The dark side of sauna

I love looking at old photos people post on Facebook—they remind me of warm and funny memories from my own experience. A different warm memory occurred in our sauna last week—the electric light burned out. I’ve gotten so used to simply using the on-off switch that I forgot what a ‘no-light’ sauna was like. Fortunately it didn’t happen while we were inside.

The fix was more complicated and took much longer than expected, so for a couple of weeks we took saunas by candlelight (metal flashlights get hot).

It was a reminder of my own ‘olden days.’ The sauna on the beach had no windows, so we’d bring a lantern. Even so, it was very dark inside the sauna chamber. I learned to move slower, let my eyes adjust, steer clear of the stove and climb quickly to the upper bench. The soap or buckets were placed in the same places—easy to find in the inky dark.

In our no-light sauna, sauna preparations took much longer—bucket and dipper here, towels and drinking water there, where we could find them by feel. Remember to open the air vent. How long would our votive candles last? Where should they be placed? When I dropped something, it stayed there until the next day. Even walking to our patio for cool-down was trickier, finding my slip-ons against the dark floor, the door handle not where my hand reached.

After much struggle, Bill, my hero, got the old bulb removed and replaced the socket. Last night—I flipped the switch and voila, there was light! Remembering saunas in the dark was useful, but thank you electricity! 

Nikki

And the even saunatonttu

The last page of Sheryl Peterson's book “The Best Part of a Sauna”  included great info about the sauna—the proper pronunciation, how Finnish immigrants used the sauna, different kinds, words like löyly, the cloud of steam produced by tossing water on the rocks, and vihta, the soft branches for swishing one's back, and directions on how-to. 

 

She even mentioned the saunatonttu, a little elf, who warns people when a fire was getting too hot. 

 

All in about 600 words. Neat skill. 

 

Sheryl is the author of 22 children's books—an impressive accomplishment! Check them out at www.sherylpetersonbooks.com.

Nikki

“The Best Part of a Sauna”

Sheryl Peterson knows what the best part is. She's written a delightful children's book, “The Best Part of a Sauna,” which won the Northeastern Minnesota Book Award. 

Her story kept me guessing (though I was sure I knew the best part for me). But — what would kids like best — building the fire? Making water sizzle on the rocks? Jumping in the lake?

And what would their grandparents like best (because in this book a child goes to sauna at their cabin) How did they introduce sauna to this young visitor? What were their customs?

It's so smoothly told it makes me want to write like that.

The book“The Best Part of a Sauna” was illustrated by Kelly Dupre, who asked Sheryl to photograph the sunset very often so she could see how to incorporate the waning hours. Other nifty touches — pay attention to how the boy's hat changes and how many of her paintings have ravens.

“The Best Part of a Sauna” (hardcover is $17.95, softcover is $9.95, plus taxes and postage) was published by Raven Words in Ely, Minnesota. To order one, click the link or call 218-365-3375.

Nikki

What’s the best thing about saunas?

Ahhh — the sound of water hissing on the rocks. The smell of pine, cedar, birch (even after the “new sauna” smell is gone. I love the abrupt change of temperatures when I can jump in a lake — super-hot to chilly — which is hard to explain to non-enthusiasts.

A different plus are the things I appreciate about sauna — the relaxation which comes afterwards which brings release from everyday irritations and solutions to problems. Sleeping well after the sauna, soft skin ... that list could go on.

And then there’s the evening sauna. Sweet!

I’ll bet it’s different love for every one — grandpas, adults, teens, little kids. What say you?

Nikki

Buy a copy of Some Like It Hot: The Sauna, Its Lore and Stories from the publisher, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minnesota, or from local booksellers.

For a personally inscribed copy, send $20 (which includes tax and shipping costs) to: Nikki Rajala, P.O. Box 372, Rockville, Minnesota 56369.

Sauna hats??

While looking at a picture of sauna accessories, I noticed sauna hats. Hats? I was mystified. This was quite out of my experience.

When I ventured further onto the Internet, I found more hats. One website for a public sauna business encouraged people to bring their own — the sillier, the better.

Sure enough, photos show happy people wearing woolen caps. Hats apparently protect a person’s head and allow them to enjoy hotter temperatures and/or longer saunas.

Does it work? Anyone who’s convinced? Let me know.

Side note: My hairdresser said that heat is especially hard on hair dyes — worse than chlorine pools. Her usual suggestion is that  those who’ve treated themselves to expensive hair coloring should limit time under a blow dryer or in the sun. I bet that would include the sauna as well. When I’m due for a recoloring, maybe I should  try a hat.

Nikki 

Buy a copy of Some Like It Hot: The Sauna, Its Lore and Stories from the publisher, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minnesota, or from local booksellers.  

For a personally inscribed copy, send $20 (which includes tax and shipping costs) to: Nikki Rajala, P.O. Box 372, Rockville, Minnesota 56369.

I did it

I’ve been agonizing about the switch for a long time. As you may have noted.

For tradition’s sake, I made my own whisks and had to search for birch, but ash and oak were in the yard. The ash twigs were the whippiest, the oak the sturdiest. They took about 10 minutes, but that’s because I’m a newbie. My dad could have done it blindfolded, probably. I’d practiced making a birch whisk a week earlier — and was it ever crispy! (But now I know how to resuscitate it.)

Others tried my leafy whisks as I needed to leave before the leaves were used (sorry about the bad pun!).

Ash received 0 votes — it wasn’t durable and disintegrated after a couple of uses. Birch won the

“wonderful scent” award and tied with oak for its usability and durability. Oak earned the “astringent” prize. 

And now you know. 

Nikki

Changing the pace

Two paths diverged in a northern woods — one lined with pines and the other with birches. For the last few months, I’ve taken the one with pines and cedars as I’ve been writing about saunas. 

 Now it’s time to walk the other one — a portage trail voyageurs might have taken carrying their birch bark canoes. 

A novel about a French-Canadian teen becomes a voyageur and spends a winter in the fur trade. The working title for manuscript has been “Good for Nothing,” but that will change soon. The novel, a long-time project that my mom and I have worked on, will be published in mid-September. On that web site — NikkiRajala.com — you can find Chapter 1, a blog (A Voyageur’s Life) and a whole lot more. Visit me, bookmark it, subscribe to the blog, “like” it on Facebook, share it with others ... 

So for the next while, I plan only to post weekly on SaunaWise (and perhaps even less) as I juggle the new aspects of author events. Yes, I’ll miss this, but I’ll be back.

Nikki 

Buy a copy of Some Like It Hot: The Sauna, Its Lore and Stories from the publisher, North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minnesota, Inc., or from local booksellers. 

You will soon be able to purchase a copy of “Good for Nothing” from North Star Press, but not for a while yet.

For a signed copy of either book, send $20 (which includes tax and shipping costs) to: Nikki Rajala, P.O. Box 372, Rockville, Minnesota 56369.