Color Color photographs

Fallen leaves on a storm grating in the road, on a grayish autumn day.

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I think I must have taken dozens, scores, or maybe hundreds of photos like this. I don't know why I keep coming back to dead leaves; the only thing that occurs to me is: occasionally, they seem more interesting than their still-living siblings.
 
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The last taken picture of Sätös the dream house before receiving bad news about it.


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I hope you don't mind my curiosity, Mike, but I like this photograph a lot - and I'm curious about what the 'bad news' is, or was, regarding Sätös the dream house? Is the house all right? Are you okay?
 
I hope you don't mind my curiosity, Mike, but I like this photograph a lot - and I'm curious about what the 'bad news' is, or was, regarding Sätös the dream house? Is the house all right? Are you okay?
Thanks Miguel for asking. I am a bit blue if not quite heart-broken about the house.

This is the house I bought in 2014 to get away from neighbors, noise, and everything. Rural living was not quite the romantic notion I imagined at first but I grew into it over time.

Then I got into photography and developed aspirations towards street photography, something not done at that area. I wanted to taste the city living in central Helsinki, and moved away in 2019.

The city treated me way better than expected but it's tough to be renting, so I bought an apartment nearby Helsinki. But this latest change of scenery has been a letdown for me. I started to reminisce the good country living in Sätös.

I had written the place off because the new owner had it unoccupied and unmaintained over two cold winters. Probably all ruined. But this spring I happened by, and noticed there'd been some development -- probably not ruined after all?

I called the owner in the beginning of summer and indeed it turned out that he'd kept the house heated in the winters. We made it a point to revisit the subject in falltime. I kept hyping myself over the house but also worrying about the financials. Yes, Sätös is literally pocket money in the realm of real estate but things still need financing and there's also the big question of what to do about the recently acquired apartment in Hyvinkää.

The fall arrived and along came the night frosts and so I impatiently called up and we set up a display. October 1. The show stopped the moment we got the jammed front door open. A pipe'd burst during the unvisited summer and that was that. There was a nasty stench and who knows what nastiness could have developed in the short time. The owner and I didn't need to exchange words about it, we knew the deal was DOA.

At least I got closure on the place. The owner seemed relieved as well. He has plans of building a little summer cabin for him and his family there.
 
Thanks Miguel for asking. I am a bit blue if not quite heart-broken about the house.

This is the house I bought in 2014 to get away from neighbors, noise, and everything. Rural living was not quite the romantic notion I imagined at first but I grew into it over time.

Then I got into photography and developed aspirations towards street photography, something not done at that area. I wanted to taste the city living in central Helsinki, and moved away in 2019.

The city treated me way better than expected but it's tough to be renting, so I bought an apartment nearby Helsinki. But this latest change of scenery has been a letdown for me. I started to reminisce the good country living in Sätös.

I had written the place off because the new owner had it unoccupied and unmaintained over two cold winters. Probably all ruined. But this spring I happened by, and noticed there'd been some development -- probably not ruined after all?

I called the owner in the beginning of summer and indeed it turned out that he'd kept the house heated in the winters. We made it a point to revisit the subject in falltime. I kept hyping myself over the house but also worrying about the financials. Yes, Sätös is literally pocket money in the realm of real estate but things still need financing and there's also the big question of what to do about the recently acquired apartment in Hyvinkää.

The fall arrived and along came the night frosts and so I impatiently called up and we set up a display. October 1. The show stopped the moment we got the jammed front door open. A pipe'd burst during the unvisited summer and that was that. There was a nasty stench and who knows what nastiness could have developed in the short time. The owner and I didn't need to exchange words about it, we knew the deal was DOA.

At least I got closure on the place. The owner seemed relieved as well. He has plans of building a little summer cabin for him and his family there.

Thank you for the details, Mike.
It makes me understand - and appreciate - your photograph - of the place in Sätös - much much better.
Hard to go through that kind of loss. And sad, too.
Here in Oregon, depending on where one lives, the winters can be brutal, though usually not anywhere near as extreme as in Finland. But houses need to be taken care of and when they are not - when pipes burst at the wrong time - it's really, really bad. I understand all that. And in a way, it must be a real relief to have 'closure' on it. But I imagine there will still be some bittersweet feelings as well.
But hopefully, some good memories, too.
 
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