Call it lock-down, quarantine or social distancing, I haven’t gone out of my neighborhood since March 13th. Already in February the covid-19 crisis was a constant worry in my mind, but it was in mid March when my life style started to change radically. Over the last month I’ve stayed home most of the time, except for grocery shopping once a week, and a ~1-2 hours walk in the morning.

Luckily we are allowed to go for walks here in Helsinki. Over this month, some days I have had to really push myself to go out and walk; some days I struggled due to the weather, or laziness or because my mind finds it difficult to grasp how things have changed. I have succeed to go on walks 30 days out of the 38 days I’ve been social distancing, not bad! But true to be told, the merit is not all mine, I think the trick is in the place where I live, all surrounded by fields and a beautiful arboretum.

In the midst of all the worries, I feel blessed to live in Viikki a place that is almost the countryside. Although some days I struggle to go out, once I’m outside I feel it’s worth it as I discover new things in my surroundings and find joy in big or small discoveries. Those above are the fields nearest to my home.

One of the first things I came to appreciate was a neighboring horse-riding school. It is a bliss to go visit the horses and see how they are so peaceful and graceful. Before the lock-down began I rarely ever went there.

When I have more time, I go further a field and take walks in the fields that belong to the Viikki Research Farm. These fields are less visited than the ones behind my home, so I often go directly to the farm to have more space for myself; in the fields behind my home there is several people walking dogs and doing sports, who do not always respect the 1 meter recommended distance.

In the past, when I was not home, I was likely to be in the cinema, in a library, in a coffee shop or in a music hall. Nowadays, the arboretum has become my favorite and most frequented place. It is definitely a treat to go there and see how the forest unfolds as the birds singing make you feel relaxed. The arboretum is tended by the University of Helsinki, and is part of the Viikki-Vanhankaupunginlahti nature reserve, which is the largest in Helsinki with 326 hectares!

The arboretum is right next to the vanhakaupunginlahti bird wetlands (above), along with a stunningly beautiful patch of silver birch trees, which unfortunately I’m allergic to, but that luckily are not producing pollen yet.

During these morning walks I’ve been lucky enough to see a great spotted woodpecker (käpytikka) and a black woodpecker (palokärki)! and this is not a wonder, as it is known that over 300 different species have been spotted in this area.

Less exotic but still a beautiful sight is to spot a couple of mallard ducks, as seen above.

A sight that never ceases to amaze me are the roe deer (metsäkauris)! They usually are in the fields of the farm, but sometimes they venture and come to the fields nearer to my home, so I never know where will I find them and keep my eyes ready to spot those cute white tails.

And last but not least, I’m always happy to spot a hare. They are usually sneaking in the fields and camouflage so well that it is hard to keep an eye on them. Most of the time I have seen single hares, but one day I was lucky enough to spot a group of 4 hares playing in a field. That was a wonderful sight!

As we complete over a month of lock-down the spring started to come slowly. I’ve never been too invested in spring, as winter and autumn are my favorite, but during these walks I’ve learned to savor spring and to appreciate it more in detail. While I wait for the cherry blossoms and tulips to bloom, I’ve been delighted to have some crocus and siberian squills around.

Those little flowers have had to put up with 3-4 snow falls! It was a bit of a bummer to have snow in April, but as mentioned before winter is my favorite, so I enjoyed to have the snow around and had some fun finding different types of bird footprints.

In grim days as well as in sunny days, it has also been fun to spot teddy bears in random windows, which are part of the Teddy bear hunt initiative. I hope this post inspired you to think about your own “lock-down motto”, if the restrictions in your city allow it, why not go for a walk? or if the restrictions don’t allow it, what could be your motto? can you think of some activity that gives you a respite from the daily worries and lifts your mood up? I’m sure you can!

Bonus points for…

Living near nature: 7/5! priceless during these circumstances

Viikin arboretum and fields: 5/5 totally worth a visit!

Spring: 3/4 it’s nice, but winter and autumn are still my favorites.

Teddy bear hunt: 4/5 I’ve already put a teddy bear on my window sill. Have you?