Sleep more need. Words. Not enough. Sleep now.

Final night at Saari and sunset over the Baltic Sea, 11:15 p.m.

Today I realized that I haven't posted anything since Tuesday. I'm at a loss to explain why this happened, but my best explanation is that I am going to bed much later than normal because of the increased daylight, and once I realize how late it is, I haven't had the energy to write anything. Since tonight is our last night here at Saari and I have to pack for tomorrow, I probably will not write anything substantial tonight. The problem is that returning to Helsinki until Tuesday means no internet. Sigh. And right now, I don't have access to important parts of my brain that store words or can spell Finnish names. Sigh again.

To fill in the gaps of Wednesday through Friday, I will refer you to Geof. I will, however, definitely finish writing my own account of this week's events.

Here's a brief run down, details to be filled in later:

Wednesday through Friday, we heard presentations from most of the workshop's participants, but we also heard from several guests including Tony Trehy, whom we met in Manchester, UK, this spring for the Text Festival. It was a pleasure to see him again, and I enjoyed meeting the other guests as well.

Yesterday, the whole "core" group made and had dinner together, enjoying our last real night together with Christian leaving today for his home in Calgary. We enjoyed several bottles of wine and other beverages, some good conversation about poetry, families, teaching, significant others, and other random but interesting topics.

In between, we splintered off into smaller groups to go to sauna, with the majority of the group always remaining to continue the conversation and the drinking of the wine. Once Christian and Geof returned, Henriikka and I left for sauna only to find a pre-wedding ritual in full swing. Now, we had heard about this but didn't think it would still be going strong. What we found was the sauna packed with those celebrating the groom's impending marriage today. Keeping in mind the old Finnish adage our Virgil, Karri, taught us, I cannot divulge all the secrets of Friday night's sauna.* Suffice to say that Henriikka and I enjoyed some interesting conversation with some members of the wedding party, had a couple swigs of wine from a box, and eventually had the sauna to ourselves. When we returned, far longer than we had imagined, the next group of us went, and the rest of us sat around the kitchen table trading more stories until 3:00 a.m.

Since it is after midnight now and I still have to finish packing, I will have to save today's adventures, which included an abbreviated drive around the archipelago, and a wedding reception in a yurt, for later.

Karri Kokko, Marko Niemi, Mikael Brygger, Kristian Blomberg,

Christian Bök, me, Henriikka Tavi

*but apparently Geof does not accept this adage.