Helsinki Diaries: Out in the Cold

When the sky is stale we take the car and drive to the lake. We stop at a drive-in on the side of the road and eat soggy chips driving past dense forests. 

The water temperature is a few degrees above zero and when we dip in, we share the lake with thin sheets of ice. We talk about diving under ice and shiver under our thin towels. The smoke from the sauna paints stripes across our backs and sticks on our tongues. Our swimsuits, relics from a summer past, look too bright and out of place. They hardly protect our skin from the chilling water that simultaneously feels like flames and snowfall. Half a year from now, these two humble beaches will be littered with sunbathers.

The next morning, I wake up with the taste of ice and smoke in my mouth.