Green

I had been told here that Spring would come quickly, but the digital nature of the seasons here is almost outrageous. In the last week every blooming thing (thank you Patrick Kavanah) has sprouted lush green foliage, just as rapidly as they all embraced nudism last October. The clouds relent at least once a day, and if it weren't so unpleasantly frigid (sub ten all week) all would be perfect.

Alex and I were brainstorming as to what conditions lead to such a burst of springiness, which led us to the current changeability of the weather (hint for Helsinki residents - it rains when I take my bike outside...), which in turn led us to mushrooms. We have mushrooms in Ireland, and I'm vaguely aware that some can be eaten, but I've never been mushroom picking. Probably because mushrooms grow in fields, and so do cows and sheep. Well they do.

Around here, and in Russia, on the other hand, mushroom picking is a big past-time. Some Finnish mushrooms are considered delicacies abroad, and sell for hundreds of euros per kilogram. All of which means Finns and Russians know a lot about mushrooms, and one of the things they know, is that intermittent bouts of sun and rain are very good for our fungal friends. This is so culturally embedded, that what we call "sun-showers" in English, are called "mushroom rain" in Russian. Well I found it interesting.

Oh, and finally, I'm going Paris over the first weekend of June with Niamh, Sean and Seamas. What started with a 2am chat in his sitting room in Dublin, ended with a frenzy of phone calls and internet booking in Helsinki. For any of you Dublin or London folk interested in joining the flock, Ryanair flights were dirt cheap (on Tuesday at least).

Go n-éiri an bothair libh :)