MISSING: THE SUN
OPENING SCENE: Riitta sits in the store, reading the newspaper, glasses low on her nose.
RIITTA: “Every year this weather tests us. The rain and mud now, the slush later —I’ll never get used to it.”
TARA: “It’s the time of year we all question our life choices of living here...”
RIITTA: “It says here the sun rose at 8:23 and will set at 3:47. Statistically, Helsinki gets only fifteen to twenty hours of sunshine in the ENTIRE MONTH of November.”
TARA: “We don’t call it the month of death for nothing.”
RIITTA: “And it says Helsinki hasn’t seen direct sunlight in twelve days. Twelve!”
TARA: “I swear my rescue dog has been googling flights back to the sun. He traded a cage in a shelter for Helsinki in November — I’m not sure he sees the upgrade.”
RIITTA: “Tourists should be warned. November in Finland looks like an old black-and-white film with an added bonus of sideways sleet.”
TARA: “Accurate. But this is where the famous Finnish SISU kicks in. Perseverance and refusing to give up — and I’m refusing to give up wearing my HELSINKIs, no matter what the weather.”
NOTE: SISU is the Finnish word for quiet inner strength — the mix of grit, endurance, and courage that keeps you going when comfort, reason, and daylight have all run out.
THE SOLUTION FOR COMFORT IN THE MUD
RIITTA: “HELSINKI boots are the only boots I wear from October to April. The new OSLO Galosh saves us. I just rinse mine in the sink after every walk.”
TARA: “Same. I rinse the dog’s paws, I rinse the galoshes. If only I could rinse my brain from this kaamos depression.”
NOTE: Kaamos depression is the seasonal slump that hits when weeks of dim light and endless gray drain your energy, mood, and motivation — basically, when even getting out of bed feels like an Olympic sport.
RIITTA: “The stoic ones will go for the Black galosh.”
TARA: “The optimistic ones pick the Moss.”
RIITTA: “And the ones desperate for color go for the Orange.”
TARA: “That’s me. I need a reminder the sun still exists. I wonder if Kalle would make tiny paw-sized galoshes for my dog.”
RIITTA: “I’ll talk to him.”
(She’s Kalle’s mum, so technically the boss of the boss, so there might be a chance!)
