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It's that time of year again, when the leaves turn yellow, orange, red, and other various shades of said colors. The fall here is dramatic and something I completely omitted from my expectations of this new land. It seems I expected summer to somehow transform into winter over a night with no room for a fall. You just don't hear enough about Finnish Autumn. Winter takes all the conversation when people bother themselves to talk a bit about li'l Finland. These pictures probably won't even the scales, but at least they'll earn Finnish Fall some points with you.

Only a quickly receeding sun from these northern latitudes could impose such conditions that produce a red vine as lovely as this one. And these Finns are smart as the day is short (winter saying in finland), putting a white fence behind it to emphasize it.

Anyway here are a few other pictures of my surroundings. Some of you might have imagined me in some icy winterland but as you can see I getting all the seasons here.

Some of these photos were taken while Elina and I were spending a couple of days at her Aunt Ulla's house taking care of her dog while she was away. We were in an area called Espoo, which is a suburb of Helsinki. But unlike many of the suburbs I've encountered in the U.S.A. Espoo is very natural. We took the opportunity to walk about and get a glipse of the vegetation before it's gone for the winter.

We also got to go into the sauna at her aunt's. Sauna is really nice when it's cold outside, and since we hadn't been in like a month it was really really nice. Unfortunately we couldn't find the beer which is typically on the front steps of the house (people just keep their beer outside, that way it doesn't take up any room in the fridge). Turns out that the beer was in the shed I actually help build a couple of weeks ago. I found it there the following day as I was looking for a crowbar to change the rear tire on Ulla's car. But, like I said the sauna was nice... but yeah a beer afterwards would have made it better.

Besides bringing different colors to our planet's foliage, fall also brings my birthday, which is tomorrow October, 11. I am 30 years old this October 11, 2006. Getting older now, but I still look like a highschool student. Elina and I will be celebrating tomorrow with various adventures. The morning we'll spend at the best bakery and cafe in Helsinki: Cafe Ekberg. The middle of the day should find us at home with her cousin having cake. The rest of the day is Elina's surprise to me. I am looking forward to it all.
I am also looking forward to my return visit to the U.S.A. To repeat myself from an earlier post: I will be in New York from October, 30 to November, 14; in Portland from November, 14 to November, 20; and in and around Charlotte, Athens, and Atlanta from November, 21 to December, 3. Can't wait to see everyone again.