"Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!"

My Dad lives for this day! If I could speak Finnish, I'd call his house and make his day even brighter. I do recall how to pronounce most of that phrase from listening to my grandmother speak it. You see, it's St. Urho's Day and in his lineage, this is much more important than the day that comes after it. If you read of the non-fictional reason for today on Wikipedia
you will find that today is the day the Finns chased the grasshoppers out of Finland. There is much more to read about online about this Finnish holiday, some of which I had not known, and a lot of which coincides with Minnesota & Finland tradition and history.

When JP and I first met we traveled up to northern Minnesota and came across Finland, Minnesota. It was a quaint, sleepy little town that October day in 1994. Today's festivities might be a tad more upbeat and full of people wearing purple & green, wielding pitch forks and yelling "Heinäsirkka, heinäsirkka, mene täältä hiiteen!" My Dad would feel right at home.

God Bless you, Grandma, for all that you taught... your traditions live on in our hearts!