Summer's almost gone with the wind

It's the last official day of Summer tomorrow, since it ends the final Summer month August. I can feel the Fall coming soon, day by day. Some of the leaves have already begun to fall, morning dew lasts until afternoon and there are mushrooms everywhere. The winds blow a bit harder, a bit colder.

What a Summer we had! In weather-wise I mean. It has been better than two previous ones put together. There has been nearly no mosquitos at all, which has made it pleasant for me to walk around in the forest, picking berries and mushrooms. I have some kind of love-hate relationship with mushrooms. Sometimes it's more like treasure hunt, which in itself is rewarding. Preparing good food with mushrooms is another thing. Being no chef, the challenge is there. Definetely.

Some of the time I have been relaxing in our new terrace. We bought an outdoor sofa there and I've been daydreaming there ever since. Taking a nap in fresh air is underrated luxury. Especially when there's no irritating insects around. That's where I read most of the paperback by the late Stieg Larsson.

The Summer hasn't quite given up yet. The forecasters have promised warm days ahead. Next Wednesday it should be even +23 degrees, which sounds almost too good to be true. We have have our share of rain as well, and we haven't heard the last of it yet. Exceptionally little of thunders and lightnings have been among us, which is good. I hate them nowadays, and being a man living in a wooden house I'm also afraid of them.

The two biggest setbacks of the Summer must be (outside the obvious being laid-off) missing the Brian Setzer Orchestra concert in Pori Jazz and missing the a to Stockholm to shop around. I really would have liked to mingle again in Stockholmian second-hand record stores, breathing in the atmosphere of the city and the wonderful scenery. All of a sudden the money got too tight to mention. Otherwise it would have been alright, but the lead time to get the compensation money from being laid-off takes an awful lot of time at the moment. I guess I'm lucky to get them by Christmas. Well, good things are worth the wait, and there should be some of them in horizon already.

The Swedish King and the Queen visited Tampere, my hometown. It was 30 years since they last did it (LOL), when the city of Tampere celebrated its 200 years of existence. This year has been some kind of a 200-year anniversary for Sweden and Finland too. I don't know what there is to celebrate. I also wonder why the same type of anniversary hasn't been celebrated with Russia. After all, it's them who "saved" us from the Swedes. Between a rock and a hard place, I know...