Sanna Henke

Us mortals counting time, walking with dust between our toes and merely looking at the stars . . . This life is but a blink, a speck in the eternal scale of things. Even then, it is the only dust and earth we have. Fill it with love.

There is no Christmas without candles, not without the soft, magical glow of candle light. Candles can soothe the mind and invigorate the mood, comfort, increase emotional intimacy, and still and clear the mind. A candle drives away the darkness and it gives hope. In this seemingly endless darkness of early winter, even a single a candle flame can banish some of seasonal gloom and strengthen the…

Most of us would argue that happiness is an elusive concept, with as many shades and shapes to it as there are people. In my opinion, happiness is the same to each and every person, and instead varies in degrees, from immediate gratification to a state of profound contentment and emotional well-being even in unhappy circumstances. The latter kind is the deepest and yet, apparently, the most…

Itching to leave the stuffy house if only for a moment, I let the dishes be, take my cane, and limp across the noisy rooms to the back porch. I shut the door softly behind me and turn to the late-summer evening. At the edges of the porch light’s halo, the drizzle glimmers on the grass and whispers in the dark belt of trees framing the yard. I draw a deep breath: the air smells of hulled…

How comforting is the fact that at our reach is the Keeper of the universe Himself, and that He is only a thought, a plea, away—at the distance of a sincere heart. Over the years, my communication with God has shifted from wishful tenacity into a need to frequently feel His closeness and His peace. I have learned to connect with Him more instantly, more simply, and more deeply, and often by…

Spring is here, even with late surprise blizzards! After the frigid, long winter, the returning warmth and sunshine is very welcome. Spring has special kind of magic, a reviving, enlivening energy–fresh winds blowing, the feeling of starting anew, rising despite the odds. Here is a small list of things belonging to the Finnish spring. First bike ride on roads free of ice. Dripping…

Across the street from me lives an old woman who feeds birds with a nearly religious fervor. Each morning she teeters out onto her front yard, her back bent, her legs bent, wrapped in a worn, floral dress and knit cardigan, and spreads seeds and dried fruit onto her lawn under a maple tree. The birds—finches, sparrows, and tits—swoop down unafraid from where they’ve been waiting in the skeins of…

When I go up through the mowing field / The headless aftermath / Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew, / Half closes the garden path. And when I come to the garden ground, / the whir of sober birds / Up from the tangle of withered weeds / Is sadder than any words A tree beside the wall stands bare, / But a leaf that lingered brown, / Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought, / Comes softly…

It’s one of those summers when I am forced to be still more than usual. I don’t know how I would stay sane without good books and my writing.

I don’t deny it, on bad days this mostly sedentary existence of mine feels really hard. On better days I remind myself that I’m given more time to be creative. 😅

Pooped but proud.

How is your summer starting?! Work? Fun? Blissful leisure?

Here’s to a character and series that fed my love of reading as a kid🤩. And no, I do not count the English version of his name—the same as a certain very famous reindeer—as acceptable. 😖