Tractors and Tribulations

Old-timers hard at work

Ostrobothnia is Finland's breadbasket.

The "Näpparit" group of young fiddlers tunes up for their concert.

During "Folkskandia" week, folk musicians came from
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
to teach workshops and perform in area schools.
Here, Geir Eigil Larsen demonstrates Norwegian herding instruments.

LynnAnne returns from a training ride / shopping trip
to Southern Ostrobothnia.
She found the people in the neighboring province reasonably friendly,
despite their reputation.
She has been riding her bike quite a bit now that it is only dark for a few hours.
This photo was taken about 9:30 in the evening;
the sun goes down around 11pm.

Bike Pictures

I bought this twenty year-old Italian road bike in December.
Here it is under a bridge in Kokkola.
The saying in French means something like:
"One is not born a woman; one becomes one."
Or: "Women aren't born; they become."

This is a familiar sight for Ely people: late season snow.
We had it here too, but with 16 - 20 hours of daylight,
it would be difficult for anything to accumulate.

It is easy and free to take bikes on the Helsinki metro,
and is allowed during non-rush hour times.

We rode our bikes one day on a "tour des museums"
in Central Ostrobothnia.
The meteorite museum in Lappajärvi shows how the very deep lake
was formed by the impact of a meteorite 73million years ago.
Here is the ski factory museum in Vimpeli;
the same complex also has a museum dedicated to Finnish baseball, "pesäpallo."

My road bike got a flat tire, so I rode my one-speed trusty rusty bike
for three days while I learned how to repair a sew-up tire.