Trees With Occasional Trailside Attractions

« Erja Laakkonen's "At Home in the Forest", part of the Skutsi environmental art exhibit in the Ruskeasuo section of Helsinki's Central Park. A small gallery from Skutsi 2005. »

Every weekend we take Otava out to the one of the various parks, nature walks or green recreational areas in Helsinki to give him some exercise as well as to make sure that we don't sit at home in front of our computers, especially on days like today when the weather is warm and sunny. Otava is quite the attention magnet as people often comment on him, want to pet him or, like today on the bus back from the wilds of northern Helsinki, two drunk guys tried to kiss him and ask him along to the pubs in Kallio. I suppose beer has the power to make a big, stinky, drooly dog appear to be their ideal hairy woman, but he was coy and they headed for the bars without a slobbery kiss and alone.

On a recent outing to the woods, we took a couple of friends along for a walk in Ruskeasuo to check out the artwork that is part of the Skutsi environmental art exhibit. I had printed out the map of the artwork [pdf at the bottom of the page] and the thumbnail pics before heading for the forest which proved to be very handy for finding and identifying the various displays. We spent the entire afternoon wandering around the impressive urban forest hunting for all the sights indicated on the map. It became a treasure hunt of sorts since they are difficult to find sometimes as they are well camouflaged in their surroundings.

Some of the art is interesting, some of it is underwhelming and some of it is missing in action. Overall, it's a fun walk through the woods with occasional trailside attractions. Print out the Central Park map and take either tram 10 north to the stop near the Rock & Roll McDonald's or any commuter train to Pasila and wander around for a few hours. There will also be a guided tour this Thursday from 4-6pm as part of the Night of the Arts for the less adventurous. Take the dog and enjoy the weather while you can.