With barely snow on the ground (in Finnish terms), there is still just enough for us to go sledding at the little local hill that the kids hit all winter. When we arrived, there was no one about, but considering the tiny size of the space, last winter there were upwards of 50 kids and parents playing around in the snow. After Christmas, I expect a sharp increase too, as kids tend to get sledding presents and want to test them.
For Smallsteps, this is plenty large enough for now and she enjoys it a lot and at least yesterday, she didn't mind the run back up the hill to do it all again - which saves Daddy a lot of his energy :)
It is "pretty" cold here at the moment, so staying out for long isn't really advisable. It was -20C (-4F) in the morning and the rest of the week is shaping up for more of the same. This puts a bit of a dampener on the outside activities, not because it isn't possible with the right clothing, but it isn't that comfortable overall, so takes some of the fun out.
So far, my camera has been okay with it (Olympus EM-1), unlike the Canon I had earlier that would stop functioning if it got too cold. I m sure there is a limit still, but it is far better than it was. The problem is though, I still need to take my gloves off for some settings and at this temperature, it isn't a lot of un, so I end up setting an average and hoping for the best.
It is funny to think back to living in the tropics as I think I do far more outside now than I did then, even though I was surrounded by rainforest on one side and the Great Barrier Reef on the other. I should have really taken more advantage of conditions at the time and especially should have got more into photography back then.
This is a long weekend, as it is Finnish Independence day tomorrow. Normally, there would be a fancy presidential ball to watch the elite arrive and then have all us plebs pick on what they are wearing, but due to covid, there will be no ball again this year.
Funny really, considering that despite all of the measures taken to stop Covid, pretty much all of my friends have recently had flus, their kids have had flus, grandparents have had flus - common flus. If common flus are spreading, so is Corona. But, that logic doesn't matter - people just do what they are told mindlessly. Logic doesn't matter any more at all though, neither do statistics - it is all about making a bit more money and every "variant" is going to be met with a new vaccine requirement, or face the punishment.
The slippery slope.
But oh well... life goes on, the slopes are still free to sled and for now at least, I prefer to spend my time away from the ridiculousness of humanity anyway - and have fun with my family instead.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]