Samples-aweigh

Today was our last moss-rolling, sledge weilding,  dirt road wandering day. With a grand total of 98 samples packed away in the red-hot ford focus we're heading to Rovaniemi tomorrow to prepare our samples to be shipped to Canada. Then comes a short flight to Helsinki and on Tuesday evening I'll be back home in Canada!

one of our last quartzite outcrops

The weather has clearly changed in recent days. You can feel the cold is arriving - we spotted some well equipped speed walkers with mittens this afternoon (although mittens were not at all necessary).

Now, I'm looking forward to seeing what these rocks have to say!

Whimsical

Evidence of a paleo weathered surface was obscured by an overgrown Finnish jungle. So I became distracted by settled rain drops in the micro-jungle. 

The Moose Fly

This is by far one of the most horrendous bugs I've encountered recently.  The caliber of "yuck" we're dealing with is comparable to earwigs, maggots, or centipedes. The moose fly is guaranteed to make your skin crawl. I promise I will do everything I can to prevent a hitchhiker accompanying me to Canada.

They sit and wait on a bush for a tasty specimen (such as it's namesake, the moose. Otherwise other victims include reindeer and humans). With sight of the first proximal passerby they hop on, drop their wings and make camp. Not only do they bite, helping themselves to a seemingly endless supply of blood, but they also mate on their host. I believe, however, that their eggs are laid on the forest floor (or wherever the poor sucker lays down for a rest). 

on the run

The first indication that a moose fly has selected you for it's home is the unforgettable sensation of it's exploration of your scalp. Once you notice that there's something crawling around up there, the instinctual pinch does nothing. They have incredibly effective claws which inevitably lead to a panic inducing struggle (and potential hair loss). 

I found this one crawling around in the morning while brushing my hair. Even showers don't scare these suckers away. The reality of a morning discovery is not something I'm ready to fully acknowledge and instead I am comforted by the fact that we have returned to Sodankyla which seems to be too far north for these bastards to call home.

Para-para-paragniess

Paradise by coldplay is my metamorphic theme song. Last year in the nuvuaggituk belt it was stuck in my head and it returned the day I met the Archean paragneisses of Eastern Finland.

It was bound to happen

An essential shortcoming 

more rocks. need more rocks

And then two days later we got TWO flats at the same time

The life of fungi

Reminds me of a crumpet . . .

Porphyroblast envy

And ya lose sight of the big picture ;)