Down by the sea

With our garden so shriveled up this year, the Seasons Diary has been more quiet this summer than it has ever been. Oh, well. Summer is still searing hot, even though it's nearly mid-August already. Next week should start the rainy cooler season, according to the forecasts. Cooler being day temperatures around 21-23C whereas they have been like 26-30 for weeks now. It is humid - 50-70% or so - making the still-moderate temperatures feel even hotter. Sweaty I would say.

The sea with its never stopping breeze is always a good choice when the going gets hot. A couple weeks ago we spent the weekend at our friends' island, and yesterday we drove down the Porkkala peninsula to enjoy the sunny Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pollen and pretty skies

Yesterday I was sitting on our deck in the sun with my laptop, and noticed something green falling down like light rain. Birch pollen! I believe this to be a pretty bad birch pollen year... But birches are not the only trees blooming. This big maple in the neighbor's yard, right next to our driveway turned green overnight and is full of green flowers now!

 

It is almost May and the days here are long. The sun rose today at 5:23 and has been below the horizon only for about twenty minutes now, as it set at 21:16. It is still light outside. We were coming home from grocery stores at approximately eight pm and the sun was low but above the tree line, shining through some cool clouds.

 

Springy things

We have had fabulously springy days here lately. Sun has been out, and I have been walking through this patch of forest behind our house every morning with the dog, the rising sun shinig through the still barren trees. Actually, by the time we are out walking, at around 9am, the sun is already quite high this time of the year, but not over the tree tops yet. Squirrels are scurrying about, birds are chirping in the trees. Very spring indeed!

Yesterday I went for lunch at this restaurant on the top of a water tower in Espoo. It was horridly windy, but the sun was shining through a pale orange haze created by the ice melting from the sea, and the sun warming the open spots of the sea, creating water vapor, that then lingered in the horizon.

 

Cold morning

After a few slightly warmer days, today dawned colder again. The world has a delicate frosting and the sun is rising behind a misty veil.

 

January sun

November and December are usually the rainy, cloudy winter (or late autumn) months, whereas January brings the sunny winter days. Days like today. No clouds in the sky, the sun rose from behind the horizon like a fireball. The days are getting longer in leaps and bounds; the length of our day is almost eight hours again. Moving toward the spring and summer again <3

 

November sunrise and full moon

November is mostly rainy and gray, unless we already have snow on the ground. That is, however, quite rare here in southern Finland where the snowy winter time usually begins around Christmas. Sometimes mother nature surprises us, though, and last weekend, and even still yesterday, was fully sunny - those few hours of daylight that we get.

On Saturday I happened to be on the road when the (1 day short of) full moon had just came up, the sun still setting on the opposite side of the skyline.

 

So, yesterday morning I walked down the stairs, at approximately 7:20, to the view of sun rising behind the houses, making the world a bright orange.

 

Barren trees

November has been rainy, if not as cold as most of October was. Gushing winds and pouring rain have pretty much knocked off the rest of the leaves in the birches and other trees around. Mostly overcast and wet, even when it's not raining, the weather is as dreary as November tends to be. Every now and then the sun tries to peek through the clouds a bit.

Sun setting already at 5pm or so

 

Sun climing up at 9am or so

 

Autumn sunsets and sunrises

Autumn and spring are the seasons when I most probably can witness sunrises and sunsets, here in our hemisphere. In winter time, they happen while I'm at work (and except for a few weeks in late January and early February, the sky is mostly cloudy) and in summer time, fast asleep. This September, we have been out several times bicycling, at the time of the most amazing sunsets and sunrises, with the sky partly cloudy and the sun painting the horizon in vivid colors.