Hi.....The gods are smiling on us here in Tartu. We have had the perfect winter, and it is not finished yet.  Firstly there was our "white Christmas", something that has not happened that much over the past few years. Then for the last month or so the ground has been covered in snow, with new falls every other night refreshing the landscape with its pure white carpet. Temperatures are gradually going down, with this morning, as I left for school, reaching -20C. You might think this is all a bit grim, but no, the days have been days of brilliant sunshine and deep blue skies. In these conditions the snow virtually sparkles, the trees appear etched in silver and the contrast between very low temperatures and warm sunshine is invigorating to say the least. Lots of "first time" experiences are happening to us almost every day. Today, for instance, as I drove to school around 7.30am it was hard to see the car in front of me because of the clouds of steam emanating from every vehicle exhaust. We appeared to be driving steam cars. Then, as I returned to my parked car after school, I was able to take a short cut by walking over the Emajõgi, ( our 60 meter wide river in Tartu ) not, as one would expect, by way of the bridge, but just walking across the frozen surface of the river itself. Amazing! Another experience has been to visit the ice sculpture in the main town square. This year the sculpture is of a dog, being the Chinese year of the dog in 2018. At minus 20C such a sculpture has no risk of melting and is a wonderful tribute to the skill of these ice sculptors. So we could go on with new experience after new experience seemingly trotted out to initiate us into Estonian winter in a way that guarantees will will never forget. Even our Estonian family and friends seem to catch our excitement of each new activity or sight helping them to see their own country with renewed interest and enthusiasm.

 Walking on the frozen river in Tartu

Not all has been plain sailing. The last couple of weeks both Helve and I managed to pick up the flu from somewhere. Being a variety that we have not encountered in Australia, it hit us pretty hard. Helve went down first ( requiring a brief visit from the ambulance crew ) surfacing a few days later. By this time I was into it myself and my version dragged on with high temperatures making it quite miserable. When we realised it was not abating, i agreed to see a doctor. After an X-ray it was discover I had some pneumonia in my left lung, so on to antibiotics which has brought quick relief.
Naturally I missed my language school for a couple of weeks which was disappointing. Fortunately we seem to be well on the mend which is timely as we leave tomorrow for a week of skiing in northern Sweden  with friends. I have one more doctors visit tomorrow 2 hours before we leave and hope for clearance to travel then. I am sure someone reading this will also have had the flu recently also, so it is no big deal, just one of those realities of life these days. We are grateful to have had such good health during our stay here .

Talking about our year in Estonia, unfortunately it is quickly coming to an end. As I write this it is exactly one month to we set sail for home again. It has gone so quickly and we have mixed feelings as we face leaving our home for a year. The coming month will be very busy with final visits and events and it will no time before we are with you all in "warm/hot Australia. Meantime we are making each day count as much as we can. I guess time to reflect on the significance of this year in our lives will come later and will be interesting. I have said somewhere else that this year here in Estonia is an year of celebrations. Estonia celebrates its first independence as a nation achieved in 1918 on this coming Saturday 24th February. It is their 100 year celebration, and lots of events will be held all over Estonia to mark this day. Already the blue, black and white Estonian flash is flying from many buildings and private homes as the day approaches. For a country that has endured so many occupations over the centuries it is naturally a very joyous time and a time to realise the importance of their freedom and independence. The current independence (from Russia ) is just 26 years old and their progress as a nation has been truly amazing and of huge credit to them as a nation. We wish them well for the next 100 yers in the hope that they will remain free and independent. At the personal level, this year has been the fiftieth year of our marriage, and in addition both of us turn 75 this year also. So you see there a many things for us to celebrate and we a very grateful for each of these milestones. Once again, its amazing how the time has gone here in Estonia, in our married life together and in our lives in total.

The ice sculpture in Tartu....the year of the dog

I mentioned before our skiing trip to Sweden. The facts are that we have NEVER skied before. Never even had skis on our feet. So...we are probably crazy, but at least we want to try. Hopefully we can keep our legs intact and return in good shape. We will be in the mid north of Sweden in a mountain area. We have heard there is about 1800mm  (180cm or around 6 feet ) of snow there at the moment. Temperatures will be around the same as here but could drop much colder if the conditions change. On our way there we are attending a major cross country skiing event where skiers do 90Kms or 30Kms courses. Our friends and sisters Kairi and Inga will be competing in the 30 km course. Also our friends from way up north in Sweden Birgit and her daughter Elinor will  be competing. We are the cheer squad and plan to be at the finishing line when the girls come over. After the event we are travelling another 3 hours north to our rented chalet for a week of initiation into the pastime of nearly everyone in this part of the world. Over the last couple of weeks here in Tartu we have watched people skating on the frozen lakes and rivers of the area, and we have had our own international Tartu Marathon, a 90km cross country ski event that forms part of the world grand prix circuit. When we return our friends Anti and Karin plan to take us driving on one of the now open ice roads, another first for us of course. I will write later to describe the experience we have there.

Ice fishing on the frozen lake in Tartu

 The silver laced  silver birch in our street

Our source of news comes from a TV channel called France 24. Even though it is located in Paris it has an english program providing 24 hour news and current affairs. Like you all we have been shocked by yet another school shooting in America, and probably like you also, are puzzled to understand why nothing can seemingly be done to control access to guns in their communities. We must be vigilant that such conditions never come to our country. Also we are saddened by the continuing tragic loss of life in Syria. It is easy to be moved to tears at the suffering of these communities and especially the young children subject to such terror. With the escalation of violence and conflict all around the world one wonders what has happened to modern man's mind and values to give rise to such activities. It is more incumbent on us than ever before to abandon hate and seek to replace it with understanding and acceptance both at the micro and macro levels of life.

Well...next time I will recount our successes or failures in the field of skiing, and by then we will
already be packing to return home.

Wow....this place can ring the changes. For two weeks or so the ground has been covered in snow, a white carpet over the landscape and silver etchings on the leafless trees. Then...rain, and its all gone. In just moments the snow has disappeared. This land of Estonia seems to revel in "visual violence" , rapid dramatic changes that give you the feeling that you have just walked through a door into another world. We saw this in the explosion of spring with greener than green leaves leaping out of bare branches in just hours, in autumn as trees rushed to throw their now red and golden leaves onto the ground as an exotic carpet for our daily walk, and now in the middle of winter,  the white carpet of snow is laid out and rolled away repeatedly,  leaving you wondering what will be the view when next you open your eyes. As if to confirm this observation, looking out or lounge room window I see it is snowing again. The carpet layer never tires.

Friendship. As the days race by we cannot avoid the realisation that our year in Estonia is fast coming to and end. It amazes us that this time has gone so fast, aided, I guess, from the many different experiences that have packed themselves into this year. As the date for our return looms up we become increasingly conscious of having to say goodbye to so many friends and family here in Estonia. Of course, to some extent, this will be offset by the expectation of seeing you all, our family and friends, in Australia once again. In addition, this year in Estonia has coincided with the fiftieth year of our marraige. Five decades of friendship that has flourished in both the up's and down's of ordinary family life. Added to these things has been the absolute enjoyment and meaning that Helve and I have derived from the visits that some of our family, and some of you, our friends, have made with us here in Estonia this year. All these things have got me thinking...(oo ooh! maybe you had better skip this bit)   what is it about friendship that is so important, so deeply impacting on our lives?  What does friendship offer to us and what do we give in return. How do we value these friendship ties in comparison with other aspects of our lives and experience?  Maybe I am mistaken, but I think that if most of us were confronted with the choice of being surrounded by caring, interesting and faithful friends, or by a million dollar mansion and loneliness, we would chose friendship. What is it that compels us to put such high value on friendship?

 Cozy with friends

Not so cozy...but still with friends

May I tentatively make a suggestion that I have found helpful in living. It is not a dogma, an absolute or a rule, and may not be useful to you at all. But here it is anyway. I think that questions are much more important than answers. Maybe not in purely physical, technical and material things, but in the sphere of human experience, relationships, growth and understanding I think questions, rather than answers enable us to keep on searching, growing, finding, developing, changing, maturing, abandoning and moving on. In other words they kept on renewing us, keep us looking forward. Answers, on the other hand, are more like full stops. If I have the answer, then there is no more need to look, to wonder, to ask, to think. That's it! I learnt long ago that if you give people answers they become followers of 'your' way. If you give them questions they push ahead to discover their own particular path in life.  So.......I don't plan to give any answers to my questions on friendship. What I hope is that we all will stop and think about this, see where it takes us, see whether it impacts on our life style and priorities. Recently I read ( I cannot recall the book or the author, apologies ) a writer who suggested that a person is not really human unless they are part of a community. That seems to ring true to our experience, we seem to need each other to become ourselves. Whatever we discover as we think about friendship I think that we all intuitively know that friendship is vital to our lives. If this is so it also follows that we should value the maintenance of friendship as one of our highest, if not highest, priorities. It also follows that the loss of a friend is much more significant than the loss of your financial security, your house or any other material thing. ( I warned you!!!!)

By the way....it's still snowing outside. This winter in Estonia has be unusually mild. Just another aspect of the global warming impact,  as is the opposite in the north America continent. We have not had any temperatures below -13C, whereas it is common for temperatures -20C and below at this time of the winter. It remains to be seen what will happen in Feb. but long term forecasts are not favouring very cold temperatures this year. We have come to really enjoy this winter period. Perhaps it is the difference it presents from our Aussie weather and maybe the novelty will wear off in time. In many ways its nice to rug up and walk in the cold. Its comfy to sit in a warm cafe and have a coffee with a friend. I am sure we will miss some of these aspects of life in Tartu, and we do feel somewhat intimidated by the temperatures you are all experiencing in Melbourne and Sydney this year. We are in for a rapid re-aclimatisation when we return. I wrote a poem the other day to try and explain what a snow landscape is like and the feelings it elicits.

Here,
Silence descends
White. Pristine
Consuming all our
Noise. Time
Itself seemingly
Suspended between the Grey Ceiling and the
White
Carpet in this
Land

Võib olla                           ( Estonian....maybe )
Nature is Whispering:
Stop....
Listen...
Breathe again.
Soon enough the busy Sun will
Tear apart the Ceiling and
Silence will
Melt.


                   


Outside the white carpet is back. This evening we are going to visit an Estonian family who are bee keepers. Some of you will know we once kept bees in Australia. How different it is here to keep bees in this country of below zero temperatures. I am fascinated to hear their story and they too are interested in ours. Since our first meeting with them earlier this year they have become new friends and soon their daughter hopes to visit Australia. People....they are amazing, interesting, unique, inspiring, talented and welcoming. Give me a person any day before a cathedral or a bridge!
Till next time......enjoy your friends.....call someone you haven't seen for a while...we are missing you all.