Pancakes are the most special breakfast/food in my childhood home. When I was little, my father worked in a hospital with shifts and all the family-friendly aspects that this job environment entails. Everyday life was routine and maintained in ninety-nine percent of the time by my mum. Only two or three times a year my dad made pancakes (not necessarily for breakfast).

In early November, during my second week in Finland, it began to snow. The first snow this early was unusual even for Helsinki. The weather changed from golden autumn directly to white winter, without the dark and wet November weeks. It surprised everyone here. When I arrived at R. & B.s place, the last apples were still hanging on the trees, and the foliage was buried under a white layer. To me, this seemed perfect. It was all I had hoped for in my ideal version of the north. All my dreams...