Suomi
The Case for Outhouses – A Finn’s Perspective
Let me paint you a picture.
It’s June, the school year has just ended. While the kids are embracing their new-found freedom, parents tend to coincide their vacation time with their children’s and plan some family time away from the city. It’s been a long year, but now the sun is shining, and the waters are warm. It’s mökki season.
For many of us Finns, mökki (a Finnish word for “cabin”) represents a return to a simpler time, away from modern distractions. If I were to choose three elements that best represent the traditional Finnish mökki experience, I’d go with the following: a lake, a sauna and an outhouse.
I don’t need to sell you on the first one – we all like lakes, right? I think I could convince you of the second one as well, as saunas are seemingly getting more and more popular around the world.
How about the third?
Oh boy.
Simple Charm
In my opinion, most of the restorative effects of a mökki getaway come from the fact that it’s something different from your daily life. You might not have all of the conveniences you have at home, like a television or a gaming console, but you more than make up for it with the peace of mind that comes from embracing nature.
Here’s an example: Cabin saunas usually have wood-burning stoves. In apartment buildings, such as the one I live in, saunas are usually heated by electricity. You turn the power on, wait a little and you’re good to go. Still it doesn’t quite feel the same, compared to a wood-burning stove.
There’s a different vibe when you sit there in the steam and something missing with the process itself. With a wood-burning stove, you must first create the fire and then tend to it. Everyone who has made a fire while camping, knows the appeal.
For me, the same applies to the outhouse experience.
The Grounding Effect
From the ecological point of view, outhouses preserve water and, assuming that the waste is properly composted, create great fertilizer. You could write a whole series of articles from the ecological side alone, and we very well might at some point.
There’s a certain satisfaction you get from the knowledge that every time you go to the loo, instead of creating a problem for someone else to deal with, you’re contributing to the eco system. That’s an idea I can get behind.
You’ll get an additional dose of gratification when it comes time to replace your composting toilet’s container and see the wonders of batch composting for yourself. Instead of poo, you’ve created something valuable. “There is no waste in nature”, as they say in the circular economy circles.
There are other things to enjoy about the outhouse experience. If you put a bit of effort into decorating the interior, it might become one of your favourite places.
You can hear the nature while conducting your business and do some light reading while you’re at it. In my childhood there used to be these old joke books on every outhouse. I don’t know why. It’s a thing. I still remember a lot of those jokes, much to my girlfriend’s dismay. 💚
Bottom line (pun intended)
In his Bafta-awarded performance as the mystical janitor Ahti in “Control”, the Finnish actor Martti Suosalo said that “for a Finn, holiday is holy.” There was another word at the end of the sentence that he used to emphasize his point, which I won’t repeat here. This is a family site, after all. I won’t spoil what happens to his character either, but let’s just say a cabin and a sauna are involved.
Traditions run deep in Finland and I have to admit that my summer’s never complete if I don’t get to have at least one mökki-weekend by the lake.
Preferable without mosquitos.
And preferably with an outhouse.
ps. A skeleton walks into a bar and says, “Give me a beer and a mop.” 🤭
