First day and list of casualties

[NOTE: I started this blog for friends, but now others are reading it too, so a few words of explanation here.
Chronically unemployed in Eugene, Oregon, I finally learned of a full-time, permanent job with free medical care. The dream job at last! The only drawback: it was in Karelia, Finland. I had to make a quick decision about whether to drop everything familiar and take it, or to keep puttering along just this side (usually) of the poverty line. I went for it, partly because my old job was ending anyway, partly because I had no other options that made any sense.
Within the space of two months, I packed up a house in which I had lived with my two children for 20 years, said goodbye to my family and friends, and moved into a small apartment in a town I had never seen before...in a country with an unintelligible language.
If this intrigues you -- read on.]

Greetings, fair readers (and unfair, too). It's going to take me a while to land on my spiritual/mental feet, but for now, bear with me as I sort through what's happened on the way to get here.

My daughter Maija said I absolutely had to make a list of "casualties" (ask Cynthia Thiessen for the story that goes with the quote about this) that happened on our way to Seattle, which was my point of departure with Icelandair. So I'll do that homework first.

We tried to leave Eugene on Thursday at noon so we could have dinner with Seattle friends Ron and Lena by 5 p.m. However:
1) The mani-pedi we had scheduled for 10 went on till 12, partly because one of the technicians was looking for a new house and kept checking her messages. (If you aren't sure why we had to have mani-pedis, ask us.)
2) Wherever traffic could accumulate in Eugene, it did.
3) Traffic in Salem crawled for about 20 minutes.
4) Traffic in Portland crawled for at least an hour.
5) After joking about how Oregon was trying to keep me there, we cheered as we crossed the Columbia River into Washington; as Maija rolled her window up so we could continue on without traffic, something snapped ominously, and the window slowly sank down into the door. We had to pull over to move all the boxes so she could sit in the back seat.
6) At some point in Washington, far from any town, a dog had gotten loose on the freeway, and traffic was stopped so people could try to hunt him down and put a leash on him. It was surreal and somewhat sweet to see these huge trucks parked in the middle of the road, helping the poor mutt. At one point the dog put his nose in my window so I could pet him, but he dashed away before the young man with the leash could get to him. Finally he jumped the barrier to the other side, and we all had to give up. I hope this story had a happy ending.
7) Traffic on 405 after Tukwila crawled, of course...

By the time we reached Redmond, where Ron and Lena live, Maija was late to pick up her boyfriend Will from SeaTac; she turned around to go back to the airport while I enjoyed delicious lasagne and a glass of wine with my friends.

On Friday, we were able to find a garage willing to fix the window on short notice. However, the part had to be ordered...from Portland! Maija and Will were in a hurry to drive back to Wisconsin, but they were forced to take a vacation day. This meant that they were also able to take me to the airport. The weather was splendid, and I hope the sightseeing on the Duck Bus and the other things Maija and Will did were fun.

And I also hope that's the end of the casualties!

I have to say that the flights to Reykjavik and then on to Helsinki were the best I have ever had. Most folks know how I feel about drugs. But having Xanax to relieve my anxiety and having painkillers for my broken toe, I was able to drowse very comfortably for most of both flights. I was also able to enjoy the view of Greenland's amazing glaciers and the Stockholm archipelago on the approach to Finland.

That being said, I can't say that I recommend breaking your toe and then muscling two 50+-pound pieces of luggage,. a computer bag and a small duffle around airports, buses and trains. But it went amazingly well. People have been so friendly and helpful.

I think this is enough for a first blog entry. The title may need some explanation, however. Karjalan piirakoita, or Carelian pirogues, are a food I adore. They are a bear to make, though I have done it once. You roll out rye dough very, very thin and cut it into circles. On the circles you place a small scoop of cooked rice or mashed potatoes. You fold the dough over the center and crimp the edges, allowing the filling to show through. You flatten them, baste them and bake them. You can then use them as a kind of sandwich. The most traditional way to serve them, however, is to spread them with "munavoita", or egg butter (equal parts softened butter and chopped hard-boiled eggs, mixed together). So since I will be living in Carelia/Karjala, and since this is a typical food for this region, I felt it was an appropriate blog title.

Thanks for reading. More to come.