moomin mug inspired: spring winter

 
Hi. It's me. Yet another month later. And because it is a month later, it certainly is proper spring and not spring winter now. 'Spring winter' isn't even a real term in English but it is in Finnish and it's the name of this Moomin mug. Spring winter, quite obviously, can be either late winter or early spring which basically looks like these pictures; there's still lots of snow but it's also really sunny and it's getting warmer. And I suppose it makes sense there's no word for such an in-between season when this is definitely not what spring looks like in most places.

"Now followed the mysterious month of bright sunny days, of melting icicles, and winds, and rushing skies - and of sharply freezing nights with a snow-crust and a dazzling moon."

In March while up north, I did my favourite thing of walking on the river. And although in Moominland Midwinter, where these quotes are from, it is mostly about Moomintroll's experiences, I am here as Snufkin. As spring arrives, so does Snufkin.

I love Snufkin. Whenever I do one of those 'Which Moomin character are you?' quizzes, I mostly get Snufkin. And I wish I was even more like him in real life. He is independent, travels whenever and wherever he wants to, prefers experiences and memories over material things, a bit rebellious, lives in his tent and basically carries everything he owns on his back. The only thing I'd change is that my signature look would never be all-green everything - although it suits him!

Despite green not being my favourite, I did manage to pull of a pretty Snufkinesque look. My green army jacket is a bit tatty and at the time even smelt of smoke since I had been spending time eating by campfires. And I put some flowers on my grandpa's old hat (it's too big on me but it's cute; how does one shrink a hat?)! I was also on the hunt for a liquorice pipe but couldn't find one anywhere. My rucksack isn't green, but I think it works as a pink element that the mug has. I did actually try and wait for the sun to set and the sky to truly get pink, but it was impossible to get a good angle on the sun, the pink sky, the river and me. I look real happy in these photos, but I may have lost my temper while having to come to terms with the fact that the sun literally doesn't revolve around me again. Regardless, I really like these! And it was a fun time chasing the sun all across the river (for the most part).

"Now came spring, but not at all as he had imagined its coming. He had thought that it would deliver him from a strange and hostile world, but now it was simply a continuation of his new experiences, of something he had already conquered and made his own."

  "He hoped for a long spring, so that he could have his happy, expectant feeling as long as possible."

Although, I have been enjoying the long spring, I am happy that spring winter is over and there is no more snow. Snufkin has arrived and soon it'll be summer. Hope you've all been having a wonderful spring, too!