Friday, June 20

Irma and I got up at about 7:45 and drove to the market to set up the hut. We are sharing it today with the elderly couple from Borgå who spend the winter making wooden things from butter knives to log carriers and toys. I went to Benita’s for the traditional stallholders’ coffee and egg sandwich, and then again for a second round.

Today the weather had perked up slightly, and the market is rapidly becoming crowded. There is a large queue at Benita’s spilling out onto the road as people line up for their morning beer. I find this amusing in a pleasant way. People who are pillars of society, people who would never open a bottle of wine before seven o’clock at night, completely change their habits when they change into their country clothes, and happily queue up for their first beer of the weekend at 9:30 in the morning.

Today, being Johannus, the weekend has started on a Friday.

I am standing in front of the stall looking around. Last year Auo started referring to the people she didn’t know as tourists, differentiating in the local manner between tourists and summer visitors. She was clear that she was a summer visitor, and she was right. Everyone here (except tourists) had known her since she was nine months old and had seen her for two or three months every year of her life. THat’s why her absence is such a tangible thing.

The weather will get warmer and we will spend the afternoon doing washing. This will involve me drawing 180 litres of water from the well and carrying it to the sauna house. I actually like doing this, and the afternoon passes in a haze of water carrying and pauses for refreshment.

We will have a dinner of farm potatoes and Pellinki fish and by 21:00 will decide that it is time to sleep. Mikael and Camilla will have left for an evening on an island and we will be asleep before 22:00.