Nature & Seasons

The deep roots of what it means to be Finnish lie in the country's expansive untouched forest, which has throughout the ages provided Finns with sustenance and well-being. Although it is rare today to make one's living from the forest, a close relationship with it and the surrounding environment is still an essential part of Finnish culture.

 

The Midnight Sun

Juhannus, the summer solstice, marks the beginning of the Finnish summer. This is the time that everything starts to bloom and even the nights are filled with light. Forest birds and animals are busy making their nests and flowers have just begun to open their petals to the summer sun. On Midsummer Eve people cast magic love spells and try to see into the future. While the south of Finland experiences a short period of twilight at the darkest hour, the sun in the north doesn't even dip below the horizon before it starts to rise again.

Most Finns prefer to enjoy the short northern summer in peace at their summer cottages, which are typically situated deep in the forest beside a lake. People relax with their families, go fishing, and pick berries and mushrooms, and of course in the evening the sauna is heated for everyone to enjoy and go swimming in the lake to cool off. The best summer weather is typically from the summer solstice at the end of June until the first weeks of August.

Ruska – flaming autumn

In August the nights get colder and darker. The flowers begin to wilt, but they are replaced by other natural resources, berries and mushrooms. Crayfish traps are thrown into the lake and friends are invited to celebrate the autumn harvest. Things get busy in kitchens all across the country, especially in the large northern forest area, when the fruits of everybody's labour – the berries they have picked in the forest – are preserved by drying, freezing and being made into jams.

As the days get colder in September and October, nature begins to prepare itself for the winter and leaves soon turn different shades of red and yellow. In Finland there is a moment to enjoy crisp, fresh, cool, sunny days which are already bringing frost and cold northern winds. Birds cry overhead as they gather before embarking en masse on their long journeys south, while forest animals gorge on the seasonal forest food. Ruska leaves will soon drop to the ground to be beautifully decorated by icy morning frost.

The Polar Lights

After the autumn equinox, when the dark nights begin to outlast the days, people's thoughts turn to the first fall of snow, which will cover the land in a blanket of white and cast varying degrees of light into the dark. People wait for snow with as much anticipation as Christmas, even though paths become slippy and driving conditions deteriorate. At the Arctic Circle, darkness peaks around Christmas, when the sun doesn’t rise at all. Many shades of darkness can be found at this time as the snow reflects even the faintest glimpses of light. The Aurora Borealis, the northern skies’ very own light show, is particularly impressive now as waves of blues, greens and sometimes reds and yellows dance with the stars overhead. The people of the north, the Saame, tell in their traditional tales of a fox who, when it waves its tale, sends snow showering across the sky to light it up. The Finnish name for the Aurora Borealis is revontulet, which translates as fox’s fires.

The darkness starts to lift after the turn of the year, and children run to find their skis and skates. Soon the sun might even flit between the clouds above, and the snowy landscape can be dazzlingly bright. Jack Frost nips at red cheeks, but that doesn’t stop anyone heading for the nearest sledging hill and enjoying a mug of warming juice made out of the previous autumn's berries. The lakes have a thick covering of ice and snow, and people head off to ski across the frozen surface and through the forests.

The abundant light of spring

After February the snow begins to melt and pour into the lakes. The bright spring sunshine begins to bring more heat, and the land becomes soggy and damp until the sun is strong enough to dry the land out and turn it green with burgeoning life. Those who venture into the forest can become almost intoxicated by the strongly aromatic fragrances from the earth and the conifers as the sun heats them up. As the spring progresses, the forests become greener and livelier as birds that have wintered abroad return for the summer and fill the forests with their song as they set about making their nests. Meanwhile, forest animals drag themselves out of their winter slumber and their dens and start to look around for something to assuage their rumbling bellies.

Finns see the spring as a time of rebirth. People withdraw into themselves during the cold dark winter, but the warmth and light of spring brings everybody back out of their shells to enjoy social activities again. Imparting a little bit of warmth and colour to pale faces, the spring wakens a sleepy Mother Nature and fills her with vitality, and people rise with a fresh radiant energy too. It is a huge experience every spring when one no longer wakes up in the dark but to the wonderful colours of a smouldering sunrise. On the other hand, one has to waken a little earlier every day if one wants to keep rising with the sun.

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