Let me state the obvious: it is cold here. Walking to work at 8 AM requires bundling up in (a) snowpants, (b) scarf, (c) hat, (d) mittens, and (e) reflective vest (sun doesn’t come up for a few hours).
Getting ready to leave for work. 
Selfie outside work. Wearing glasses makes it hard to see with a scarf (or a mask!). FYI: It is 8:30 AM
The short-term bad news: the cold is going to persist. According to the news this is an “old-fashioned Finnish winter” – which means we won’t get off easy. I love this graphic from the Finnish meteorological institute, which lists the long term trends with a confidence interval + meteorologist’s prediction. A+ for data visualization!
Along with this weather are some stunning scenes of winter beauty. I have never seen the trees wearing the blanket of snow like I have here. The picture below is from the Puijo Tower.
We went to the tower on Sunday to do some snowtubing, plus also went up in the tower to see a panorama of the city. I should note the tower is enclosed, so you can enjoy a fancy hot cocoa as you look across the landscape. Fortunately the sun was starting to break so we had an expansive view. It was late afternoon (1:30 PM, so the sun was setting in a few hours) with some really interesting colors in the sky. The pictures invariably don’t do it justice, and we really are surrounded by lakes that I can wait to explore when the weather warms up.
The walk to work tomorrow promises to be even more cold. I will still bundle up, hoping that all this walking is good for my health!
