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If you’re of Finnish extraction, you likely get the “feeling” every once-in-a-while. And it’s almost impossible to put into words.
I first had the sensation as a kid when our parents took me and my many cousins to Otter Lake, high in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I’ve never experienced this feeling in a city, by the way, and I’ve learned in talking with others, that it’s for the most part only Finns who can perceive this sensory awareness.
There seem to be four elements present every time a Finn, or anyone, experiences this intense impression: 1) fresh, clean air, 2) blue water, 3) evergreen trees or thick woods, and, 4) a cabin-like, wooden structure, often with blue smoke drifting slowly toward the sky.
Just like the cottage in the photo above, except you'll notice that the sauna-outbuilding is chimneyless in this case. This one, in Finland, is called a “savusauna,” meaning “sauna without a chimney.” (Adding some smoke into the hot steam sauna environment just toughens you more, the Finns believe.)
Authentic Finnish saunas, of course, are not the dry-heat versions we’re accustomed to here. A real sauna consists of large rocks piled over a wood fire. After the flames thoroughly heat the stones, you throw water on them, which causes hissing steam to fill the enclosure. The object is to perspire so intensely that your body is completely cleansed.
Saunas are usually built near a lake, so that you can dive naked into the cold water immediately after heating yourself to a beet-red state. In winter, you just dive into the snow, rather than the lake. It’s as an invigorating experience as there is on earth.
When I first saw this photo, I was immediately overcome by this indescribable sensation. It felt exactly like 60 years ago when we’d drive down the hill and first catch a glimpse of Munninen’s cabin on the shores of Otter Lake. Of course, fishing becomes the fifth element for male Finns and for many of the females as well.
This phenomenon probably somewhat explains why we live where we do today. The five elements are present. In fact, if you pay attention to where Finnish people have settled throughout this country, you’ll find it’ll almost always be in a place where at least four of the five elements are present: Fort Bragg, CA, Astoria, OR, Puget Sound in WA, Duluth, MN, Houghton/Hancock, MI, etc., etc.
I first had the sensation as a kid when our parents took me and my many cousins to Otter Lake, high in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I’ve never experienced this feeling in a city, by the way, and I’ve learned in talking with others, that it’s for the most part only Finns who can perceive this sensory awareness.
There seem to be four elements present every time a Finn, or anyone, experiences this intense impression: 1) fresh, clean air, 2) blue water, 3) evergreen trees or thick woods, and, 4) a cabin-like, wooden structure, often with blue smoke drifting slowly toward the sky.
Just like the cottage in the photo above, except you'll notice that the sauna-outbuilding is chimneyless in this case. This one, in Finland, is called a “savusauna,” meaning “sauna without a chimney.” (Adding some smoke into the hot steam sauna environment just toughens you more, the Finns believe.)
Authentic Finnish saunas, of course, are not the dry-heat versions we’re accustomed to here. A real sauna consists of large rocks piled over a wood fire. After the flames thoroughly heat the stones, you throw water on them, which causes hissing steam to fill the enclosure. The object is to perspire so intensely that your body is completely cleansed.
Saunas are usually built near a lake, so that you can dive naked into the cold water immediately after heating yourself to a beet-red state. In winter, you just dive into the snow, rather than the lake. It’s as an invigorating experience as there is on earth.
When I first saw this photo, I was immediately overcome by this indescribable sensation. It felt exactly like 60 years ago when we’d drive down the hill and first catch a glimpse of Munninen’s cabin on the shores of Otter Lake. Of course, fishing becomes the fifth element for male Finns and for many of the females as well.
This phenomenon probably somewhat explains why we live where we do today. The five elements are present. In fact, if you pay attention to where Finnish people have settled throughout this country, you’ll find it’ll almost always be in a place where at least four of the five elements are present: Fort Bragg, CA, Astoria, OR, Puget Sound in WA, Duluth, MN, Houghton/Hancock, MI, etc., etc.
The feeling I’m talking about has almost a pharmaceutical-like effect of well-being. And I suppose it can be addicting. So take a look at the picture above. If your endorphins kick-in appreciably, you may have Finnish blood in you.
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