A Burning Horse
Halloween and All Saints Day in Helsinki
Hello from my home in Helsinki! This is NordLetter #129, a weekly newsletter on living and walking in Finland.
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The route that I take every day takes me past the highway to a nature trail next to a large body of water. The trail sways, meanders. You cannot see to the end, or even the water, the first time you get on the trail. The trail is dark - it has gotten darker now. There are lamps overhead, but it’s dark when we go out to walk. And it’s quiet. You may see one or two people walk past you, or walking some distance ahead of you. Usually, cyclists pass us by.
A bend
On Friday, I had gone for the walk alone. Prerna was tired, Savya looked sleepy. So, I went alone.
I had walked past the big red building to my left, past the large trees and took a right near the bridge, when I saw the first group of people walk toward me.
They were a family, or two families. There were kids with bright lights, in jackets, laughing, walking.
I did not think much of it, but as I walked past the next bend, I could see more people - a crowd walking toward me. I saw people with lights on the other side, walking closer to the apartments that dot this area. And I thought, are they going trick or treating?
It was the Halloween evening after all.
Halloween is not too big here. The weather does not allow people - children specifically - to walk around in costumes. You would have to put a jacket on your dress, which defeats the purpose.
There are events in malls, of course.
In Matinkylä, in our old building, before Halloween, they would put a notice on the board, that children would go trick or treating and if you don’t want to participate, you should put this sticker on your door.
As I said, not a big thing here.
Savya had a Halloween celebration at his päiväkoti in the morning. I had gotten him a skeleton dress just last night. Prerna had painted his face.
Scary Savya
When I dropped him at his päiväkoti, children in his unit seemed happy to see him. The girls were dressed in their princess costumes. The boys were dressed in zombie costumes. Savya seemed to fit in perfectly.
I so wanted to be a fly on the wall that day - to see what he did all day, what did they do for Halloween, how the children played?
I didn’t, of course. I logged in and worked.
That’s why when I saw the crowds on the trail, I thought they were out trick or treating. Some had bags with them. I felt a little sad that Savya was not out here today. I wanted to figure out where do they announce these things. I would love to bring Savya around for this.
Prerna needs to build this app.
As I walked some more, the crowds swelled, and after another turn, I could see the source of the commotion.
Burning horse
On the frozen sea, rests
A wooden horse, burning - crowds walk past.
A fire truck waits in tow.
Finland celebrated All Saints Day and Halloween on the same day. I had read the report in Yle and everything clicked for me.
Something (I thought it looked like a horse) was burning at the beach. There was a crowd taking pictures, and looking at it. From a distance, I could see the lights coming out of what looked like a small pop-up shop. Perhaps something selling these lights the kids had.
People and a shop
It wasn’t.
It was a fire truck! Now I really missed having Savya here. He loves fire trucks! And vehicles in other and all forms.
I appreciated that even at celebrations, Finnish people and institutions care about safety so much!
I left with a few pictures of my own and a smile on my face.
Full moon and people
After getting home, I googled, and found out that the horse was a goat. What I had witnessed was the annual autumn harvest festival.
From Google:
The festival revives Kekri, the ancient Finnish harvest festival that marked the end of the agricultural year and the beginning of the dark winter months. A massive, wheel-mounted Kekripukki (Kekri goat) equipped with smoke machines and lights is paraded down to the water’s edge. It is set ablaze to light up the autumn night, symbolising leaving behind the old year.
Good to know for next year.
I finished reading 1929 this week. It tells the story of the great market crash and the resultant depression in America.
I like history, not because of the facts of the thing, but because of the lesson that it holds. Too often, we don’t care about the lessons, to our own detriment. These things tend to keep repeating after all.
It was an interesting book. I recommend it.
Long black strands,
A skull, tied to a branch.
Someone left it there.
Happy (belated) Halloween! And I’m so excited for Diwali!
If you enjoyed reading this and know someone else who might, please consider forwarding this to them. It would help this grow and make me happy. 😄
Until next week.
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