Hwy 11 metsӓ

[click to enlarge]
Noopemig (Ojibwe) or mettӓ (Finnish dialect; properly the word is metsӓ) or forest of northwestern Ontario. We have many kinds of forests in northwestern Ontario. This is one kind, a row of black spruce lining the edge of a bog on the side of Highway 11. Now, some folks may find this landscape dull or boring. Gloomy, even. I find in beautiful--in a gloomy sort of way. This land speaks to me. I think this sort of synkkӓ mettӓ (gloomy dreary forest) reminded Finnish settlers to Canada of home, of the forest and bogs they left behind. The dark forest called up melancholy, called up gloomy thoughts. Maybe life in Canada would be a struggle, too.