Check out the "Amusing Incidents" near the end of the page!

        When a Finlander acquired a piece of land for his homestead, the first building to go up was the sauna or "steambath". Going to the Sauna after a hard day's work was a ritual where the entire family enjoyed the swirling steam from the wood fired "kiuas" as a dipper full of water was tossed onto the heated stones.

Our Sauna at Simola Lake

"Switches" made of  small birch branches with the leaves attached and soaked in boiling water were used to gently beat one's body all over to promote the circulation of blood beneath the skin. Once this ritual was done, then one would wash their partner's back and themselves, then rinse off the soapy lather with cool water or just walk outside naked and jump into the lake for a little swim. Quite often one would return to the sauna and go through the same thing a second time and back into the lake. ( Check for amusing incident regarding sauna at end of this page. Red Faced in the Sauna)

        While the house was being built, the family would sleep in the dressing room of the sauna and meals would be prepared on an open fire outside. When the house was completed, a barn, a chicken coop and a pig pen would be built in that order. After that the clearing of the land began in earnest so that a garden could be started to grow the necessary vegetables, potatoes, etc

        A root cellar was dug out on the sloping hill  down towards the lake. Inside were the bins for potatoes and other vegetables.  In between the inside door and the outer door was a trap door on the floor that opened into a small space where ice cold spring water was flowing. This was where my mother would keep her milk, cream and freshly churned butter

This is the only photo of our home on Stuart Lake that I could locate. Connie, Niilo's wife and my sister Leah are standing by Niilo's 1953 Buick.

        A wood fired cook stove was the source of heat in our home. It had an integral tank for heating water at one end. There was the "wood box" that had to be filled every day and that chore usually fell to us kids. We would carry in wood from the woodpiles outside and also split some cedar for kindling in case it was needed to start the fire.

        Kerosene or coal oil  lamps provided light in the evenings to read by. Lanterns were used to light the way if one had to go to the "outhouse" or to check on the animals or chickens. Kerosene only cost 25 cents a gallon back then.

        Any shopping that had to be done was a mile and one half walk to the village of McKellar. There was a Post Office, a garage, a General store, Orange Hall, the Agricultural Hall, a public school and a sawmill  located in the village. The General Store had just about anything a person would be looking for. A packsack carried on the back was used to bring back whatever items were bought.

        For the first few years we did not even have a radio, and when we got one (battery operated, with one "A" battery and two "B" batteries), it was used to listen to the news only at 12 noon and the 6 p.m. news with Jim Hunter.  Finnish programming  from a station in Minnesota was the highlight of the day when we were able to hear it. This was back in 1942, there was no TV, no tape recorders, no Hi Fi's but we did have a windup Gramophone that played 78 rpm records. It had to be wound up for each record ! Entertainment as we know it today did not exist back then!

        Cross country skiing on  moonlit nights to visit family friends are precious memories from a bygone era. The exhilaration of gliding along effortlessly on the cold crispy snow, with the sounds of the ski poles crunching in the snow as we propelled ourselves forward is something one will never forget.

         Skiing down the slope from the house to the lake was a favorite winter pass time  for all of us. I recall one day as we had come home from school and had a hot cup of chocolate to warm us up, mother said that she had made a special downhill trail for us to try out. We were eager to see what this could be like. Mother showed us the new trail and said give it a try.  Well, I headed down giving myself and extra push or two to get more speed on my run. When I got about half way down, my legs started pumping up and down alternately from one another so violently that I nearly fell as I sped down. What a ride that was ! As I turned back on the lake to come back up my mother was laughing her head off at the sight she had witnessed as I make the trip down.

        My mother had made the trail by skiing up from the lake, first by bouncing on her right ski until she had made the deepest depression she could in the snow, then she would move uphill several yards and do the same thing with her left ski. This she did about half way up the hill. As you can see the resulting depressions on the ski trail would make you look as if you were peddling a bike as you went down. It was fun!

 Vipukelkka or Whip-Sled

        Another winter activity that was enjoyed by all the kids was being whirled around on the ice in a big circle at a high rate of speed. This worked best when there was no snow on the ice. The contraption to accomplish this  was made by chopping a hole in the ice, just large enough to receive the end of a log about 6 feet long by 6 to 8  inches or so in diameter. This log would then be pushed down until there was about 3 feet of it protruding from the ice surface. It was held in place vertically and left overnight so it would freeze into that position.

        The next day, a tall small diameter tree would have all its branches removed, a hole drilled at the butt end. The butt end would then be raised on top of the vertical post frozen in the ice and a large spike or rod would then be driven into the post to hold the small de-limbed tree or pole. The other end of the pole would be lashed to a small sled with steel runners on it.

        Visualize someone pushing on the pole near the vertical section and you can see that with very little movement the sled at the end of the pole would move very fast in a circle. The kids would take turns sitting on the sled while someone would give them a push to get started and the person or persons that are near the butt end of the pole would push on the pole with all their might causing the sled to go ever faster! Many kids could not hold on as the speed increased and would fall off the sled and go sliding along the ice much to the merriment of the others. Oh, what I would give to go back to the simplicity of  life back then.

        The making maple syrup back in the bush, spending the nights there so the fires under the evaporators could be replenished with wood to keep the sap boiling are some of my best childhood memories. I remember tapping trees, emptying the sap buckets, quenching our thirst with the clear cold sap, carrying the sap to the reservoir beside the evaporator and best of all tasting the syrup as it was nearing completion. Opening up the lunch bag to see what mother had made for our lunch was always exciting. There would be roast pork or roast beef sandwiches on home made bread, buttered coffee bread, cookies and hot chocolate, all which tasted just great out of doors.

Amusing Incidents

        My brother, Niilo, VE3NSB reminded me of the following things that had slipped my mind....

The Pig in the Sauna

        The sauna was heated up ready for the use of anyone that wanted to have a "sauna" or "steam bath". Niilo recalls our older brother, Tauno,  for reasons only known to himself, decided to take the pig into the sauna and give it a bath. Well, it turned out to be more than he bargained for, as the pig decided he would have not of that nonsense. The pig in its own defense would break loose and run circles around Tauno in the sauna. Whenever Tauno managed to catch pig long enough to scrub some part of it, the pig would squeal like bloody murder. If you have not heard a pig squealing, you haven't heard anything. It is a continuous noise that seems to get louder and louder with every minute.

        Eventually, the pig is clean and Tauno is carrying it back up the hill to its pen. It is the most disturbing noise one would want to hear has the pig keeps it up for  the entire trip back to the pen.

Finally, as he releases the pig into its pen, it quits squealing, heads to the muddiest spot in the pen and promptly lies down in it rolling over and over until it is completely covered in black mud, looks directly at Tauno as if to say " Want to try it again?

         Still wondering what Tauno was thinking after that exercise in futility.

Piggy Back Ride!

        Not sure if this was the same pig or not, but Niilo decided to see what it would be like to ride a pig. He climbs into the pen and manages to straddle the pig and then tries to get a good grip on it. Suddenly the pig makes a beeline for the opening of its little home in the corner of the pen. It is fast as the proverbial "greased lightening" and as Niilo said later, " There wasn't enough room for the two of us to go through, so I got schmucked against the wall and landed flat on my back in the pig manure"  As if that wasn't bad enough, the pig comes flying out of the enclosure, runs over Niilo trampling him even deeper into the manure!

        After Niilo got out of the pig pen and down to the lake to wash all the crap off himself, he was heard to mutter," That's the fastest damn pig I have ever seen" Niilo has never tried riding a pig since, it is just too darn dangerous and messy to boot!

Mother Knows Best when it comes to Pigs!

        Niilo relates this story as well about the day the pigs managed to get out of their pen and were roaming all around the yard.

        Apparently  my father, Tauno and Niilo were going to get the pigs back in their pen, however, trying to corner and corral them was a different story as the pigs enjoyed their freedom to roam. The three of them would try different approaches to grab one of the pigs, but they were so fast and slippery, that it was a losing battle. This episode lasted a couple of hours and all three of them were starting to tire in their efforts to catch the porkers. They had been all over the yard from one end to the other and hopes of catching them were fading rapidly.

        Not sure if mother had been watching their antics from the kitchen  window or not. I am sure she had been.  She was probably laughing and enjoying the show all the while. She comes out of the house and heads for the pig pen. My father, Tauno and Niilo watch in disbelief as the pigs line up behind her as she walks to the gate of the pen and through it with the pigs following her like the Pied Piper or something! She comes out of the pen, locks the gate and the wayward pigs are back where they belong!

        Mother had prepared their feed in a pail and talked to them using her " It's feeding time" sounds to which they had always responded when she fed them. The 3 pig wranglers were a bit subdued and embarrassed that they had not been able to corral the pigs! It looks like Mother knows Best!

Jet Powered Boats

        Living by the water had many advantages and allowed us to experiment with all kinds of things. We would build little sailboats what were nothing more than a piece of wood with a piece of birch bark for the sail and watch as the wind would take them away.

        We would also build boats that were powered by elastic bands. A little propeller could be made out of tin from a tin can or carved out of a piece of wood. Some hay wire would be formed to create a bearing surface, with some beads or similar things (buttons) used as a thrust bearing. A piece of wire fastened to the prop would be threaded through the beads, then the wire bearing surface. A loop on the end of the wire would be used to secure the rubber band ( sometimes cut from a inner tube of a bicycle tire) and then fastened with  a large thumb tack to the front of the boat. Wind up the prop in the correct direction, place the boat in the water and away it would go........

        As our eager minds worked overtime for better means of propulsion, a Batman Comic book provided the answer for jet powered boats. In that particular book, Batman needed an explosive  to get the bad guys or something and the formula for making black powder was revealed there!

        The ingredients were all available at home. Charcoal from the wood heater in  the Sauna, saltpeter used in curing meat (jar in a cupboard) and sulfur from father's medicine cabinet. The proper amounts of each were mixed in a wooden cheese box (remember them?) To make the boat, all we needed was a piece of board, pointed at one end and a piece of brass or copper tubing crimped at one end. The tubing was fastened under the boat with the crimped end at the bow.  The tubing was filled with black powder, the boat held just above the water and the powder ignited with a match or lighter, then dropped into the water. Depending on the mixture of the powder the boat would travel either slow or fast depending on the rate of burn.  Neat ! But wait there is more to this story !

        Clare A. one of our friends from  McKellar was intrigued by our stories of jet propelled boats, etc so he asked his mother if he could come to our place to play. Well, Clare came out and really enjoyed playing with our boats, filling the tube with powder and getting quite good at launching them.

          Here is the shack by the water. It was used as a pen for Geese that we had at one time. That is Niilo above and myself (Ted) below. Note that mother even put curtains on the window ! 

       Everything was going well until a spark fell into the powder in the cheese box, This caused a great commotion as the black powder exploded right in our midst, the smell of burning sulfur was everywhere, some eyebrows were singed as well as some of our clothing. Everyone rushed out of the shack ( actually a pen for geese that we had at times) to get a bit of fresh air. It was a comical sight with all of us covered in soot and smelling of sulfur. Clare figured he should go home after this experience.

        By the way, Clare was never allowed to come out and play with us again !!! Too bad, as we continued playing jet boats.

Red Faced in the Sauna! (This one I have never forgotten!)

        As one brought up in the Finnish tradition, this story would not even be told, but since it involved Doug, one of my friends (not Finnish) when he was 15 years of age or so, and at that age of being a "macho" type of guy it is worth telling.

        The two of us were visiting a friend at his cottage and as was the Finnish custom, the sauna was fired up , and we were invited to have a sauna later that afternoon. Into the dressing room we went, stripped completely naked and entered the hot sauna, climbing up to the top bench. I explained the ritual of throwing water on the hot stones, to create steam, then as one started to sweat using the birch switches with leaves attached to beat one's body gently to promote the circulation of blood in the system, etc. Then I mentioned that to cool off we would go outside and jump into the lake for a swim, come back in and do it all over again.

        Well, things went along fine and Doug enjoyed his first sauna and skinny dipping into the lake as well, but then while we are in the sauna just talking and relaxing, we hear voices from the dressing room and suddenly the door to the sauna opens and in step two shapely young ladies stark naked, both say a cheery "Hi" and the oldest one (20 years of age) asks Doug to move over so they can sit on the top bench as well!

        I glance over at Doug and he is looking very embarrassed, his face turning redder by the minute, trying to cover his privates as he slides towards me on the bench. The girls clamber up on the bench start chatting among themselves as if we were not even there!  One of the girls takes the dipper and throws some water on the hot stones sending a cloud of billowing steam that envelopes us all.

        Next thing I note is that Doug is experiencing a bit more heat than he can handle as the girl continues to throw more water on the stones. The temperature is rising and it is hot for sure as Doug manages to say " It's too hot for me" and scrambles down from the bench out the door to the dressing room still trying to cover his privates. One of the girls says to me " I hope we did not spoil the sauna for you by getting it too hot in here" I assure her that nothing is spoiled, but it was Doug's first sauna and perhaps he found it a bit too hot, no problem as we were finished anyway.

        I then left the sauna and went out and plunged into the lake where Doug appeared to have regained some of his composure. As we were coming out of water, Doug goes beet red again trying to cover himself as the girls come running out of the sauna with boobs a bobbing and dive into the lake to cool off as well. By the time the girls come back in and head back into the sauna, we are dried off, dressed and ready to partake of coffee, coffee bread and cookies etc up at the cottage.

        Doug would speak of his sauna experience many times over the years and talked about the casual attitude of the naked girls in the sauna, especially with him as a complete stranger in that situation. I would tell him that is just way Scandinavians are...  wholesome and unabashed, he never got over it.

        Doug perished in an automobile accident in his twenties, but I have never forgotten him in the sauna.