Today is Finland’s Independence Day! It’s been over 100 years, and let’s hope it stays that way. There are many good things here, and I’m lucky to have been born in this country. Some things aren’t functional, but there are more positive than negative things. One is that you can see wild animals in nature and cities. Besides birds, you can see hedgehogs, foxes and white-tale deer. I’ve seen all of them and a fox several times. Once, a fox walked past me on the street.
I first saw a moose when I was a small child. I was probably 3 or 4 years old. We had a summer place then, and I was in a tub with water in the yard. Suddenly, I started screaming, and my parents wondered what was going on. A little further away, a moose with a big horn walked past. For a kid, it’s a scary thing. The moose was only walking by, so there was no danger. When the forest is near, you can see such things. Dad was filming the whole thing on Cine film at the time without sound, which is why I remember it and what my parents told me. I haven’t seen a moose after that. There aren’t many of them around where I live. There are more white-tail deer around, and I’ve seen many of them.
On Independence Day, I will light two candles, and that’s as far as my celebrations go. I don’t care about some ball from the president’s castle shown on TV yearly. It’s too dull for my taste. I prefer doing something else. It’s all about what the invited guests are wearing. They could dress in a plastic bag, but I still wouldn’t care. I can appreciate Finland’s independence in some other way. I’m not less of Finn if I don’t watch some ball. After all, it’s a free country, and we’re allowed to celebrate our way. That’s what independence means to me.
I won’t use unnecessary perspire to write this post. I let the AI Assistant block write something.
A rhyming poem by AI Assistant about Christmas
In the warmth of the hearth, as we gather near, Laughter and love fill the air with good cheer. Outside, the chill bites, but inside we aspire, To cherish each moment and never perspire.
With cocoa and cookies, the night feels just right,
As we share in the joy of this magical night.
The spirit of Christmas, a spark we admire,
Kindles our hearts with a warm, bright fire.
I won’t collapse, even though yesterday’s post didn’t get likes immediately. There can be many reasons, which doesn’t necessarily mean it was terrible. I’m good at keeping it together. There are worse things in the world than no one liking something. Despite being active on social media, I don’t get many likes and even less comments. But I post anyway. Sometimes, people find old posts that were posted ages ago. You never know what happens when you’re on the internet. One thing that I’m good at is keeping things together, and I don’t collapse when things get tough. Life’s disappointments make you stronger, and you can take the heat a little better.
The other four things I’m good at are as follows. Two of them are thanks to my late parents.
Cooking and baking
I used to help my mother in the kitchen. That way, I learned how to cook and bake. It had been a big help. My dad didn’t cook, so I cooked for the both of us after my mother died. Sometimes, I try new recipes, and sometimes I succeed, but sometimes I do not. For example, I once tried to make chocolate cheesecake, but it became all gooey and too sweet. I followed the recipe to the letter, but still, it failed. I have more success in cooking a meal. If I like the food I tried for the first time, I cook them again. Now, when I’m alone, I’m a little lazy to cook, so I either order takeout or buy microwave food. But a home-cooked meal is always better, so I still do that. It’s less expensive to cook your own food. I should learn to make smaller amounts of food, though, now that I only cook for myself.
Driving a car
Everybody probably says they’re a good driver, but I can genuinely say that. I follow the rules and consider other people. I only got my driver’s licence three years ago, but I’ve improved since then. I gained more confidence driving because Dad was with me. You get better the more you drive. The longest trip I’ve driven was to Helsinki last week. I even drove in total darkness on the back home. I couldn’t have done it a few years ago. But because of my dad, I’m more confident behind the wheel.
Writing stories
The first time I wrote stories was in elementary school as school assignments, and I got good grades. As a teenager, I started to write in English, and it hasn’t stopped. I have a vivid imagination. Today, I write fan fiction, primarily real-person fiction. It is good practice to learn writing in English, and I have learned a lot of new words. In Finland, we start to learn English in 3rd or 4th grade. That’s how it was in the 1980s, at least. Writing is a lot of fun, and that’s why it’s my favourite thing of all the things I’m good at.
Using a computer
I might know how to fix a computer, but I’m good at using one. The first computer I used was a Macintosh. I was in 7th grade when we got a computer in the classroom. Computers weren’t common then, and you had to know codes. There were no icons to click on, so it wasn’t easy to use one. I used Windows the most because that’s what our school had. It was only the Macintosh that had icons. The first time I used the Internet was in 1997 when I was in business school. As they say, the rest is history. Kids today have no idea how it was then. It’s good that computers have gotten better over the decades. It is more fun to use computers and the Internet these days. But that’s good because things were so slow before broadband and computer icons. That modem sound still haunts in my head. If you lived in the 1990s, you know what I mean.
I wish I could improve on some other things, but that’s another list.
In my world 