PROJECT L: PART 101
The day the snow started melting
Our story starts as they often do in classical literature.
From a black Volvo, waiting for two passengers wearing latex next to Järvenpää’s railroad station. It’s a bit cliche as stories go, but please bear with me.
It was a beautiful day in the springtime of Finland – an uncommonly warm day in the middle of March.
This year’s snowfall was absolutely humongous, pardon my French, and nobody’s experienced so much snow since before the Winter War.
The temperatures soared at 15 degrees Celsius, which is pretty much an average Finnish Midsummer forecast.
Against all odds, the trains were on schedule, and two dark characters strolled along the gravel-covered pavement.
A shining reflection peeked from underneath the jackets.
Latex. I should have known.
Well, I did know.
Jenni and Jonja put on their suits at home they arrived, so we could be punctual and very effective in capturing the afternoon sun and the lengthening shadows.
And off we rode, into a nearby lakeside park.
The journey by train was weary on the shine of the latex, so we polished the dresses once more in the deep slush of the parking space.
Thank god my Volvo’s a four-wheel drive.
Jenni and Jonja managed to dodge the shin-deep puddles of melting snow, also known as water, while I managed to practically step into every one of them and get my shoes all wet.
We even dared to walk on the ice of the lake Tuusula – as did many before us – despite everything around us melting.
The ice passage, that used to carry thousands of people skiing, skating and kicksledding on every single day for the winter, was at its end for the winter.
Huge holes, ponds of water and spots where your legs could sink reminded us of the fragility of the life. At one moment you could be there, and a second away your leg could be sunken in a puddle.
As mine was, multiple times.
Also Jenni bought a juice box from a sled on the ice. It was strawberry-raspberry flavoured.
There were trees.
Jenni and Jonja liked the trees.
Very poetic.
There’s a bunch of these tree photos here. Keep on scrolling.
In the background you can see the skyline of the City of Järvenpää, my home for a couple of decades.
Can I say “a couple” when in reality it’s closer to three decades?
I’ll just say three decades, then.
Tree.
It all makes sense now.
It was a very nice tree, after all.
We had seen enough of the lakeside park. It was time to head off to another destination – some fields!
The fields were nice, too.
A lonely bee found some solace from the yellow of Jonja’s boots. It hung there for a few minutes and headed off to a new place.
Here’s to hoping that it’ll find a better home for itself.
Shoes on the move are not a very stable place to set up a nest, I’ve been told by a trustworthy source with a buzzing accent.
A sudden urge to do the crab dance arrived.
I’d call it crab rave, but we lacked the necessary qualities to call this event a rave. I have no idea what those qualities are.
I urged the girls to walk at the end of the pier. There were no green lights, but a shiny, reflective surface of a latex outfits does the same, I’d say.
Ah, the bittersweet end. The last of the photos, in the end of the reel.
What a gread adventure it was. We saw juice boxes, trees, fields and even a bee. Both of my legs were drenched in slush.
It was the day the snow started melting.
Latex used in the project
Jonja’s dress by Bright & Shiny
Jenni’s dress by Latex by Tiina Rikala