Nuolikuru - The Sound of Silence

Nuolikuru, Lapland

The general powerlessness,

which had been the theme

for my autumn days,

was again giving me "good" advices

to just stay home and not see anybody.

Or was it our government's voice?

Sometimes I'm not sure anymore.

Luckily for me I had promised

to go for a day adventure to

Nuolikuru canyon (Arrow Canyon)

with my dear French Friend.

We start to drive when it was still dark

and arrived to the canyon

just when the darkness

start to give away for the daylight.

The air was cold

and I felt little bit chilly.

The autumn weather had staid mild

and there had not been proper frozen days yet.

But the snow had finally come back

after a month of absence.

Hopefully for good this time.

Everything looked so much more

brighter and lighter with the snow.

We both could feel our minds and

bodies growing more lighter and relaxed

the minute we entered to the forest.

The pure joy of the fresh snow took us over.

We climbed on the rocks,

slide down the hill sides on our butts

and tried to hit each other with snowballs.

We climbed on the steep hill

called Nuolikirkko (Arrow Church),

which had marked to a map

as an old sacrifice place

or worship place.

The view on top of the hill was amazing.

I could easily see why people had

climbed here to be with their gods.

The old mythical energy was still there.

We could sense it on the air

and in the old stones.

We left some offerings

on the flat wide rock for the forest spirits

and thanked the forest gods for the experience.

I remembered again how I felt

five years ago,

when I first time came to stay in the North.

It surprised me then

how easily I could feel myself home.

For the first time in my life,

I could feel the heart strong feeling

of belonging to somewhere.

The feeling,

that I had finally,

after many years of searching

and wondering in the darkness

without any clue where to go,

found a place for me.

It was all along here,

where I can stand on the hill

and see the endless wilderness

spreading to every direction.

Where I can feel the open sky above me,

the old forest spirits around me.

Where I can breath easily,

feel the presence of nature

and the absence of other human beings.

Here,

where I can hear the sound of silence.

I smile

and take a deep breath of fresh cold air.

This is the feeling of most close to a freedom,

that I have ever known.