A brief moment of office work.

A quick selection of several clips from bicycling on the road, filmed with a GoPro mounted on my head.

A birdwatcher at the borderzone near Vaalimaa (FI) watching the Black Kite and White Tailed Eagle nestling at the Russian side of the newly built borderfence, meanwhile giving his opinion on the closing of the border.

Raisa, a reindeer herder, spontaneously picks me up by car and we drive to her house together. She and her husband keep reindeer in an area that largely borders Russia. This causes some problems now that the border is closed and cooperation with people from the nature park on the Russian side is no longer possible.

For this man, the border fence is practically in his backyard (top right of the image). He doesn't think it's particularly ugly, but like the other people in the neighborhood, he thinks it is useless as it doesn't stop anybody. So investing 300 million euro in it...is just a political descision.

The Veteraanimuseo, what a place. A house crammed full of stuff; family artefacts mixed with historicly valuable objects and documents. Never seen such a colourful collection in one place.

Jarmo is the son of the museum's founder and lives on the floor above. He gave me a half-hour tour, pointer in hand. He switched at breakneck speed between stories about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Hitler's visit to Finland, heroic deeds from the Winter War and personal stories about his family. It's really wonderful how he literally lives in different time layers.

I asked him how he views the current situation with Russia and the tensions that are palpable everywhere. ‘We can't trust Americans' help,’ he said.

This man is standing at the parking lot nearby the closed Vaalimaa border crossing, dressed as Tsar as a form of protest. His friend is taking photos, which they will post on social media. He believes the border should be reopened. He tells me that he used to travel to St. Petersburg often. That the refugees entering Finland via Russia are not the real reason for the closed border and new fence. That there is an EU strategy behind it. 
Now he has to make a long detour via Norway or Estonia this summer to visit his friends in Russia

I met 91-year-old Harald at the post office in the supermarket. He was standing behind me in the queue to send envelopes with beautiful drawings on them. (One of the letters was addressed to the Prime Minister of Finland, he told me later, a sincere plea for measures to bring about a ceasefire).
We got talking because of the drawings.
He turned out to be an environmental activist committed to preserving Finland's wilderness.  He showed me his book and then invited me to his home, a natural paradise. With great knowledge and enthusiasm, he showed me the wild plants, old trees and a water source. He shared cherished memories and we talked about the wilderness, hiking, Lake Inari, the conflicts in the world, life and death.