Tuesday, April 06, 2004
The trip into the wilderness was crazy. It took us 2 hours to get there. The first hour was spent on a highway and the second hour was spent on a country road that was somewhat cleared of ice and snow, and this road led us to the final road which filled with snow. There was one set of car tracks that paved the way and everywhere else was snow and ice. Needless to say the car ride was a little unsettling.
Once we got there it was hard to believe that people would desire a place this far out in the middle of nowhere - by the way, I thought Joensuu was the middle of nowhere, but compared to this place, Joensuu is Times Square. There was not another house around for many, many miles. It was straight out of a horror movie - a group of young kids go out into the woods for a night of fun, you know what happens next. But nothing bad happened and it was a great time, but it was the first time I have been in a setting like that.
So we got there...took a look around, kicked out the guy who was there warming the place up for someone else. We called those other people and told them that we were here first - this cabin is shared by a very large family - and then we proceeded to build the fire and drink.
We walked around the location, by the river, which was partly frozen over and part fast moving rapid and the rapid, which originated where the ice was melting, flowed for a 100 meters or so and went right back into a sheet of ice. By the way, no chance I was getting in that water.
There were animal tracks everywhere - and once we got inside I realized who would want a place out here, hunters, that's who. We saw wolf tracks, wolverine tracks (apparently the wolverine is the only animal that likes to kill for fun) beaver nests and lots of smaller animal tracks. But we did not see any animals, which I suppose is fine with me.
As the night started to creep on us, we got the indoor fire burning and the outdoor fire burning and we ate and drank for many hours. Then nightfall hit and out came the Northern Lights. Now, from the movies, I thought that they would be green, but they were grey and so I had a hard time believing that they were indeed Northern Lights. But as they danced and morphed I realized that they were indeed what they were. It was great to just stare up at the sky and watch them. But after many hours of being outside, it was time to hit the sauna.
This was one of my first outdoor winter sauna's and you are supposed to roll around in the snow after spending time in the sauna and that's just what we did and boy is it cold. I couldn't roll so much as crawl and the snow clung to my chest hair and I think I may have screamed like a little girl and ran back into the sauna, but I can't remember right now. Sure this may be the reason why I am a little sick right now, but it was a great time.
So on to last night and my first attempt at making matzo ball soup. I was so concerned with keeping them light and fluffy and avoiding clumps that I made them too light and fluffy and we wound up having matzo mush soup. It tasted really good, but the fact that we had to scoop out a ball from a pile of mush kind of took away some of the appeal. But now I know not to use the electric mixer when making matzo balls and these are the lessons that one needs to make a fine matzo ball in the future. Whatever doesn't kill you makes a stronger matzo ball, right?
Once we got there it was hard to believe that people would desire a place this far out in the middle of nowhere - by the way, I thought Joensuu was the middle of nowhere, but compared to this place, Joensuu is Times Square. There was not another house around for many, many miles. It was straight out of a horror movie - a group of young kids go out into the woods for a night of fun, you know what happens next. But nothing bad happened and it was a great time, but it was the first time I have been in a setting like that.
So we got there...took a look around, kicked out the guy who was there warming the place up for someone else. We called those other people and told them that we were here first - this cabin is shared by a very large family - and then we proceeded to build the fire and drink.
We walked around the location, by the river, which was partly frozen over and part fast moving rapid and the rapid, which originated where the ice was melting, flowed for a 100 meters or so and went right back into a sheet of ice. By the way, no chance I was getting in that water.
There were animal tracks everywhere - and once we got inside I realized who would want a place out here, hunters, that's who. We saw wolf tracks, wolverine tracks (apparently the wolverine is the only animal that likes to kill for fun) beaver nests and lots of smaller animal tracks. But we did not see any animals, which I suppose is fine with me.
As the night started to creep on us, we got the indoor fire burning and the outdoor fire burning and we ate and drank for many hours. Then nightfall hit and out came the Northern Lights. Now, from the movies, I thought that they would be green, but they were grey and so I had a hard time believing that they were indeed Northern Lights. But as they danced and morphed I realized that they were indeed what they were. It was great to just stare up at the sky and watch them. But after many hours of being outside, it was time to hit the sauna.
This was one of my first outdoor winter sauna's and you are supposed to roll around in the snow after spending time in the sauna and that's just what we did and boy is it cold. I couldn't roll so much as crawl and the snow clung to my chest hair and I think I may have screamed like a little girl and ran back into the sauna, but I can't remember right now. Sure this may be the reason why I am a little sick right now, but it was a great time.
So on to last night and my first attempt at making matzo ball soup. I was so concerned with keeping them light and fluffy and avoiding clumps that I made them too light and fluffy and we wound up having matzo mush soup. It tasted really good, but the fact that we had to scoop out a ball from a pile of mush kind of took away some of the appeal. But now I know not to use the electric mixer when making matzo balls and these are the lessons that one needs to make a fine matzo ball in the future. Whatever doesn't kill you makes a stronger matzo ball, right?
// posted by Howard @ 11:33 AM 
