Winter gravel time, part 3

I finally saw how all that gravel gets tossed on the sidewalks. These orange trucks drive around and throw gravel like American street-department trucks throw sand and salt. Using gravel is a very clean concept compared to sand and salt. I was told that the gravel is cleaned up in the spring by trucks with big vacuum attachments, cleaned, stored in silos, and then re-used the next season. How efficient! But this winter in Helsinki, the gravel is losing the battle because it then snows again, which then gets packed down with the gravel, which then turns once more to ice -- and the sandwiched gravel seems to be more for decorative effect than for traction.

How are the pedestrians faring? Most are adept at doing what is called here the "penguin walk," so just imagine big penguins moving around the city, carrying bags and pushing strollers. Yet many just plod on as if nothing were at risk. I have seen a few slips and slides, and today I actually saw a middle-aged male Finn fall on his bottom with a loud plop but just get right back up resume walking as if falling on ice were a common occurrence to be tolerated. Nothing to see here. As for me, I have not fallen yet, but I have come close and have had many "whoa" slip moments. I have even been in situations where I have stopped to consider alternate routes and detours. Do I want to walk here or over there? Can I grab onto this, or hold onto that? And I have finally tried using the pull-on mini-spikes that a Finnish friend loaned me, which make a nice sound when I move along, much like a high-school football player makes when leaving the field and going into the locker room. Or a tap dancer, ready to break into a routine. Neither of which experience I have ever had. Do the spikes work? I need to test some more, but at least I make a confident noise now as I cross treacherous patches that test my new penguin-walking skills.