Waiting for Summer

My motto of ‘Happiness is an inside job’ is particularly valuable when it is minus ten outside with light snow showers.  I don’t envy those who have to work outside in this colder weather. In Finland, most of the outside work closes down for the winter.  Building sites go quieter after the summer and autumn rush, and business gears up to complete enough to get the structure winter proof, leaving the interior work for the winter project. Where this is not possible the structure to be completed or renovated gets fully enclosed by scaffolding covered in a weather proof barrier.  Even huge multi storey buildings undergoing renovations get covered up for the winter and for historic main streets in Helsinki, the image of the building is printed on the cover to camouflage the unsightly works.

Other outside work disappears as the cold encroaches.  Major road improvements and repairs stop, only asphalt for emergency potholes is laid. Some works continue with the added cost of temporary structures to keep off the snow. The gardeners finished back in October with the last fallen leaf clearance that followed the last grass mowing if September had been warm. Many gardeners are laid off until the spring and are probably on short term contracts to facilitate this.  Some get work clearing snow for the winter months but that’s not for the faint hearted if it involves moving snow off the rooves of tall city properties. Apparently, the asphalt company workers often retire to Spain for the winter. They work long unsociable hours all over the country during the summer replacing miles and miles of road surfaces. These workers are paid really well to make this worthwhile and they can afford to relax for the quiet winter period.

Waiting Workers

Many workers are waiting for the opportunities summer brings. Now as I write this in early February, advertisements are appearing for summer work. Gardeners are needed in every municipality and to get enough staff, recruitment has to start early. April and May starts are not that far away. There is also a noticeable increase in the number of jobs available in the tourist sector for restaurants, beach lifeguards, ice cream sellers, museums and all the other businesses that can open for the summer. The months of May to September are much busier in Finland for the world of outdoor tourism and all the accompanying service industries. Pleasingly the countryside becomes a much better place to visit over summer with so many more coffee and snack stops open together with visitor attractions and of course all the lakes with swimming beaches.

What to Wear?

This winter we have already had two months of ice and snow and many of us are waiting for summer.  We are dreaming of the days when big coats are not needed and you don’t have to look at the outdoor thermometer to gauge how much to wear. Yes, most Finnish houses have a thermometer mounted outside where it can easily be read from inside. Our house sits on a small hill and the outside temperature reported in the weather forecasts is often reported at a couple of degrees warmer than at our location. What to wear? For temperatures down to minus 8, my personal guide is for thermals underneath normal clothes, winter boots, big coat, woolly hat, scarf and gloves.  Below minus 8, I consider pulling on the insulated trousers and a thicker woolly jumper. Minus 15 and lower, instead of my regular parka coat, I have an old down filled coat, a furry hat with pull down ear flaps, and I have a pair of thick woolly mittens which are large enough to wear over another pair of lighter knitted gloves. At these very cold temperatures some folks use insulated overalls like all the pre-school kids.  Whatever you wear, in the winter more time has to be allowed to get ready to go out.

Enforced Winter Wait

This winter my wait for summer has become more poignant. My nice inside work is no more as I wait for open heart surgery. The work that has kept me so active with 4 to 6 kilometres walking a day is on hold due to doctor’s orders.  This activity kept me so fit that it had hidden the severity of my heart problems. After months of complaining of breathlessness and an occasional irregular heartbeat, I was sent to hospital for a stress test, which confirmed a big problem and further tests followed. Not allowed to drive, advised to avoid any physical exertion, I am stuck at home, signed off from work, and it looks like it will be nearly a three month wait until the big surgery. Looking on the bright side, I was released from hospital in time for Christmas and from the wait can deduce that there must be so many more people in worse condition than me that are prioritised for surgery.

Looking on the bright side also reminds me of the double meaning of ‘Happiness is an inside job’. It is important to be contented with circumstances and your lot in life. In my enforced wait, I have to try to be the patient patient, and avoid annoying those around me. To use my time wisely away from the pressures of having to go to work for rest, for some writing, reading and listening. Some of the time it’s not easy but really there is no point complaining and happiness can have both physical and mental benefits. Already the days are noticeably longer and sunset today will be just before 5.00pm, an hour later than in early January. In the depths of a proper Northern winter, it’s hard to believe that summer will return with everlasting daylight and hot temperatures but it’s slowly coming.