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.
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