From the Finnish Archipelago

As mentioned elsewhere, the archipelago that  extends from the southwestern coast of Finland out into the Baltic Sea is where my mother's family has a summer house.  In fact the house sits on a small island practically on its own (there is now a second house, though  that, too, is owned by people related to the family).  In my childhood we were able to spend whole summers there twice; and then in high school we spent a full year in Finland--two summers out on the island and the school year  in between on the mainland.  It has instilled in me an unabashed love for the area and an appeciation for the elements that make it up, which are reaffirmed every trip we have made since.