Jerky Time

The warm weather at the end of February inspired me so much I spent an hour digging a path to my garden chair and removing the snow on top of the chair and table in front of it. I imagined myself having afternoon coffee in the garden in the dazzling sunshine. Who cares even if there is nothing to see in the garden? The typical weather of March returned me back to reality: one weekend we got over 40 cm of new snow.

Väinö and my garden...

The White Death

”New snow kills the old,” says a Finnish proverb. It seems that this year the winter is tough to kill. After the horrible weekend of snowing we got… another one! It started to look like the winter is here forever. Skiing centres were delighted because the season just continues. In some places, it might still be possible to ski during mother’s day in May.

Even the grill disappeared in snow again, so I had to admit myself it’s not yet time for summer activities. To ease the pain I borrowed some gardening magazines from my mother and bought some tulips. I want the colours! It has been black and white for long enough!

Reindeer Jerky

The delicacy of spirng: reindeer jerky.

There is one colour to be seen in March: red pieces of raw meat hanging outdoors from the eaves of almost every house. Drying salted reindeer meat during the springtime is traditional. We also made some jerky this year. I salted five reindeer hearts (they have excellent flavour), and Väinö wanted to have some salted beef. We have a special cage outdoors to dry this meat. The cage prevents birds and squirrels eating and stealing meat.

When I was young, my family didn’t make any jerky. I got to taste some at my classmates home and learned to like it. I remember using the first paper money I got – 50 Finnish marks which grandmother gave to me as a birthday present – to buy a piece of dried reindeer meat from a grocery store. I think I was about Väinö’s age at that time.

Sounds of Sunshine

Nature made ice swan from some years back.
I spotted this while skiing on the river ice.

The amount of daylight increases every day. And you can really feel the difference. After the vernal equinox, you start to believe they will be summer. There will be days of full sunshine. The birds have started singing again. It’s time to enjoy the light and wait for the swans to arrive.