On October 20 the temperature dropped to below zero for the first time this autumn/winter season. Six days later it snowed. In between the days were bright sunny days with clear skies but low temperatures hovering around -2 to +5C. The contrast is significant, confronting your senses with daily challenges to adapt, to calibrate and to appreciate the new beauty of each change. Outside at this moment the ground,  that till yesterday was a carpet of gold and brown covering almost all of the landscape, is now brilliant white, as if the carpet layers quietly changed the decor overnight. It's stimulating to both body and mind, in a sense,  saving you from the danger of becoming "used" to things, and forcing you to realise that time and change are always with us. They are part of living in this world and invite us to embrace them, enjoy them, explore them, rather than find them a source of annoyance or foreboding. In an old classic Australian bush poem.........."We'll all be ruined said Hanrahan " (John O'Brien) Hanrahan, the old farmer sees each seasonal change as a threat. For winter it's floods, for summer it's bushfires and so on. So occupied by fears and forebodings he is unable to enjoy the spring grass and the summer warmth. Yes, there are some here in Estonia who look at the coming winter with some misgivings, just as there are in all communities wherever they live, but hopefully, most of us, whether here or there in Oz can find a real enjoyment in the changes around us, and  in us,  and be energised and refreshed

Today, in the course of our activities, ( Helve to visit Auntie Erna and me to language school ) we had cause to walk quite some distances on the snow covered streets and footpaths of Tartu. It was still snowing at the time, so all this was comparatively new for us. One thing that was evident was that these conditions did little to change the life of the town. People went about their business the same as the day before. We saw young mums, with two year olds wrapped warmly in their snow suits walking through the town on their daily exercise or shopping excursions. One little boy, just old enough to walk, was exploring the snow covered lawn behind Jaani Kirik (a large church in Tartu ) watched from a distance by his dad. When I boarded the bus this morning in the half light to head off to language school the usual travellers on the 7.46 were there, seemingly almost oblivious of the near total change in the landscape. Just another day, maybe just another layer of clothes. On the one hand there's the radical change, on the other the normality of it all. Fascinating!

Same place two days apart.

Most of the birds that habitat Estonia in the spring and summer have left now on their winter migration. The prospect of finding adequate food in a snow covered land is not great, so off they go to southern Europe, and even down into Africa and the Middle East. One little bird the Tihane ( about the size of our finches ) stays behind to tough it out and Estonians have made a 'contract' with this colourful bird to provide food over winter and sometimes beyond. So we stocked up supplies of a special ball of seed enclosed in a fine mesh. We hung this up in our front balcony and were thrilled three days later to have our first visit from "our " Tihane. Hopefully, by winters end we will be firm friends and maybe others will join him/her for their daily feed. I will try and photograph the Tihane feeding and put it in a later blog.  On another subject, with impeccable timing, our friend and relative Anti had arranged to have our new winter tyres fitted just the day before the snow came. It is required by law to have winter tyres from around this date until winter ends in March or April next year. Winter tyres look like ordinary tyres except they have steel studs imbedded in the tread to give extra grip in snow and in particular icy conditions. It's a bit like driving in your footy boots!  All these little ordinary things are introducing these Aussie foreigners to the joys of winter in Estonia.

Little Red Riding Hood

(The wolf is taking the photo )

Language. Being in language school has meant I have had to spend a fair bit of time thinking about language and how it works. Actually learning the language (i.e.. the words ) is one thing, and hard enough in Estonian. In addition, I have come to realise (maybe I'm a bit slow here) that people of a different race not only speak differently using different words, they think differently,  using completely different concepts to express common ideas. You are not able to simply take the words of many sentences and translate them word for word into your language. You may get the translation right, word for word, but the sense may be entirely different or meaningless. For example, Estonians when they meet might greet one another with the Estonian phrase...".kuidas käsi käib " This is essentially saying..." how are you"? If we translate these Estonian words into English they would read...."how is your hand going"? That greeting would seem a little puzzling to an Aussie or to any English speaking person, we don't have some concept of strength of hand in our greetings because we don't think that way. This problem besets a lot of conversation in another language and means that you don't have only learn the words of a new language, you have to come to some understanding of the thinking that underlies it also. By the way.....this is why Google Translator is so crazy at times...especially with a lesser known language like Estonian. You might have guessed that if you happened to see the translation of some Estonian language that I had written on my Facebook. Conversely, it is also true that you cannot expect to simple translate our way of talking directly into another language and expect to be understood. For example, if you translated our english saying...."well I had better be on my way" an Estonian would not have the faintest what you were talking about. So, when you meet someone who has come to our beautiful country and is trying to communicate with you, we need to appreciate that its not only our words but how we are thinking that they have to wrestle with and understand. Maybe we are asking for miracles for anyone to understand how Aussies think or whether some are thinking at all!!!!

Meantime, tomorrow morning at 8.30am I will be at my school desk, with my shorts, long socks and school bag, for my next lesson in this elusive language. The fact that it will probably be -4C makes no difference at all. As I am not into taking selfies you will have to use your imagination in this instance.

Till next time...as I would say here....nägemisene.....near enough to 'see you later'

One of my favourite songs is "When we walk in fields of Gold" sung by Eva Cassidy. Lately we have been doing just that. First the golden fields of wheat and barley on the farms of southern Estonia. Rolling hills with a patchwork of gold and green, the gold of the harvest and the green of the forest. Now, just a few weeks later, the gold of autumn. Here the predominant tree is the silver birch and in autumn it turns to gold. Dotted among the dark green pine trees of the forest it gives the impression of perpetual sunshine. This somewhat compensates for the grey overcast skies, an illusion that you willingly embrace in the hope that maybe it might become real. But no, winter is on its way and there is no avoiding it here. Temperatures are on their downward journey and will drop[ to near zero by the end of this week. We are being educated about winter clothing. Estonians say "there is no bad weather, only bad clothes" so now we must learn the art of keeping warm in sustained below zero temperatures. The saying is "layer up"......lots of individual layers of clothing that can be peeled away once you enter a warm house etc. In February we are being taken to Sweden for a weeks skiing in the "real snow country" and we are not sure what presents the greatest risk....freezing or breaking a leg!!!

Talking about Sweden we have just returned from a 2000km journey through Finland and Sweden. With Geoff and Jocelyn on board, we took our car on the ferry to Helsinki. Sixty kilometres to the east of Helsinki is the historic old town of Porvoo. Helve's cousin, Anne-Marie and her family live in this old town where nearly all of the buildings we constructed in the 1700,s. It's beautiful, quaint, and very well preserved. You can wander the cobblestone streets, poke into old shops selling all sorts of merchandise, or just sit in "historic" cafe and enjoy a latte.

 From here we journeyed north for some 800kms, passing through forests, farmland and beside dozens of Finlands 187,888 lakes. Yes, thats not a miss print. Our first days accommodation was on one such lake....

Our Cottage for the night

The view over the lake.

On the Baltic Sea, at the apex of the Bay of Bothnia, a large river (Tornio River)  constitutes the boarder between Finland and Sweden. On the banks of this river on the Swedish side our friend Birgit runs her farm based bed and breakfast known as" Nivagarden". Some of Birgits family have stayed with us in Newhaven and so, each time we are in Estonia, we take the opportunity to visit. Here you are only some 30kms from the Arctic Circle and the seasons exhibit extremes that are beyond our experience in Australia. In summer the sun does not set, it just goes round and round on a circular track, maybe just touching the horizon near midnight. In the winter the kilometre wide swift flowing river freezes as temperatures plummet to around -40 C. No matter what, life goes on. The farmers farm, the workers travel to work each day, the children go to school. For these northern folk this is normal, this is their country and their climate. We visited a large vegetable farm here where they grow cucumbers and tomatoes in huge greenhouses. The difference being, the greenhouses are necessary for growing these vegetables during the summer, not the winter as we would utilise greenhouses in Australia. The day we were there they were closing down the greenhouses as the temperature is way to low and the greenhouses freeze during winter. If you get the chance to travel in Sweden make sure you visit this region and stay at Nivagarden.....it's beautiful in the summer and bright sunshine at 2am!!! Google up Nivagarden and look at the pictures of that lovely peaceful place.

Kairi is like a daughter to us. Fifteen years ago she was in Australia working on a farm near Warragul and we met her there, She is an Estonian girl and so the connection was immediate. Over the years we have visited her and regularly we talk on Skype. Christmas 2015 Kairi brought her mum and dad and her sister and two of her nephews to Australia where we celebrated Christmas day together and spent sunny days on the Woolamai surf beach. Kairi has been living and working in Sweden for some years now and is currently studying at a institute in central Sweden. So...we managed to travel down some 800kms and visit her school, staying the night there and then the next day travelling the 400kms to her home town of Borlange to spend three days together. 

Maybe a bit hard to see..but that is Kairi outside the accomodation for students. 

Once again the beauty of these lands in autumn greeted us all along the way, with Swedens large and plentiful rivers crossing our tracks over the whole journey. Travelling for the sake of travelling has limited value ( at least I think ) but has real content and meaning when you spend time with friends who live in these areas. It was so good to spend time with Kairi, her sister and her family and long after we forget the sights they will remain in our hearts and lives.

Back to Eva's song......we have been literally walking in fields of gold. Today on our early morning walk through our little forest the path was carpeted in gold. Never seen so many leaves. Later in the day we walked the 3.7 kms into Tartu city centre, and once again our path was a golden carpet. Overhead the trees were dressed to perfection, with golden, red and brown leaves. 

The birch, the oak and the maple all contributing their particular colour to the street canvas. Later as we travelled home by bus it appeared as a giant frieze, the black tree trunks and the yellow leaves like a guard of honour on the road to our place.   ( If we didn't know better we could be forgiven for thinking Tartu was celebrating Richmonds win at the grand final!!!!! ) Unfortunately this show will be relatively short lived, each day the carpet on the ground is thicker and the branches above are a little more bare. We must enjoy it while it lasts. We are reminded again of how definite are the seasonal differences here in the far north. When this carpet has gone it will be replaced by the white carpet of snow ushering in the winter season. 

Yesterday I started school.  (Late developer! )  8.30am saw me seated in one of the lecture rooms at the Folk University in the centre of the old town of Tartu. My task is to try and fast track my learning of the Estonian language in the hope that I can soon put away my explanation to those I meet.....".Vabandust ...ma raggin eestikeel ainult nattukene " (which translates....sorry I only speak a little estonian )  It was all concentration for one and a half hours as our teacher, Evelyn,         ( Estonian lady with and english name!) speaking Estonian (yes she lectures in estonian,not english ) tries to help us understand and speak this notoriously difficult language. I have joined the class some weeks into its program, so this adds another degree of difficulty. For someone whose head has been around for as long as mine none of this comes easy. Yet I am making progress, and I am sure the discipline of the class will help. The emphasis is upon dialogue and my "dialogue partner" yesterday was a Russian woman who speaks no english.....interesting and challenging but good. The class meets two times a week, Tues and Thursday, and then of course there is the homework. At home Helve and I try to speak eestikeel, as it is called,  and this is helpful ( to me at least!), though it is so easy just to relapse into english to make life more comfortable. Perhaps, by the time we return to home in Newhaven , we will be able to talk about you without you knowing what we are saying! The possibilities are endless!!! Meantime, if you know any tricks for 'reconditioning old brains' please send them over ASAP. 

Just a few more pictures of Autumn. Today, as I finish this blog it was almost dark by 4 pm and the sky was heavy with the signs of more rain. Hopefully these pictures will keep all our spirits alive, yours in those days of searing hot north winds and ours in the winter dark and cold. so...

Nagamiseni.......or in Oz,  'see ya later"

                                             

"Tere tulemast Eestise". .......which being translated means.."Welcome to Estonia". That is what we have been busy doing for the last month or so since last I wrote. It has been family time. We have enjoyed visits first from Micky (our granddaughter) and Nathan her friend, Dave Michelle, Poppy and April (our youngest son, his wife and our two youngest grandchildren) and now Geoff and Jocelyn (our oldest son and his wife ). Isaac also visited us earlier in June.  Wow! What a feast of family. We have been missing them now for just on 6 months and it was so good to see them all again. Of course lots of cuddles and fun with Poppy (nearly 7) and April (5). Estonia has granted citizenship to our children and to our grandchildren because Helve's parents were born in Estonia. This amazing gesture by the Estonian government made these visits of the children and grandchildren so much more significant than just a catch up.

 For all of them it was their first visit to Estonia, their second country. For the first time they stood on Estonian soil, met their Estonian relatives, listened to Estonian language (which unfortunately they don't speak ), ate Estonian food, lived in Estonian houses and visited some of the most important landmarks of Estonia. For Helve and I it has been an great privilege and joy to introduce them to this interesting little land. Naturally this has meant much travelling, walking, meeting our Estonian relatives and talking about the history of this land and of Helve's family. We have stood together by the grave of their great, great, great grandfathers and mothers. We have walked through the ruins of the Vasila home on the Luunja farm first farmed by Helve's great grandfather. We have sat and talked with the two Matriarchs of our clan...Erna (96) and Liidia (90). We have seen the battlefields where Helve's father Walter fought for the independence of his beloved Estonia. We have shared the sauna in the age long tradition of Estonian families. We have visited the iconic "song ground" where so much of Estonias struggle for freedom was voiced. We have shared meals together in our little temporary home and mingled the Estonian and the Australian that makes us the family we are. We have celebrated our roots and planted a seed in the next generation that will bear fruit in their return from time to time to this "other fatherland". Perhaps, more than anything else, this has validated our decision to spend this year here physically so far away from them all, and from you our friends. In many ways their coming to Estonia completes the missing part of the DNA of our family. We have always known that Helve, wife and partner, mother, grandmother, was Estonian. Now we understand what that means and in what ways it has shaped all of our lives. This time here in Estonia has in so many ways,  enriched and expanded our understanding of the family we are, and hopefully set some directions for the future. Rowena and Garry were the only members of the family who were unable to visit while we are here. Rowena did come with us in 2010 for a short visit, but Garry was not with her then. We are excited by the news that Rowena and Garry will be spending next May living in "our apartment" here in Tartu. This will be great for them to meet family and experience something of Estonia for themselves.





Winter is coming. Nature is putting on one last magnificent display of colour, seemingly in defiance of the cold and dark months to follow. As I write this we are travelling through Sweden and experiencing this kaleidoscope of colour illuminating the expansive forests of northern Sweden. Natures artwork is in a league of its own and we have been very privileged to see it at this time in this beautiful Scandinavian country.

 Even in the presence of such a exotic display I can't help feeling a sense of sadness, if that's the right word for it, as I see this process unfold. It seemed only yesterday that we watched those leaves burst from the bare branches in an explosion of growth, life and activity. Now, just weeks later, they fall to the ground, yellow and gold, devoid of that exuberant life of spring, to lie on the cold ground as a carpeted road leading us to winter. Their job is done, their piece of history has been written, their life so short in the


scheme of things yet so vital in the larger life of the tree from which they fall. Now in death they nourish the ground from which they came. Is there here some insight for us, some message from nature, some understanding of life, especially for those of us who are facing the autumn of our lives, and for whom, maybe, the winter is faced with apprehension. Natures calm surrender to this process of autumn seems to be predicated on the certain knowledge that, after


the winter is past, new life will emerge again, new leaves will take the place of the fallen, and all will be well. Here, surrounded by this theatre of nature, I find peace for spirit and soul. Autumn and winter will come in their time but all will be well.

But this is not always the case. Tragedy recently struck our wider family when my nephew and his wife lost their beautiful 18 year old daughter due to an accident. This was not the gentle

falling of an autumn leaf. It was more the violent rending of a branch from the tree in full bloom of spring. Here peace and understanding are hard, if not impossible to find, and we are left with both our grief and our questions.

 Human experience, as with nature itself, seems not to be exempt from suffering and loss.

Winter in Estonia at 58N....this is something we have never experienced. Our Estonian friends are doing their best to prepare us for this "new experience". Temperatures can fall to -20 to -30 degrees C and provide challenges in how to dress and how to move around. Of course for the locals this is normal, this is winter. For us not so and we have much to learn as the winter runs its course. In one way we are looking forward to this time keen to understand this other side of life in Estonia which we have not seen on all our previous visits. It will be a challenge and hopefully we will not be frozen at the end of it!!. With winter comes Christmas. Christmas away from our family and Christmas in mid winter.  We will spend this time with our relatives Merike and Raimu being introduced to the traditions and food of an Estonian Christmas. This will be exciting and interesting for us and we look forward eagerly to sharing this time with our friends here. In between now and then I plan to attend language school in an attempt to improve on my abilities in the Estonian language. Maybe the next blog will be written in Estonian!!  Then again.......maybe not.