A little poetry from Finland and Russia

Some discoveries are too good to keep to oneself. Here is a selection of poetry found during and just after my wonderful holiday in Helsinki. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.



If you love, love madly
If you threaten, threaten seriously
If you hurt, hurt in anger only
If you hit, hit with all your force
If you argue, argue bravely
If you punish, you should have a reason


When you forgive, forgive with all your heart
When you celebrate, celebrate till dawn

Aleksei K. Tolstoi

Niin kuin aalto uittaa aallon
yli valtameren,
niin selviydymme mekin
toinen toisiamme tukien.

Just as one wave carries another wave
Across the ocean,
So we, too, survive
One supporting the other.

Risto Rasa

Sano heti jos minä häiritsen,
hän sanoi astuessaan ovesta sisään,
niin minä lähden saman tien pois.

Sinä et ainoastaan häiritse,
minä vastasin,
sinä järkytät koko minun olemustani.
Tervetuloa.

Tell me immediately if I'm disturbing you,
He said, coming in the door,
And I will leave right away.

You not only disturb,
I answered,
You shake my whole being.
Welcome.

Eeva Kilpi

Nukkumaan käydessä ajattelen:
Huomenna minä lämmitän saunan,
pidän itseäni hyvänä,
kävelytän, uitan, pesen,
kutsun itseni iltateelle,
puhuttelen ystävällisesti ja ihaillen, kehun:
Sinä pieni urhea nainen,
minä luotan sinuun.

Going to sleep, I think:
Tomorrow I will heat up the sauna,
Pamper myself,
Walk, swim, wash,
Invite myself to evening tea,
Speak to myself in a friendly and admiring way, praising:
You brave little woman,
I believe in you.

Eeva Kilpi

Sinun jäljiltäsi katson itseäni;
silmieni ympärillä onnelliset poimut.

After you, I look at myself;
Around my eyes, happy wrinkles.

Eeva Kilpi

Dæmons

This was too interesting and, well, cool for me NOT to post on my sight. Please find other information here. I also understand that Miss Fussbudget has started a thread on the Caledon Forums to allow for comparison and discussion.

So what do you think of my Dæmon?

A wonderful adventure

The trip home on the steamer took much longer than my travel to Finland via airships, but the rest and relaxation to be found aboard more than made up for the additional travel time.

To say that I enjoyed Helsinki and Finland would be an understatement. I found this Grand Duchy of Russia to be wonderfully full of culture and art; of music and dancing; of romance and literature. Her people were most gracious and kind.

Below are just some of the many things that I was able to do and see while traveling there.


The gentles with whom I came in contact during my holiday celebrated a proper tea each day. Here is one example of a Russian Tea/Coffee service from the 1850s. Simply wonderful!


This lovely table and chairs was found in the drawing room of one of the officers on Suomenlinna. I am told this piece was also brought from Russian at mid-century.


The Helsinki Cathedral and some wonderful examples of Russian/French architecture


Uspenski Cathedral. I attended vespers services with my Orthodox hosts at this magnificent church. I shall not soon forget the solemnity with which worship was conducted....a truly moving experience.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the opera in Helsinki and the ball which followed. The hall was so intricately designed and beautifully decorated that is nearly took my breath away. The opera presentation was of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden. As a guest of the Suomenlinna Commander and his family an escort for the evening was chosen for me. The gentleman proved to be a most delightful soul and was excellent company. His name was Alexai Kirillovich Vronsky, a very dark and dashing military officer.


Breath-taking view from the boxes at the Opera House.


Waiting for Vronsky to join us.


Enjoying the view at intermission with Vronsky


The ballroom


The last dance of the evening - and my trip to Finland.

Wonderful!

Oh - and by the way.....shopping was no issue as the monetary exchange was nearby.




And now it is good to be home.

I shall be remarking on the Courts and titles issues soon. Unfortunately one of my court was left off the lists. Fortunately my court continues to grow.

Mitä kuuluu, Venäjä?

How are you, Russia?

Here we are in the summer during the late 1880s visiting Finland. No trip would be complete, I am told by my friend, The Empress of all Russia, Maria Feodorovna, without a visit to Suomenlinna Fortress.

Suomenlinna, which was initially called Sveaborg by the Swedes, has occupied a significant role in Finland and in the politics of the Baltic region. Constructing the coastal fortification in the Gulf of Finland in the mid-1700s was a last attempt by Sweden to reclaim the land it had lost to Russia at the turn of the century. The people of the time generally referred to the fortress as the Gibraltar of the North. The fortress was built from granite and was considered to be impenetrable. Nevertheless Sweden surrendered her to the Russians in a siege in 1808, after which Finland became a Grand Duchy of Russia.

Despite the fact that the garrison and fortress were greatly damaged during a bombardment in 1855 (Crimean War), the Russians have rebuilt and reinforced the area, and it remains a central focus of social activity here in Helsinki and Finland.

The garrison commander has been gracious enough to permit me to tour the area and to stay a few nights on the island. I am in great anticipation of the evening's ball, although I doubt it will compare to those in Caledon.

Here are some images that were captured over the last couple of days:

Making this Scotswoman feel right at home, the thistles were in bloom at Suomenlinna. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Touring the fortress

Looking out one of the commander's windows to the sea

What the soldiers see as they shoot their cannon. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Reviewing one of the many naval vessels at the Suomenlinna docks.

On board

One of the many earth-reinforced areas of the fortress.
(photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

A watercolor of the view from my room - the ladies of the garrison and several from Helsinki observe the building of the new officer's barracks. (photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Found at the local designer's shop
(photo courtesy of my human on Suomenlinna 2007)

Here is where my letter to you must end. I need to lay on the divan for a bit of an afternoon rest, have a bath drawn, and slide into my silk gown for the ball tonight.

I wonder what wonderful things tomorrow will hold.

Terve Suomi!

HELLO FINLAND!




Well my human and I have made it to Finland. The flights on the various airships were not too bad. And most pleasantly, we find ourselves not terribly out of sync with our circadian rhythms.

Last night, we walked in the sunlight at around 10:30pm and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city. I also tried some traditional Lapland foods at dinner. The Reindeer and Cheddar Soup was particularly fantastic.



Now, I suppose, I should change into something a bit more comfortable to go exploring. Hopefully I will have wonderful things to report to you in the near future.

It's good to be SILLY every now and then

Composing the previous post, I was reminded of a funny time a little less than a year ago, when the call came out over the Independent State of Caledon channel for an impromptu blimp battle in Caledon II. Though there were many fewer of us at that time, most of us descended on the sim, picked up our free blimp and took to the air. Some had weapons, but mostly we puttered around in the lag bumping into each other. IT WAS GREAT FUN!

Soooooo - last night around 8:30pm SLT, I decided that I would send the call out for this year's Zepplin Day lighter-than-air-ship silliness. After consulting with Kamilah about the best possible sim for this activity, it was determined that Eyre would suit our needs to a T (or as close to a T as one can get in Caledon these days).

Despite the error messages on the Independent State channel, I sent the message via "blue box" to the estate. And they came! Blimps, Zepplins, various aircraft, air-surf boards, DaVinci Copters, Boomslangs.....and they brought their silly weapons. Myself? I had the free blimp from last year, now with my Coat of Arms applied to the side, and had my Chicken Cannon along for the fun.

Good Lord! It was hilarious. The pictures below only tell a portion of the story. Things were pretty slow as everyone joined in the fun. I am sorry that I don't recall everyone who was there. I was awfully busy shooting, flying, bumping, and laughing my head off. :-)

At one point, though, I was shot with a laser of some sort (not Ms Tombola's) and was completely frozen in mid-air. Even a requested bump from Sir Edward and Lady Pearse in their massive Zepplin would not move me. At that point the battle had been going for 45 minutes or so, and I just decided to derez the thing and drop to the ground. Playing anti-aircraft gunner, I shot at a few of the remaining ships.

My thanks to everyone who joined my silliness for the evening!! We will do this again sometime.

The first two arrivals to the field (or rather, air) of battle. That's me in the small craft.

Sir Edward coming-in at ramming speed early on in the fun.

As Edward's mouselook weapons would not work in his Zepplin, he was playing bumper ships with everyone. :-)

The DaVinci just before I sent it to the next sim with the mighty power of my Chicken Cannon.

A good display of many of the ships present.

Miss Frequency Picnic and her hobo blimp.

Taking a hit from the laser weapon. Falling through the air....but oh the pretty colors.

***
More fun:

The manse on the Loch is coming together pretty nicely. I have only a few more pieces of furniture to place, some art to hang, and a few last minute detail changes. Now I just need decide on the name. I have some thoughts, but nothing has made itself known as THE name for my home yet.

This weekend also found me enjoying a bit of fun to go with my serious shopping and decorating. Oh, and a day or two prior to the weekend, I met up with Kamilah, Hotspur, and Virrginia and allowed Virrginia's new horses to stretch their legs a bit.

Highlights of the weekend:

Gen X with Gabi at the Rock Factory - the music was fantastic and the company of friends was, as always, great fun.

Finding a surprise gift of an Iron Clad Ship for the Loch...and heading out on patrol

Mr Writer's Canada Day party.

Oh - and my human and I have been planning our trip to Finland.....









Let the silliness never go away from our fair land. It is FAR too much fun!

On this day in history

Graphic of the first ascent of LZ1 on July 2, 1900 courtesy of Wikipedia

For all of us Caledonian Steampunk enthusiasts

From Wikipedia:

The first Zeppelin flight occurred on July 2, 1900 over the Bodensee. It lasted only 18 minutes before LZ1 was forced to land on the lake after the winding mechanism for the balancing weight broke. Upon repair, the technology proved its potential in subsequent flights (the second and third flights were in October 1900 and October 24, 1900 respectively), beating the 6 m/s velocity record of the French airship La France by 3 m/s. This performance, however, was unable to convince possible investors. With his financial resources depleted, Count von Zeppelin was forced to disassemble the prototype, sell it for scrap, and close the company in 1901.[5]

It was largely due to support by aviation enthusiasts that von Zeppelin's idea got a second (and third) chance and could be developed into a reasonably reliable technology. Only then could the airships be profitably used for civilian aviation and sold to the military.

Thanks, Mr. Zepplin!

Now may I suggest that we all take out our favorite lighter than air ships for a little spin today? Yes! I think that is a grand idea! See you up there.