"Spring moments"

Darkness affects us all in this city. Sometimes I think it's only a matter of time before those Finnish design head lamps hit the market. I'm thinking big: just picture for yourself lamps with built-in umbrellas, or even better, a super-glass shield to protect from that wind and all the nasty things it brings with it. People would really look fab in those (not that anyone would be able to see them)! My mother was recently looking for her glasses (like always) when she exclaimed "I can't see a thing! It's too dark in this country!". My neighbour in Graz was telling me about his visit here when he said "If it would be situated on the Mediterranean coast, Helsinki would be the perfect place to live".

Anyway, I was brooding on these thoughts when Lufthansa's latest newsletter hit my inbox. Dear Mr Juris, it started. It may be winter outside, but in our hearts there is spring. (in our hearts there is spring? who wrote this?). Yes, winter will still be here for a while but that doesn't stop us from dreaming of the spring. (How about some synonyms for variety?) To make you long for it even more, we now present our Spring Moments campaign. In other words it's time to start thinking about where you would like to meet the spring this year. (Where I would like to meet spring? Meet spring?? Well, at least not in Almaty from 1074€ nor Nanjing from 859€ - Nanjing??? Where is that?)

I've been thinking about how, the older we get, the more we are expected to be able to see into our future. As if it's not enough to know where we are going to be five months from now at 11:53, it's now becoming almost obligatory to have schedules for October 2011 ready at hand. I already have something scheduled for March 2009, and a friend from London called me today to panic about something called a "Three-year-plan" she is supposed to come up with. It's not uncommon to read things like "The project is expected to be completed in 2015" or "2054 (MMLIV) will be a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar".

Okay, I'm really stretching this far, I know. But it's still always worth remembering that life is what's happening now, when you are in bed realising you're not going to fall asleep just yet but you don't mind just thinking about stuff for a while, or when you stop to help someone who almost blacks out at the subway escalators. Who cares about 2009. Who cares about 2008? Such big numbers. Can I go back to 0?

In my work, I meet many people. I see them for perhaps three hours a week and I think I can tell you many things about them when they are at their precious hobby. I can tell you who feels more comfortable sitting next to whom, who prefers singing in foreign languages and who can't bring himself to pronounce English adequately. I know who feels especially happy but also who has had a bad day. I know who is afraid of loud sounds and who can't stop talking. But I don't know who these people are when they go home. Sometimes though, it's nice to think that somebody is cooking a dinner for her family, beaming because she finally started singing in a choir again for the first time since elementary school. But how do I know? The same person might be lying awake in bed alone, wondering how she will survive another dark day tomorrow.

I hope not, but if that's the case, she'll be happy to know Lufthansa's prices to Vancouver are now as low as 908€.