1. aside from speeding, expired registration and parking tickets, my only police problem was a citation and fine for illegal camping.
  2. a police dog once held me in place by gripping my ankle. he didn’t bite – just held me in place. this was not really a problem, but a wild misunderstanding.
  3. i spent 4 days alone backpacking in lapland. on 2 of those days i didn’t see another human.  i saw a fair number of reindeer, though.
  4. two of my grandparents were from a part of finland that is now in russia.
  5. i once poured a glass of water (might have been 2 or 3) for the dalai lama.