Mika Lappalainen | Friday, 28 February 2025
Crazy week behind. Last week I had to ask Paul to cover as some urgent reindeer things came up. I was hoping that would be end of stress and poor nights.
How wrong you can be? Saturday I drove reindeer hides to factory so they will process hides and we get them for sale next winter. I noticed that trailer's tyre was not totally full at some point. And at same time car’s engine had malfunctioning. As I had 80 km to Rovaniemi and filling possibility before that, I took the risk.
I had to drove slower as engine didn't give full power but was running otherwise normally, I knew I could be something to fix when just to shut down and restart, yet I didn't want to have risk that it won't start again.
3 Pallets in trailer and 2 in car. 50 km before Rovaniemi trailer's tyre went flat, no parking spot, some traffic and narrow road. I knew that there is bus stop close by and decided to drove there. 2 km before stop tyre gave up totally and wheel jammed, well now rim will gone also.
I dumped trailer to bus stop and drove Rovaniemi, unload car and went to watch reindeer race as our reindeer was competing. I left car to factory and decided to check that after race. When I returned and tested it, everything was running perfectly, so some hope to survive.
I went shopping and bought new tyre with rim and went to change tyre, took trailer and drove Rovaniemi, unload and back to home. I made new load in car with 2 pallets of hides.
Weather went plus degrees and some rain. Sunday I drove back to Rovaniemi to watch race and delivered hides. Weather got just warmer and more rain.
We are already with lack of snow and this is not really helpful. Our luck was that rain was so thin, more like mist, so it didn't make more damage. The whole week it has been around zero or plus one, during the nights, if lucky, minus one.
Snow is getting less and less but we still hang on. Every evening when I have gone bed it has been some sleepless hours as worrying if we still have trails in the morning. We have two weeks high season left and we just need to get thru that.
It has been insane winter with weather this year. Everything is extraordinary and there has been way too many sleepless nights in Kuusamo. Next week is still super busy and coming days I have couple open fire dinners to cook.
Paul is coming to Europe, so I think I will try to get first zoom session with him for this winter. Our days are getting longer so I have daylight almost until 6pm.
What's my medicine for sleeplessness? I think about past fishing trips or planning coming ones, happy thoughts. That's only way to survive in this point. It is midnight when writing this, long day tomorrow yet I am confident that we have trails tomorrow, so hopefully just drop to sleep.
Have a nice weekend!
Mika from Finland