Home

I took this spring's first bicycle trip yesterday. It was around 8pm when I left, grey as usual, but no rain anymore. All in all, conditions usually not considered beautiful. Yet, I was filled with this sensation of taking it all in - every single image. Like I was the only one to find this secret world of beauty just outside the city's reach. It's so easy to get caught in our own lives, to follow the same old patterns in our very own marginal safety zone. But how much do we really know of this city? How much are we missing?

Some years ago I would have said I hated Oulu. Then time passed. Somehow, almost accidentally I became to know more and more of this place. New situations tossed me from Kaakkuri to Pateniemi and everything in between. I took great joy in reaching these locations on my own. Every trip was a small adventure, always finding some small street with unseen details, like patches of color on canvas. Little by little the picture grew clearer. Instead of random colors, I started to see patterns. There is something in knowing what lies behind regular routes. This is where you start to feel the real character of the city become alive. The hidden aura, the sense of dreamlike familiarity is what makes a city feel like home. It is dense in meaning, retaining sense of adventure - the mystery of unseen places. It grips you and makes you want to find out more. And the more you find, the more you see and hear, the more this place feels like home.