Laskiainen

Today there's a celebration called Laskiainen in Finland ("fastelaven" in Norwegian). my wife and some of her friends from university times have a tradition of family gathering on this day and we did the same also this year. First we went sledging with the kids and then barbecued sausages on an outdoor grill. I think those sausages taste better in -5 degrees Celsius and snowfall than hot summer weather. Afterwards we went inside to eat pea soup. For the dessert we had the traditional laskiaspulla. Those are buns with whipped cream, marzipan and home-made jam. We have something similar in Norway also and they are called "fastelavensbolle". Delicious.

When writing this, I wondered what the English term for Laskiainen would be and looked it up in a dictionary. Shrove Sunday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day and Mardi gras hit my face. I continued to Wikipedia and found a rather interesting article on Shrove Tuesday. Apparently the traditions around the Christian world are many and very different. This is what Wikipedia says about the Finnish traditions:

"...this day is associated with hopes for the coming year. On this day, families go sledging and eat split pea and ham soup. A toy is made from the ham bone by tying the bone to a string and spinning it around to make a whistling noise. There is a tale told that if you cut your hair on this day, it will grow fast and thick for the next year. Finns also share the tradition of the marzipan and cream filled pastry with Swedes, although often the marzipan is replaced with strawberry jam. Finnish name for it is laskiaispulla. ..."

The bone toy and that hairy tale I've never heard of myself. Here's a funny coincidence. My wife has been telling me for a few weeks that I should go and have my hair cut. For no specific reason, this morning I asked her if she could give it a go with our electrical hair shaver. She's actually a pretty good with that thing. The shorter the better result. So, I got shaved while the kids were observing with a slightly worried expression on their faces. If that tale is true, my wife will get busy with the shaver this year.

Tomorrow morning we're going to the hospital to hear the results of last week's CT scan and blood test (including the CEA value). Some excitement or nervousness is building up. I'll try and put in another post to the blog tomorrow evening.