Thursday, May 21, 2009

Lightning shortens the day


Today was the first full day in Finland for Estalita and the kids. We had planned to go shopping to pick up some groceries and things for the apartment, but a Finnish holiday changed our plans for the day. All of the businesses in town were closed up for the holiday, so we have postponed our shopping until tomorrow. All in all, it was a fairly quiet day in Seinajoki. Kodie and Kaylin woke up around 7:30 am, so I took them to the city playground while letting Estalita and Kamryn get some extra rest. Later in the day, I gave them a mini tour of the city and showed them around the practice field, dome, etc... We all left for practice around 5:30 and the weather looked fairly ominous. We have had about 10 days of straight sunshine until some clouds appeared yesterday and then continued into today. About 10 minutes into our warmup, it started to rain. It intensified as time went by and before long we were practicing in a downpour. This lasted for another 20 minutes and then the lightning started. I decided to call the practice off after the second burst of lightning. I always figure that it is best in these situations to lean towards the side of caution. The whole family got soaked to the bone on their first day here, but at least it wasn't snowing!!
We have a bye weekend coming up, so we might get out of town for a few days. One option that we are looking at is to head up to the Lake District of Finland. We are interested in visiting a town called Kuopio that we have read a lot about. It is written up in the guidebooks as a "must see" kind of town. It is surrounded by water and is known for having a great city market and plenty of outdoor recreational opportunities.


The Crocs running through some special teams.


Some dynamic warm-ups for D. Hess


One of the fresh air markets I visited along the waterfront in Helsinki


Shot of the pipe organ inside the Helsinki cathedral


The Helsinki Cathedral (A very spectacular structure)


Approaching the Cathedral


Looking out to one of the many islands in the Baltic Sea from the edge of the city

Lights out.

4 comments:

Dusty 6'6'' 250 said...

i remember a lightning strike at TBC practice one day where you about how to change your undies...haha remember that? that thing was close!

Mikey said...

haha that was a GREAT day! Gass was hittin the dirt when that thing went off...

Eric Slivoskey said...

Yes, I will never forget that day. The key strategy is just to stay lower than Foster!

Mikey said...

haha good call