Blueberry baby

There are still some blueberries left in the forests here, even this far into September. Yesterday we were at an orienteering event, and this little 2-year-old (in blue, to the left of Sterling) kept wandering over to a clump of blueberries near the path and grabbing handfuls to eat. What an interesting habit to grow up with, here in Finland!

My own kids have picked it up as well, even if they haven't been doing it from birth. The girls sometimes come home from school having eaten blueberries and metsämansikka (forest strawberries) on the way. Magda often dips into blueberry bushes during orienteering courses, crossing the finish line with purple smears across her cheeks. Jeremy has done the same during long runs.

Kids here seem to learn more about the forest in general, starting from an early age. Sterling's päiväkoti is part of a "forest kindergarten" program, where the kids play outside more than even the considerable Finnish usual, and have learning/hiking sessions in the forest where the teacher teaches them about leaves and flowers and trees and berries and animals. This week, they've been learning about snakes. In Finland, kids learn to always wear kumisaappaat (rubber boots) in the forest, to protect against snakes (...I mean, I assume that's the reason. I'm not the one in forest kindergarten).

So, snakes, blueberries, and strawberries - that's the forest in Finland!