We had come to Finland to visit our son, wife, granddaughter and family. Esse is a village near Jakobstad, which is about 300 miles north of the capital Helsinki opposite Sweden, across from Umea. First impressions were of vast areas of forest with cleared areas of farmland. I was to learn about the 188 thousand lakes and the interesting weather, it can be -30c. in winter and +30c in summer. What I was totally unprepared for, were the mosquitos by the million, when we went to the lakeside for a picnic, summers are spent outside as much as possible, I should have guessed with so much water. The picnic area was fully prepared with seating, a log pile and kindling. We completed the evening fishing in the lake with a makeshift rod to catch the cats
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