Sunday, February 4

 

 

We got woken by Irma’s mother phoning up to announce that she felt depressed and had phoned for a taxi to take her to hospital.

I leave for a very brisk walk in very cold weather. I listen to Buffy Sainte-Marie as I walk through the woods and then down Lappeentie. As I walk I come across a seat, half-covered in snow and half-covered in graffiti. I stop to photograph it against the dark brown of the trees in the light of the low sun. I will reduce my time for this walk from forty to thirty minutes and come back to find that the thermometer reckons that I have walked in minus thirteen degrees.

We will have breakfast and shower and sit and read. I will start Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day, which Irma’s mother gave me at Christmas.

In the early afternoon we will collect Naa and drive to see Irma’s father, where we will spend an hour or so chatting. After this Irma will drive me to Kamppi where I will leap out and go to see Irma’s mother. We have developed a habit of having long conversations about novels, since she reads almost non-stop in English and Finnish. She has just finished Paul Auster’s 4 3 2 1 which I have not read yet, and she will give me a lengthy appraisal.

The doctor has suggested that she change the dosage of her medicines and she now feels somewhat better. I have taken a copy of McSweeneys Quarterly to see if she likes the short stories. I will promise that, if she finds it interesting, I will bring some more copies. As I leave I will wonder if this will provoke me into reactivating my subscription.I leave for a very brisk walk in very cold weather. I listen to Buffy Sainte-Marie as I walk through the woods and then down Lappeentie. As I walk I come across a seat, half-covered in snow and half-covered in graffiti. I stop to photograph it against the dark brown of the trees in the light of the low sun. I will reduce my time for this walk from forty to thirty minutes and come back to find that the thermometer reckons that I have walked in minus thirteen degrees.

I will take the metro to Itis and then realise I will have to wait almost thirty minutes for a bus. I will walk home from Itis feeling colder by the minute. When I get there Irma will arrive with Päivi and Olly the Dog, who seems very jolly.

I will sit in Naa’s old room with Sunshine, and continue reading The Remains of the Day. I will decide that I like it and that I would probably describe it – the first half, at least – as dull in a very interesting way. Päivi and Irma have not seen each other for some time and I will hear them catching up in amused and excited Finnish as Sunshine listens attentively as the dog gives itself away with small snuffling sounds.

When Irma has delivered Päivi back to the metro, we will eat a very late dinner and go to bed.