After leaving Oulu, we spent a few days up in Rovaniemi which is the gateway to the Arctic Circle. Our host, Jorma, came to collect us and drove us to his cottage on the shore of Kemijarvi for a homestay out in the wilds of Lapland. After 20 minutes, we turned off the main road into a white world still in the grip of winter and drove for another 40 minutes. The entire drive meandered through endless forest where reindeer could be spotted nibbling the lichen on the trees. The gorgeous red cottage we were to stay at sat serenely on a couple of acres of land in an area almost devoid of sound, in fact there were times when it was completely silent when the breeze ceased stirring the trees. We greeted Anne, Jorma’s wife and their beagle Poncho and began learning about life in rural Lapland, beginning with the food which is almost exclusively made from scratch.
Life in Lapland, we discovered, includes a lot of planning and time outdoors. During the summer people gather a variety of wild mushrooms and many types of berries including lingon, cloud, and redcurrants to freeze or preserve. Fish are caught in the lake, moose shot, and reindeer meat gathered from the forest or from local herders. Many grow their own root and leafy green vegetables which they use year round and also bake their own bread. Quality items are bought or made and then kept for decades rather than replacing cheaply made items often. And of course firewood is cut and stored for heating, cooking, and sauna. Jorma shared that they had decided to raise their 3 boys in the forest as the wilderness would be a shaping and defining experience for them. Our host went on to explain that the work and adversity sometimes encountered by homesteading provides a way for people to maximize their potential as humans. This means not just being productive, flexible, and good problem solvers, but also better humans who appreciate the outdoors, others, and life in general. Indeed, our short time with Jorma and Anne became a very powerful antidote for the corrosive effect induced by living in our modern self-serving and disposable culture.
There was also a sense of joy and contentment in their small and somewhat isolated community. Jorma and Anne used to attend an amatuer theatre group and go dancing at a nearby campsite during celebrations in the summer months. Volunteers from other countries who came to help on their organic farm were hosted as were students from abroad. Their own children had reciprocal experiences abroad also so as to help their own development. And of course, there are the hobbies that Finns all value and participate in that helped them through the dark winter months (which by the way, many in Lapland enjoy almost as much as the midnight sun during the endless summer days).
We enjoyed skiing and snowshoeing, dog sledding, learning how to set passive pike fishing ice traps, and just walking on the frozen lake listening to the quiet and feeling the peace that seemed to flow over and through the land. Our time in Lapland brought about many feelings and thoughts that will take a little time to digest and process. Like our glimpses of reindeer in the forest while snowshoeing, a different existence was briefly experienced that I hope will have a long-lasting positive impact on our lives. I want to return to Lapland, and as the kind and thoughtful Jorma said, “next time, you come to visit as friends, not airbnb…” What a treat that would be.
