Life in Savitaipale: My First Snowman And The Arrival of Spring
Savitaipale, March 10th, 2018.
Is there anything worse than getting sick while traveling? I don’t think so. Luckily, that hasn’t been my case, but it didn’t stop me from falling ill right after returning to Savitaipale. Since I got back from Lapland, I’ve been feeling quite unwell, and I think I know why. When I went for a walk on the lake in Levi, it was extremely cold, and I spent quite a long time outside. I think that finally caught up with me, and if you add the endless bus ride and lack of sleep… it all makes sense.
Fighting a cold with natural remedies
I’ve been feeling generally unwell for almost a week: chills, headaches… and then it turned into a full-on sore throat and congestion. Since I’m not really into medication, I’ve been surviving on a tea made of ginger, honey, and propolis, which are absolute lifesavers for colds. Still, this hasn’t stopped me from going to work. I think it’s better to keep moving and stay active rather than staying in bed (unless you’re really, really sick). And honestly, it worked. Maybe it’s because keeping my mind busy makes me forget I’m ill. Either way, I’m feeling much better now.
The worst part is that I think I may have passed it on to one of my coworkers, since she’s now showing the same symptoms… so now we’re all taking care of each other.
First signs of spring in Savitaipale
Since coming back from Lapland, I’ve noticed that temperatures have risen a lot. It’s already March 10th, and we’ve gone from -20°C to around -2°C on average. It’s still cold, of course, but the change is noticeable. You don’t need to bundle up quite as much anymore when going outside. In my case, it’s finally time to ditch the second coat. One layer less!
That doesn’t mean winter is over, though. The skies are still mostly cloudy, and it still snows. In Finland, during winter, it doesn’t really rain. However, the trees are finally starting to show hints of green again instead of being completely covered in snow like a few weeks ago.
First attempt at building a snowman
Can you believe that since I arrived in Finland I hadn’t made a snowman yet? Somehow, we just hadn’t gotten around to it. Even though we’ve spent plenty of time at the lake and in the forest… it just never happened. But today, finally, was the day! We went outside to create our first snowy masterpiece.
Even though it was cloudy and it had been snowing all morning, it wasn’t actually that cold. But of course, I only realized that after stepping outside… as always, I had layered up with a hat, double coat and everything, and immediately started overheating.
The chosen place to build our snowman was Lake Kuolimo, just a 5-minute walk from our house. We picked a spot with enough snow and got to work. We started gathering snow for the base, and honestly, I didn’t expect it to be so difficult. The snow was too soft and wouldn’t hold together properly. No matter how hard we tried, the base kept collapsing. Our “snowman” looked more like a pyramid at first.
And then, finally… we did it!
As with most things in life, there was a solution. And in our case, that solution was creativity. One of my coworkers had the brilliant idea of rolling a small snowball across the ground until it grew bigger and bigger. At first, we were all skeptical, but it actually worked surprisingly well, and we ended up making a pretty decent snowman!
The critical moment was attaching the head to the body. But, to our surprise, both snowballs were solid enough and fit perfectly together. All that was left was adding the final touches: a carrot for the nose, some twigs for hair, and small holes for the eyes. And here is the result!
PS: the snowman didn’t last very long…
PS 2: when I went back to Spain, I found out this is actually the usual way to make a snowman. Turns out I just hadn’t paid attention growing up near the coast…
By the way, when I was in Rovaniemi I saw the biggest snowman I’ve ever seen in my life, at Santa Claus Village. You can see it here. Have you ever seen one that big?
