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Cozy neighbourhood

Yesterday we had a nice day together with neighbours. Kids were playing together while we adults had coffee and talked. We were talking mostly about horses, and felt happy about having a handful of friends who are interested in learning soft horsemanship based on trust and understanding. After the other families left, I stayed with the hosting family. They needed a bit of help with moving a car-to-be-fixed, so together we worked the car into the carage. I also gave a massage to the father of the hosting family, and they asked me to stay with them for dinner. And not only did we talk, but we also spent a while working with one of their horses.

Today I went to the lake for ice-fishing. I spent there couple of hours - with no luck. But the weather was fine. And as I was walking back, my mobile phone rang. An elder lady said: "Hello, Erkka! Are you walking there on the ice? Come to eat with us, we are here at our cottage." I agreed. The food was tasty, and I quite enjoyed listening to the stories of the retired people. They told their memories about the life in a farm in the 50's, when most of the work was still done with a horse. Ah, and because I got no fish, they gave me some pancake so that I can eat it at my home =)

Later in the evening I opened my computer to do some programming. I got a good start, but then stumbled into a problem I couldn't yet solve. And I noticed that in facebook many of my friends are posting about Northern Lights - I went outdoors and saw half of the sky covered with green, dancing lights. It lasted for such a long time that I could enjoy my evening tea outdoors watching the show. (sorry, no pictures this time. My camera isn't good enough to catch the dim light of the northern lights.)

I remember when I was kid, there was a strong sense of social control. People were judging each other according to a strict set of social rules - how to look, how to behave, what to wear, how to speak and what kind of hairstyle to have - all these were signs of social acceptance or dismissal. I always had the feeling that I don't know all of their rules, and many times the other people don't just understand the way I behave and therefore they judge me as no-good. How I hated that! When I was 12 years old, I was dreaming about being a hermit living on a tiny, isolated island. So that I could see any boat approaching my island, go indoors and lock the door...

Well, today I feel happy about having such a good connection with my neighbours. We aren't that many people living around - and when I say "neighbours", I think about people living in around 10 km radius from my house. In that area there are families which have been living here for generations, and there is a hippie-collective, and a teosophic community, and then us who have moved in. So, the general atmosphere is surprisingly colorful. It might be bit slow to make connections with neighbours, but still, after all these years I feel that here I'm just accepted the way I am.

Ps. My neighbours; If you happen to read this, I'd like to say that I love you =)

EDIT: After writing this I resumed my programming and eventually got the problem solved. It was already almost midnight, and I went outdoors to give hay to the horses. The dance of the northern lights was still going on. Waves and cloud-like formations appeared all over the sky.

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You might want to start painting them northern skies? Would be a great alternative to photography and more memorable. Anyhow i envy you with your neighbours - seems idyllic. :)

Mahtava! It makes me happy to read about your real, unreal life in the Finnish wilderness! Meanwhile my house purchase goes well, I don't think I would've gone for it if not for the allotment attached to it. I will be growing crops soon (but we have had a late winter this year - snow in mid-March isn't normal here, haha!) and I am getting some chickens too, which should be fun as I haven't kept any since I was a kid. I was thinking about a nanny-goat, too, but I will have to make sure my friend is serious about helping me look after it, as we will need to take it to the scrub-land down the street to graze it, I think!)

A fruitful Spring-time when it comes to you, my friend!

A house with allotment sounds nice, congrats! Last summer I let my sheep roam free, so they ate almost everything in my yard =) I only had a little tiny field growing beans, surrounded by a fence to keep the sheep out. I hope this spring I can make a bigger fenced area for gardening - I'd like to grow pumpkin and zucchini again.

People place and purpose :)

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