Winter in Finland - 2025

January 3, 2026

It's been a strange winter this year. We had some snow in early December, then it was all gone by Christmas Day and didn't snow again until a couple of days later. Now we're finally hitting those -17, -22 degree days, and I am shunning anything that requires me to go outside!

You can't tell me that there's not global climate change. These 'mild' winters might be nice for those of us who are not fans of the cold, but in the long run and for the country overall, it's not good. Heck, it's not good on a global basis! The permafrost is melting, releasing more greenhouse gases, which is making it worse, and the cycle just perpetrates itself. Reindeer are not mating so entire herds are dying out, and that really affects the native Laplanders, the Sami, who depending on the reindeer not only for their own needs, but also to sell to the outside world. We're next going to see the dying out of an entire culture.

I'm just very saddened by it all, and I don't want to spiral into melancholy. So I act. I do what I can to reduce my use of plastics and non-recycleable goods, but in the end, it's not me, the individual, who can make the difference. It has to fall on the corporations who create these issues. Me not using a straw isn't going to save the sea turtles. But companies recognizing and changing their production output are the ones that will. 

But enough with the sad stuff. Even though it is absolutely an inhumane temperature now, it is beautiful here. The trees are frosted like something out of a fairy tale, and the endless night is giving way to some hours of daylight, but still painting a lovely sky as the sun peeks up for a few hours, then ducks back down behind the horizon. I've been lucky enough to see some Northern Lights at night, although most nights, the sky has cloud cover.

I'm heading to Rome, Italy in a few days, and then from there on to the USofA, a few days later. I'll be in the US until mid-March, then back to Rome for a few weeks, before returning to Finland at the first of April, in time for the beauty of spring, one of my favorite times of the year.

I'll write something up and see you then!

- M