Still snowing. Endless, large flakes, drifting past the window, settling on the roof tops. Serene. Unlike the previous evening. I’d gone for a quiet bite to eat in a small cafe, a short walk from where I was staying. Decent food, convivial atmosphere, rather liked the place. I was about to leave when a Turkish chap decided to join me. Uninvited.
At first I thought it was just a term of endearment for his wife. ’She crazy woman’ he kept telling me with great enthusiasm. Possibly. After a while it became apparent he knew quite a few ’crazy people’. But I didn’t think any of this was cabin fever brought on by the current snowfall. Not when you’d been living in Finland so long you’d taken up citizenship. Thought I was taking it badly.
After breakfast I dug out an old copy of The Times. Managed to crack the quick crossword in a couple of hours. Feeling pleased with myself, decided it was time to venture out. Left my fellow Brit, a Geordie who’d spent much of his adult life in Australia, whittling away the hours watching the BBC on satellite.
Passed a couple of snow ploughs. Watched workmen throw salt and grit from a lorry onto the road, only for local shop keepers to come and sweep it up, spreading it instead outside their own premises. Popped briefly into the cinema to see if they’d changed any of the offerings since my last visit the previous day. No. Smiled weakly at the woman in the ticket office, somehow hoping that this might materialise something to watch. Think she recognised me. I returned to the cold outside. Still snowing.
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