a local author, michael nordskog, has written a wonderful book, “The Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition” on the history, culture, and practice of finnish sauna in the lake superior northwoods region.

as most know, odin has been enjoying his grandparent’s sauna in the upper peninsula of michigan since he was small enough fit ina sauna bucket. and as most regular visitors know, a few years ago, we built our own so we could throw steam and douse ourselves with buckets of water in our own backyard with friends.

so, of course, i had to catch a reading at a local bookstore and pick up a signed copy.

as luck would have it, i was running late and missed the reading, but i did have time to chat with michael and invite him to spend some quality time in the ol’ snowdeal sauna which is a bit intimidating since one presumes he has spent time in many saunas with interesting histories.

but i’m guessing that only exactly one sauna was visited by santa when a boy named odin – who embodies the very essence of sisu – was 2000 days old.