Sunday, April 8, 2012

Upon some vacant sunny day

Here is the last (third) set of photographs from our walk at lake Myllyjärvi in Espoo. This is more about the environment, not so much about the details. It was a great day to be outdoors.

The other two postings have as subjects rock and icicles and two dimensions of lake ice.

(Posting title is from the poem Floating Island by Dorothy Wordsworth.)

2 comments:

Eric Jeschke said...

How cold are those lakes in July? Is it comfortable to swim?

I realize this varies widely by individual, and hardy Finns probably consider rolling in the snow comfortable :-)

Juha Haataja said...

@Eric: The coldness depends on the summer, but usually the water temperature in these small lakes in July is tolerable, about +18 °C.

But then there are those who go swimming even with ice on the lake. This particular lake is one such place where I have noticed people swimming even with some ice on the lake already.

I'm not keen on swimming in cold water, although I have done it a few times (together with sauna). And I have rolled in the snow; it isn't as cold as water (snow is a good insulator), but one should take care not to try it with old and hard snow, then your skin can look like abraded with sandpaper.

I have been told that really cold water (+5 °C or below) is rather pleasant in that it gives such a shock to the body that a lot of endorphins are produced in the brain, giving a very pleasant feeling after a swim.