Nobody Move, It's Perfect

Just a quickie from me too:

Things remain great here. The book is coming along nicely, I am on chapter 14 now. I expect a total of 17 or 18 chapters. The air has cooled and the days have become shorter but the weather is still beautiful. Sorry Toronto.

I have also been in touch with the Ghana project director for Journalists for Human Rights and she has already been so helpful, I am getting quite excited about that. Miia's Russian is now progressing faster than my Finnish, which will surprise no one I'm sure. At least me speak good English. I have started brushing up on the Russian Revolution for kicks.

The only not so great news is that Miia's cousin's 11-year-old daughter Heli busted up her knee on her trampoline. Apparently trampolines are not such great toys after-all. This ruins my whole plan to use a trampoline instead of stairs when I buy a house plan. Anyway, Heli will be fine but had to have surgery the other day and will be in a cast for a while. Poor kid.

Yesterday was really the perfect Finnish day. Before Heli got hurt uncle Reijo and aunt Liisa were visiting (weird to host the owners the cottage you are staying in. It's like having your landlord over for a few days, except he's also your uncle). They were scything away the grass than infests much of the shoreline. If you do this 3 years in a row it apparently stays away permanently and then you get a better beach. Miia and I were out raking grass remnants and pitchforking them to the shore. While we were out there knee-deep in water and much, Reijo left out the fish trap.

Yesterday Miia checked it and found 55 little fishies with bright red fins in there. She cleaned them up real nice and fried them in onions and butter. We ate them after an 85-degree sauna swim beer. This was after I had had a good day writing and Miia was her usual hyperproductive self. There was this moment after I jumped in the lake and I stood wastedeep in cold water. My skin was all tingles with heat and scrubbing and cold, the sun was setting over the cotton candy sky and the horizon went forever over the birch and pine. It was perfect.

Then we feasted on fish and sweet potatoes and watched a crappy DVD on the laptop with red wine.

Chris