Summer - Pahkat

a.k.a. when I proved I can't do anything normally by finally managing to make a stone skim the surface neatly... the stone just happened to be a freaking brick.

So then, Pahkat. Or PAHKAT... pahkat? Umm. I don't think I've even seen it written. In any case, it's a combination of the initials of the founders. The... thing is an annual gathering of old friends [and their kids (and their spouses and/or kids, eventually, though I'm not sure wether all the kids want to continue the tradition our parents started)]. Our families live all across the country, so there's no point in having a 'permanent' place for it. We take turns organising it, though everyone participates in some way. We meet up, hang out for a couple of days and (mostly) nights, eat great food and go home. It's always fun, even if 'the girls' decide to skip more ofen than not these days.

The location is always somewhere relatively remote. By a lake. Or a river. Or something. This time, we actually had two buildings. They were rented out separately, but didn't really have much in between them. Even if there weren't so many of us, we thought it better to book both to save potential neighbours.

That place was just something else. I loved the 'main house' to bits. ;w; It was like a huge maze~ Doors everywhere and more rooms lined up you'd think possible - until you got to the kitchens in the middle. You could go anywhere from there. All in all it must've had over ten doors leading out. And big windows and enough bathrooms, which is pretty much a miracle.

Me and one other 'kid' slept in the other building, however - it had lovely windows too. Surprisingly maze-ish for a cottage that size, too. Then, there were storage buildings. Both at least partly abandoned - missing doors, walls or floors. Alternatively, with doors nailed, bolted and otherwise jammed shut on both sides. It was way awesome~


I had to climb through collapsed shelves to get anywhere from the main door. Then I got to a bigger room that... made noises. Creepy. Ee, it was so cool~~

Then we (me and the oldest boy) stumbled into the smallest room. It was so completely isolated not even dust could gather. The whole building must have been left alone for decades. We found enough materials to build three saunas, two barbecue stalls and various other things. >__> It was just bursting with unwanted things.


... did I mention I like exploring? I'll just shut up now.

So yeah. If we're far away from others, no one has to look their best. The adults also like to drink. And then sing. And talk and play guitar and laugh and cry. Us kids... we bring the PlayStation 2 with us every time. My laptop, too. It's fun, sure, and since there were four of us (three ditched) not everyone could play. This naturally leads to discussion. Of games, often. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (which I got from the boys then), Guitar Hero, Left 4 Dead and Assassins Creed for the most part. It's sad, really, I haven't even got to play all of those yet.


When I did play, it was either Guitar Hero Metallica or Ape Escape 3 (couldn't bring anything you'd need to focus on, having to take turns and all). I'd forgotten how entertaining that can be. @____@ And the music, uhh, it stays with you for weeks. Some way or other, the combination of those, Doctor Who and Which late at night led to the most confusing nightmare comedy I've seen in a while. It involved a giant zombie ape with crazy tank strength down in the sewers. >__>; It smelled bad. I think I laughed out loud when I woke up.


I spent time with the adults as well, of course. It's just not that easy to keep up with them when they've been drinking (and your aunt is trying to get you to drink cider). But well, they have some style. I've never seen them throwing up for all this. X'3

So I sat down near someone and the discussion drifted to swimming. Then... I got an offer. An old one repeated, really, but with something new thrown in. I did mention I liked water,
right? That someone often goes diving and, nowadays, works in Thailand at times. He invited me to go see him. Again.

So now I was seriously considering going there for a week or so to get a diving license, either to 18m or to 30m depending on how long I'd be there. This 'someone' is the one who brought up the idea in the first place and later made it possible, he even offered to find me a place to stay and pay for the course if necessary (so all I'd need to do would be along the lines 'run when your mum's not looking'. She didn't appreciate the idea very much). The offer is likely to become a yearly tradition unless I get to go or have to flat-out reject it. Both of which I failed to do, thanks to my parents.


I've wanted to be able to explore underwater ever since I was a child. I hope one day I'll have a real chance.

Summer - guests (= time-in-between)

(Originally written at 1 AM a few days ago)

It's funny what you can do to keep your mind from wandering. Listening to music, singing along and beating my Tetris highscore at the same time wasn't even nearly enough, so here I am, magically overcoming my fear of writing. Way to go.

Now we get to the part I'm not even sure about. I think I was ready to hop on the first bus to Ylivieska (from where I would've continued to Oulu) right away, but stuff came up and oh hey, now we have guests coming. Messed with my plans pretty bad.

I think it was around this time I met up with ttuw as well. What happened, anyway? My memory seems to be failing me. I remember searching for Tolkien's works in English at every second-hand bookstore I could find, eating something and sitting in a car (she was driving) but I've lost most of the details. All I remember clearly are the conversations.

I hope this isn't permanent. ,____,;;;

Um. Yeah. I didn't find the books. I went to the library with dad later so I could at least read them. We took Bilbo's Last Song, The Children of Húrin, The Silmarillion and The Hobbit. ♥ Old, beautiful versions. I wish I could just go and buy them...


The visitors. They were family, from Oulu. Two adults and four children, the eldest a girl around my age. They didn't stay long, they were just here for the third child's baseball camp. We did get to spend some time together anyway, playing Guitar Hero World Tour and discussing 'this and that', including manga. Apparently, the first child is pretty much running a club for the local younger 'fans'. Not one she started or has to collect funds for, but still. Huh. I had no idea something like that was going on in other towns.

My memory really is all fuzzy. I wonder what I forgot. Or how(/why).

I suppose I can edit this later. I can't and won't post anything until I'm done with these, so it's about time these got out.

Summer - Kajaani

Long, boring and not at all important babble about things that have been going on. Then again, I did give a fair warning earlier.

Right. Tracon. As you know or may have guessed: I didn't get to go. I did push off the final decision until the night/morning before the supposed trip, though I'm not sure wether it was "not feeling so bad" or "plain stubborness" anymore.

After that... I tidied up the house a bit after making some painfully slow progress on Lyon. Had to call it a day too soon, I couldn't keep up with all the required thinking and planning. Went back to sleep (coma, more like) and tried to recover from the flu or whatever.

After a few days of rest and slow recovery (mostly in the form of RuneScape, which by the way is awesome despite the reputation it has here in Finland, and Suikoden)... well, I'm not completely sure to be honest. Something or other happened, I remembered I was supposed to be in Kajaani visiting my grandparents, started packing and hopped on the first bus. The way there was okay; horribly hot, but since the back seats were all free and no one seemed to be going there, I got myself some shade to lie down in. I'd grabbed the Lord of the Rings trilogy (In Finnish, sadly. The translators did a fine job, I can't complain... but. I mean, just look at the damn thing.) so I'd have something to read in case I got bored, and well, that's how I spent the bus ride.

Now that I mentioned Tolkien... I'm pretty sure I spent one of the "rest and recovery" days with Kazume-chan and ended up watching the first movie (These versions aren't even my fault. ?) of the trilogy as well. That must have been the reason I decided to read the books again so suddenly.


Anyway. When I got to Kajaani, I found out there was an event of sorts going on. Once again. I always seem to drop by at times like those. This time it was "Vihreät Niityt". Not something I'd take an interest in, but it meant a whole street was closed down to make space for a large amount of stands, shops, tables and stuff of the sort. I had so much fun~ I've always liked shiny stuff (Even when I went through my "ew, girly" phase: I just pretended they were magic crystals... no, not every single time.), but I'm this interested in jewellery - especially rings - only while in my Tolkien quick-phases. Or whatever I should call them. >__>; Every language I know seems to be lacking the word.

Some of the rings were absolutely beautiful. (I didn't buy any; it's not like I could wear them anyway. Even if I didn't hate my fingers. I'm not too big on jewellry.) I have pictures, but I doubt the keeper would like me spreading quality photos of her merchandise... So I'll just spam you with the stuff I did buy.

Such as this pendant - the bead is completely transparent, except when the light hits it the right way and it just... flares up.

It's from the same stall as the best rings; I felt I had to buy something after practically living there for a while. They had a lot of these with beads of various colours (shiny stuff *w*) and different creatures wrapped around them. The most common seemed to be a more western kind of a dragon with a sea blue bead, but they had monkeys and tigers as well. And scorpions. I just liked that one.

And this strap - I wasn't sure wether I should buy it or not, but when I looked up... the salesman was the spitting image of Remus Lupin. I couldn't just leave after that.

Though my time there was fun, I couldn't just forget everything. I started to really realize what it means to be sick for a month: all the excercize before was for nothing. I'd barely just got the hang of it, and suddenly... everything was wiped clean. To be honest, I'm still not completely back on track.

I did swear to swim every day, though, and apart from a couple of really-not-my-fault days, that's what I've done. (I bike every chance I get as well.) It's not even really work, I've loved water ever since I was a child. Maybe a little too much. Still, getting to swim this often (especially with the weather being what it is) is just... amazing. I could live in the water and be happy.

... but, uh, I still can't really... swim. >__>;; (I'm kinda trying to learn but it's not as easy as you think.) The only actual style I can do is the most basic and most tiring of them all. I learned to move well underwater before I learned to 'swim' anyway, so, uh, yeah. I can float though, it's the easiest thing I've done since breathing.

So I either keep my head below the surface or stay still most of the time. XD; In any case: I love being in the water, more than I can put into words.

We spotted the sign to the stables I used to go to for camps, Kajaanin Hevosharrastekeskus, and I realized just how much I miss being around horses. A few minutes later I found myself in front of the main building arranging for a lesson. Seriously, grandparents are a bit too eager to pamper us. ;w; Not to mention my grandfather; he's unlike anyone else in his kindness. From what I've heard, it's how he's always been. I've met countless 'kind people', some amazingly so, but he seems to be in his own league.

Wait. The lesson. Yeah. The best chance was the one late in the next evening. It was introduced to me as an advanced class of show riding, meaning jumping over fences. Let's just say it had me worried; I did always like those classes, but I'd never specialized in it or encountered high fences. I had some luck for once, though. Turns out I was the only one who showed up at all and I got to go to the woods alone with the instructor. So in the end, I got to do exactly what I'd always liked the most. Naturally, none of 'my' horses were left at the stables, but they still had quite a few of those I'd at least seen in my time. I got one of them, Hallikainen.

I admit, the whole thing made me want to get back to the hobby. I'm afraid I don't have the time for that, though, and I'm not that willing to make any by cutting down on other things.