Also, have they ever considered just how much dust is lurking in their wall-to-wall carpets? I still gaze in wonder as I watch the fl akes of dead skin and other debris from life fl oating away from my rugs into the atmosphere, even after a thorough vacuuming, as I bash, wham and hit again. Mind you I must confess that I do not take the rugs out every week, but when I do, I can see it is worth the effort. The same goes for the bedding. Quilts, pillows, and thin top mattresses all fi nd themselves draped over my balcony sunbathing, or else they roast in the sauna in the winter, followed by the bashing of their lives. I doubt the hardiest bedbug could survive those onslaughts.

The long summer days would also be missed, when I can rise early and gaze out on the lake, glistening in the morning sunshine. The birds sing, the trees rustle and for a short time the mundane and miraculous are put aside as the peace of this country washes over me.

However, the thing I would miss most is the feeling of security I have living here, although I say that as I am sitting at my computer in a small town where a boat theft can make headlines in the local newspaper. When they started school, my children walked there and back on their own; they went out riding on their bikes without adult supervision, and mostly without worry on my part. It is very sad to me that in my home country children are not allowed those freedoms, as parents ferry their children to and from school and other activities, attempting to protect their offspring from a fearful world, although it seems that there are more causalities within families than from outside sources.

I wrote the preceding paragraphs during the summer before the events in Kauhajoki, and I am glad I put those thoughts into words then, because that is how I have always felt about living in Finland (apart from a short break last November) and I would like to retain that confi dence. The Thursday following the shootings, my children were sent home from their senior school because of a bomb threat, apparently made by one or more ninth graders. The experience of that day gave me some tiny inkling of what life must be like on a daily basis in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, and how grateful we, both Finns and foreigners, still need to be that we live in this peaceful country. I have decided not to allow any budding teenage terrorists to rob me of the gratitude I feel for the things I would miss if I had to leave these shores.