Norwegian perspective on the link between the water sprite and fiddle players: http://www.mic.no/mic.nsf/doc/art2002092513365554254978

Well that's the news from this corner of the world... where all the women get around on kick sleds, the men never complain, and all the musicians are above average.

Here's wishing all of you the happiest of holidays, full of peace and love. Take care and have fun!
Elias and LynnAnne