The Camera Site

In the middle of the forest

Piha syksyllä

A cool place to live

"Urban forests are important to keeping cities cool," "What's important are both the extent and arrangement of these forests." Dr. Jeff Luvall.

Just imagine, here we live in a forrest with wild animals and away from civilization. Nearest shop where you can buy potatoes for daily living are miles away. During the winter the temperature often falls below - 30 °C (-22 F). The trail to neighbour could be covered by a thick layer of snow. You have not a slightest idea were it could go. Candles and a fireplace gives us light and warmth. During the long, cold winter we are waiting the Spring which brings the sun and the blessed but short summer time.
(I have heard rumours, that everything in the Internet isn't the whole truth;-)

The hottest place is Sauna where the temperature occasionally rises above 110 °C (230 F). Cool beer is a necessity for survival.

 

My shadow

A little cottage in the front (behind a fir on the right) is not sauna. It is a retreat against bears and wolves in the case that you for some peculiar reason happen to be outside the house without a loaded Kalashnikov (M-16 will also do).

Children like to use it as a playing place too. For some reason we Finns prefer to live in a house, which should also be situated away from neighbors. Some years ago one native saw a chip of wood floating in a river near his place and naturally lost his temper. Some miserable chap was attempting to build his house too near......The problem was solved with an ax. Just imagine how?

Something about the forest

The western parts of the world´s biggest continuous coniferous tree forest, the huge Taiga belongs to Finland. Same type of boreal forest exists across North America and Eurasia. Taiga is the Russian name for this forest which covers so much of that country. However, the term is used in North America as well.
Fur-bearing predators like the wolf, wolverine, lynx , otter, fox and the big elk (herbivore) which is known as a moose in North America are perhaps most characteristic animals of the boreal forest. Feed for the predators include European hare, varying hare, vole etc.

The bag of the Finnish hunters are over 80 000 elks in a year. Hunting of the elk and the white-tailed deer is necessary because they cause a serious danger to the traffic.
Of course there is a bear too,a holy creature to us Finns. (You shall not take The Name of The Lord your God in vain,...) Thefore there are several aliases given to bear, like Otso, Kontio, Mesikämmen, Nalle, Metsän Omena, Metsän Ruhtinas, the latest one translates "The Prince of The Forest".
The bear which is living here in our neigbourhood (Ursus Arctos) is not dangerous at all. When you meet Him in a forest you just have to lie down, stay motionless and act dead then the bear in most cases don´t like to eat you.

©2004 Reijo Lauro