Two full months of parenting sick children - and counting, more or less. The ultimate marathon of patience. Our baby will soon no longer be a baby, but he is still not sleeping through his nights. We've tried everything, but he keeps waking up several times almost every night.
It's so dark now, with daylight only from about 8 am to 4 pm. With a thick layer of clouds it's actually more like dark in the day and darker at night. Too dark for pictures, so the ones you see above are from my archives. From the end of May, when the sun plays on the walls at 9 pm. November is the price we pay for our white nights!
This is Finland at its worse, the time of year that calls for sisu. Every Finnish person knows exactly what it means, but there is no precise translation into any other language. A dictionary would call it persistence, perseverance, stamina, guts, or (this is my favorite) stick-with-it-ness. It's what we consider to be our national trait. An essential trait for anyone who would want to live here in November. Or for a little people with a long history of living next to a huge, intimidating neighbor.
Actually, I'm pretty sure I would even enjoy November, if I had the opportunity of just knitting my evenings away. Yes, I've heard some people say they like November.
This must be my most gloomy post ever! I promise something more positive next week. But here's another example of what it means to be Finnish: it's culturally completely acceptable to be openly gloomy when you feel like it!
It seems Amy is in need of a little blog vacation. Sisu to you, cousin!
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