Autumn is Here
The older you get, the faster time flies. The signs of autumn are beginning to show here up North. The days are shorter, it is raining a lot, the forests are full of lingonberries and mushrooms and the elk hunt started today 24.9.
The apple trees have more fruit than ever before. Apple thieves, in the shape of caribou and deer, are daily visitors in the garden. Like always in the fall, banana flies are pestering the atmosphere in the house. Luckily, I have learned a trick to get rid of them. You make a trap by pouring a decilitre of wine in a bowl, add some dish washing detergent, and the flies, who love red wine, meet a sudden albeit happy death.
Things happen when you are surrounded by animals, big and small. The other night, a badger entered through the cat flap and Mr. Cat produced a lot of hysterical decibels that woke up family and visiting friends, who finally managed to scare the beast away.
It is time to sum up the impressions of the past four months in Finland. On the personal level a trip to the Opera Festival in Savonlinna with friends from Sweden was one of the finest experiences this summer. Savonlinna is a smallish town in Eastern Finland, in the heart of the lake Saimaa district. The town is best known for its castle and the yearly Opera Festival in July. The town and castle was founded by Erik Axelsson Tott in 1475 when Finland was part of Sweden.
At the Festival we saw Mozart’s Don Giovanni, a veritable vocal firework display, with soloists acclaimed on opera stages all over the world, like Teatro alla Scala in Milan, The New York Metropolitan and Covent Garden. The event is so popular that you have to book tickets many months in advance.
On a general level, this summer’s focus has been on the economic disaster in Greece, and the consequences of Finland’s demand for collateral in the international bailout for Greece. Now, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia said they wanted hundreds of millions in collateral just like Finland in exchange for their contributions to the rescue fund.
Little Finland, who has been known as the ‘good, obedient guy’ in the EU has suddenly taken on a new role as the ‘bad guy.’ Newspapers speculate that Finland’s demand is a consequence of the increasing popularity of the nationalist party ‘True Finns’ that made sizeable gains in the last elections and still is the second biggest party in Finland. The latest news is that Finland and the Netherlands are the only EU-countries who won’t let Romania and Bulgaria into the Schengen.
Soon, the Nordic migratory birds return to Almuñécar and the activities of our club. The former Nordic associations, Asociación Hispano-Nórdica and Club Nórdico have merged under the name of Los Nórdicos. The statutes of the new association have been confirmed, and the first meeting in Mariote will be on October 5th, with mingling, information and library. The meetings at Chinasol will resume on October 11th with information at Chinasol, followed by Bingo and lunch at 12.30. The mountain walks start on October 13th. The first trip is to Lentegi, a fairly easy 6,6 km walk. The gathering is at 10 a.m. at the Market place as usual.