Time to write down some thoughts what I’ve been doing. Or maybe more like what I remember and feel it is worth mentioning to an unknown public audience.
Festival time
Once the latest peak of the pandemic was over, I felt I needed to get used to the old ways of being around other people more, so going to this year’s Sideways festival was a perfect start for that. Sure, it felt weird and almost irresponsible that nobody was wearing a mask anyone, but I didn’t catch anything so that was a first step of returning back to normal life.
A moment when it really felt like society was truly opening after the pandemic: behind the Sideways Festival’s main stage there was another live concert at the Olympic Stadium.
The festival’s lineup was fine, with acts by Ela Minus, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Richard Dawson & Circle springing into mind even after three months.
Enjoying the summer air
On the outdoor activity side of things, I managed to make a bicycle trip to Porkkala and back one weekend (around 80 kilometers in total). It was something I thought of doing for a year or two, so it was very satisfying I finally could make it happen.
A full day of bicycling around Porkkala was one of the highlights of the summer for me.
Not only that, but I also went out camping for the night in the archipelago with a friend. It was also the first time in ages I concentrated on observing the change from sunset to the gradual appearance of the starry night sky. I was nowhere near understanding the sheer vastness of the universe, unfortunately.
A classic camping trip to Finland’s archipelago can now be marked as done.
And speaking of outdoors, one of the best purchases I’ve done this summer has to be a lightweight hammock that can be easily set up anywhere that has two trees for just relaxing or even doing laptop work in the wild. Totally beats wearing down my sofa indoors.
Being able to set up my new hammock in a quiet spot in Helsinki’s Central Park has been one of the best pastimes of the summer.
Although all these moments are just a fraction of the time I’ve spent indoors in comparison, I’m quite pleased with them. Maybe next time I can combine a bicycling trip with camping overnight. We’ll see.
As part of donating money for humanitarian aid I bought this limited edition print.