Twelve years had passed since the legendary & unforgettable Finlandmoot of 2011, six since
Legate’s visit to our household in 2017. Communications had gone to and fro every now and then, agreeing about the desirability of another RL meeting, without reaching fruition. At one point the idea of a 10-year anniversary gathering in 2021 was pondered, but we all know how that ended, and nothing happened… until this summer.
Mrs Pitch and myself had originally been planning a tour of the Baltic in our mobile home, including a detour to Finland, and I had been in contact with
Legate to make arrangements, but when these plans fell down upon th’ inventors’ heads for various reasons I kind of invited myself solo to Helsinki on short notice, and the Finns, hospitable folks that they are, rolled with it.
Nogrod, who had recently moved into a spacier home, accomodated me on his comfy couch, and
Legate provided bedding so I could travel lightly.
Times have changed in the last 12 years.
Lommy and
Legate have become parents, with all the responsibilities that entails, and everybody had things to do, but the various members of Clan
Nogrod (of which there are now three generations!) did everything to make me feel welcome and between them always found some way of making every day one to remember. We spent an afternoon and morning at Clan Nog’s lovely
lakeside cabin/cottage (cabbage?!?) in the middle of the woods until the neekerbreekers drove us away, and I befriended
Lommy’s and
Legate’s adorable little werepenguin-cum-seagull chick, who initially regarded this strange German with due suspicion but gradually warmed up. It was a pleasure to watch her explore her environment and her ability to affect it; her shrieking conversations with the actual seagull chicks who had their nest on the cabin roof gave rise to speculations about a totemic relationship. Also
A Little Green as an aunt is almost as adorable as the werechicklet herself!
In other news, we visited
Espoo Cathedral with its remarkable
murals in a style I can only describe as 16th Century Northern Primitivism, a
lovely park of many-coloured rhododendrons and azaleas near
Lommy's and
Legate's place, as well as the island of
Vallisaari, once a restricted military area, now
reclaimed by
nature and the Helsinki Biennial with some
striking art exhibitions.
Nog led me on a fruitful raid of Helsinki’s various bookshops, and I had the opportunity to sample various specialties of traditional Finnish cuisine, from sautéd reindeer to espresso vodka with tar schnaps (which tasted way better than it sounds!), accompanied by the restaurant’s homemade ale. Time flew, and all too soon the day came when I, too, had to take flight again on a Lufthansa crane so we could all go about our everyday lives again.
Special mention has to go to
Nog, whose fabled cooking has in no way lessened (you should see his collection of international cookbooks!). I really enjoyed our conversations over breakfast and in the evening when the day was done, they were always interesting and engaging. (Also we watched the first two
Alien films on TV, and Nog fell asleep during the first and I during the second; no offense to Ridley Scott and James Cameron!) Also to
Legate who handled all the preliminary organising to make it all happen! Last not least to
Mrs Pitch who took care of everything at home while I was away. <3
In short, it was a wonderful time spent in the company of wonderful people, and I hope we can meet again on whatever turf without taking another 12 years!
(Clockwise inward from the left:
Pitchwife,
Thinlomien,
Legate of Amon Lanc,
Nogrod,
A Little Green, the Werechicklet)
