A tame moose.

I must have not been very old when this happened. My dad took the whole family with him one winter day, when he went hunting foxes (or rabbits, I don't remember very well). Me and my brother were sitting in a sled, which our mom was pulling after her.

All of a sudden we heard some loud noises from the woods and then. A big tame moose walked out from the bush. Me and my brother got very scared, a moose is a big animal, and we screamed our mom to run back home. She managed to take one photo though, which I'll post from my phone after finishing this. Our dad walked that 2 kms home talking with the moose, for him, it was clear quite fast that it had ran away from a game research center close by, it was hungry and learned that people meant they give you food. Mom was doing her best to run back home and we were all in the window looking at our dad when he came to our yard "talking" with the moose. The moose settled down there, looking for something to eat. Dad went to call to the research center that hey, one of your mooses is here, can you come and get it back there.

They came with a van. They tried to get the moose to enter it. It refused. It was shot. My kiddo brain was thinking that why they couldn't walk it back to its home just like dad had walked it to our yard. The distance would have been about the same. And I was also thinking that why they even thought of getting it at the back of that van.

Later. I was sitting at the back of a long sled, in the front of the sled there were the meat of that moose. There was only a small piece of plastic separating me and the smelly meat. We took the meat back to the place where the moose appeared, I'm not sure was it meant for attracking foxes or other meat eaters or what was the reason.

This may sound cruel and yes, I'm still thinking that why not walking with it the rest of the trip, but it also tought yet another lesson, that life always ends up in death. You also may think that isn't that a bit too hard lesson for young kids, but no, I never thought it that way. Even tough as a child you questioned some of the adults' decisions here, but you were still there. You saw it all. And it gave you a lesson.

Who I am and where are my roots?

I was born in 1976 when my parents were still studying. Next year we moved to a foresty college in Southern Finland and the year after that I got my little brother. So. Basically we grew up in a forest. The college campus area was surrounded by 3 lakes so at very early age we learned to swim. Since then, all the forest and lake activities both in winter and summer were open for us. Of course at younger age only with the parent(s), but the older we got, the more freedom we got.

In winter there were forestry students. I have no memory how much there would have been. Summertime was basically for us. The teacher and other workers and their kids. At that time it was rather quiet, these days it's a very busy recreational area with lots of trekkers, nature lovers, fishers and people seeking for relaxation from busy city life.

We learned to skate, ski, fish, hunt, to recognize plants, trees, fish, animals, birds, insects etc. The nature provided a neverending entertainment. And 4 seasons gave a nice twist to that all. Also the primary school where we went, was a small one and I am grateful for that to give a good start on the long path of education even though for me it wasn't always a blessing later on in bigger schools.

So, this is just a short introduction to the topic of this blog. I'm going to write stories, short or long of my time growing up in the safety of the trees. Also, if you have anything to ask or you would like to hear about something specific, don't hesitate to ask. I have a few photos saved from our childhood, so some of the stories and memories are based on those and I will share the photos here too.

PS. By the way, my name means foxfire in English, a fire that burns above a treasure on a wetland, a fairytale kind of mystic creature. And my middle name means ray, ray of light, ray of sun. (Though here, where I live now, due to the lack of some Finnish letters in the alphabet, it translates to rain.) So maybe you can now guess with these hints what they both are. I have always liked both of my names, they are just me.