SEASIDE SLUMBER

oh boy

has it been a while

since I've shown my face over here.

despite my best New Year's intentions

not to get too swallowed up in work,

I got gulped right down...

but I'm resurfacing.

last weekend we gathered our little family

& headed over to a sleepy seaside town

on the south coast.

the air was thick

in mist, drizzle & hanging clouds

as we walked

around the area of villas

still deep in slumber.

we had a swim

at a newly-opened spa,

where the vast windows 

opening towards the endless grey sea & sky

made the swim in the soft water of the indoor pool

feel like you were part of infinity. 

dinner in a quiet, candlelit restaurant

feasting on delicious local harvests

rounded it all off.

I swear I left kilos of stress

right there on those silent beaches

ready to hitch the next wave.

good riddance I say.

ready for fresh winds.

x

all images shot in Hanko last weekend.

P.S. There seems to be an issue

with commenting right now.

I'll look into it! 

SEASIDE TOWN

We spent the days around New Year

with my husband's side of the family

in Hastings,

on the south coast of England. 

A place where as soon as you wake up,

you feel the sea. 

The old part of town has a charm of its own,

with plenty of antique & vintagey shops,

like new discovery Warp & Weft,

with its vintage & tailor-made pieces.

Words from their website

that illustrate the season at hand:

"During the coldest months, 

the natural colour palette is stripped back to monochrome. 

Therefore, texture becomes everything. 

Trees that stand black against the looming skies 

glisten silver in the low Sun. 

Bracken shines bronze alongside ochre and umber hedgerows.

I think of silhouetted crows,

scavenging in snow-covered fields;

ink drawings on Manila paper,

and powdered faces emerging from ebony frames

of seventeenth-century Dutch portraits.

The black mink hat,

and ivory silk,

reveal themselves when seen by candlelight."

Then there's the incredible A.G Hendy & Co.

The fireplaces were lit 

and the floorboards creaked,

as we wandered around the rooms

that whisk to a bygone era. 

But it's always the sea

where you begin and end,

leaving its mark on everything. 

x

SEASIDE

a walk to the beach

in a small seaside town.

it was nippy, 

but she dipped in,

while the rest of us kept an eye 

on her silhouette 

in the glistening waves. 

we walked back,

the winding streets

thick with the scent 

of lilac & honeysuckle.

x

SEA RHYTHM

“I want to learn how to speak to anyone at any time 

& make us both feel a little bit better, lighter, richer, 

with no commitments of ever meeting again. 

I want to learn how to stand wherever with whoever and still feel stable. 

I want to learn how to unlock the locks to our minds, my mind, 

so that when I hear opinions or views that don’t match up with mine, 

I can still listen and understand. 

I want to burn up lifeless habits of following maps & to-do lists, 

concentrated liquids to burn my mind & throat

& I want to go back to the way nature shaped me. 

I want to learn to go on well with whatever I have in my hands at the moment

in a natural state of mind,

certain like the sea.

I will find comfort in the rhythm of the sea.” 

― Charlotte Eriksson

SOVEREIGN SEA

We leave behind grey Nordic skies

to find ourselves on the shores 

of a diamond-tipped sea

along the south coast of England.

One moment the water is clustered in silver,

the next mellowing down to a turquoise,

as if someone had covered it with a gigantic velvet blanket.

We spend time with family

over fish&chips by the sea (as you do),

cousins re-bonding,

as they look for treasures on the beach

and have a game of cricket

in grandma's garden. 

In the evening, the air stills,

the sounds of passers-by

and shrieks of seagulls

distancing to a faint blur.

The waves take centre stage,

as they crash against barriers,

white foam encircling our feet.

I fill every atom of my soul.

(Before and after our trip,

Keane has been playing full blast. 

This one filmed on the shoreline of 

their hometown Bexhill-on-Sea,

one of the stretches 

where we filled our pockets 

with stones and clam shells.)

Taakse jää harmaa pohjoinen taivas,

edessä timanteissa välkehtivä meri

Englannin etelärannikolla. 

Ensin aallot hohtavat hopeaa

kunnes joku on levittänyt niiden päälle

 turkoosinvihreän samettipeiton. 

Vietämme aikaa sukulaisten kanssa,

syödään pakolliset paperiin käärityt

fish&chipsit meren rannalla,

kuten tapaan kuuluu. 

Serkukset etsivät aarteita rannalta

ja pelaavat mummin puutarhassa krikettiä.

Heillä on jo se sellainen selittämätön yhteys,

joka jatkuu siitä, mihin viimeksi jäi.

Illalla ilma ei värähdä,

ohikulkijoiden äänet

ja lokkien huudot vaimenevat. 

Aallot loistavat pääosassa,

ne hyökyvät yli rantavallien,

valkoinen vaahto ympäröi

 meidät ihmettelijöiden jalat.

Täytän sieluni jokaisen sopukan.

(Olen huudattanut Keanea 

ennen ja jälkeen matkan,

joiden kotikaupungissa 

Bexhill-on-Seassa

on linkkaamani video kuvattu. 

Sielläkin täytettiin taskut

kivillä ja simpukoilla.)