Nature under the Midnight Sun: A Travel Journal
by Inga Hinnerichsen (Note: All photos by the author unless otherwise indicated) Finland: The land of the Midnight Sun, thirty thousand lakes and five thousand islands. The land where people are born with cross-country skis on their feet. This is where I grew up. Last summer I travelled back for an overdue visit. First a few geographic, geological and historical facts. From top to bottom Finland is approximately 1100 km long. It's hugged by two arms of the Baltic Sea in the south and west. It borders with Sweden and Norway in the north and with Russia to the east. Compared to Canada, the southern edge is at the same latitude as White Horse and it stretches north to about Tuktoyaktuk. A thick glacier covered the entire country during the last ice age. The receding ice scoured away top soil…continue reading