Members of the Twin City Sauna Club will be gathering in the 5621 outdoor sauna to celebrate this May Arctic blast.What is your crappy weather insurance policy?
Is it time for you to consider your own authentic Finnish sauna? Life is short. The benefits are many. The enjoyment is extensive. Come join our authentic sauna tribe.
Welcoming weather to fire up the sauna
April in Minnesota has given us snow storm after snow storm. Sauna has offered respite from this nonsense. The final snow of the season (?) presented this beautiful blanket on the sauna deck. April 24, 2013.
Greetings fellow Sauna Timer’s. Have you ever considered sauna during a meteor shower? Now’s your chance. Mark your calendars. The Geminid meteor showers are due to peak Thursday December 13th with a zenith hourly rate of 120/hr. An added bonus is there will be a new moon. The next one is the Quadrantids running from December 28 through January 12.
If you are interested in keeping up to date on future meteor showers search “meteor shower” on your mobile app store. There are several available that provide details on meteor showers. At least one will even allow you to calendar events.
Hope for clear skies and share your stories.
EDITOR NOTE:
Anything that encourages one to sit outside between rounds, whether looking up at stars or standing on the dock or deck, is an integral part to the authentic sauna experience. The “cool down” brings your body back to equilibrium. It helps close your pours, relax your muscles, return your body to neutral state.
There was a threat of snow, but we brought our golf clubs anyway – a part of our annual boys weekend tradition. We drove to the cabin in a cold rain, and by the time we went to bed, a layer of slush was sticking to the deck.
10 inches of heavy wet snow greeted us in the morning. Clubs, of course, never left the car. Getting around was a huge challenge. We shoveled a couple basic trails from cabin to cabin to dock, and felt only a bit less claustrophobic.
Now what?
The familiar scent of burning birch, then, with a turn, seeing smoke rising from the chimney outside the sauna/guest cabin provided the easy answer.
Bad weather is a relative term. 10 inches of snow can put a damper on a commute to work or golf trip to the cabin. A cold rainy day can limit your Saturday to do list. Yet bad weather is wonderful weather for enjoying a sauna session. Long rounds in the hot room complemented by long sessions outside, smiling at what nature brings.
Most sauna enthusiasts live in climates with distinct seasons. Summer saunas are often enjoyed by the lapping shores of a lake cabin or cottage. Twilight that goes on forever, dodging mosquitoes between rounds and that euphoric splash off the dock.
Yet fall saunas offer their own magic. The leaves drop, the nights turn crisp, heavy low lying dark clouds, gusty Northwest winds pushing flocks of geese South. Cold wind ripping down the alley at dawn can sure be a lonely feeling. Yet we authentic Finnish sauna enthusiasts crack a smile. We step outside to into the cold air with a towel and a cold drink, heading to our outdoor saunas.
Greeting us is the warm crackle and glow of our saunas. Bring on the cold, we say. We are not alone. We welcome the return of our old friend.
With the awesome spring we’ve had and temperatures soaring near 90F and with the Twins on a miniature roll , what better time then a late afternoon summer-time sauna? Three rounds, complete with intermittent dips in the pool between rounds to properly cool down, another successful sauna in the books! Now it’s time for some pizza and beer. Even though the motto of “the worse the weather the better the sauna” remains paramount, sometimes, with the better weather your better off saunaing. Enjoy the good weather and good times.
You don’t need to have your vehicle slide down a cliff to realize you’re having a bad day. Hey, there’s worse things in life than almost losing your life, but this Norwegian could sure use a sauna.
It is often noted how the worse the weather, the better the sauna, yet there may be an exception:
10:30 pm Minneapolis, MN.
30 degrees f. no wind.
Snow falling steady, and settling everywhere.
2-3″ fresh snowball type snow on the ground.
Emerging from sauna after round 2.
Snow settling on head, shoulders, arms, and melting.
BONUS: Rubbing and scrubbing fresh snow on the body after a nice hot sauna round is nature’s Luffa.
It’s 102 in Minneapolis, MN today and I’ve mentioned to several people that I’ll be taking a sauna later, in case they’d like to join me.
“What? Are you crazy? It’s 102 today!”
Exactly. It’s 102. Just as some runners use saunas to train for hot weather running, I use saunas to tolerate hot weather in general. It works remarkably well.
When you’re first introduced to the sauna, your inclination is to head for the hills when the steam comes barreling toward you. After a few sessions you start to realize that, not only is it quite tolerable, but it actually feels gooooooooood! When the steam hits, you learn to just let it in.
And so it is when I walk out of my 73 degree air conditioned house into 102 degrees…
I just let it in.
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