Hidden like robbers' booty

Bicycle

Myllyjärvi

Fallen

Waves

Water

Plants

Yesterday the oldest daughter's bicycle was stolen, and I made to the police a report of an offence using their web form. Today I tried to phone the police to report that we not only lost a bicycle but found another stolen one, but apparently I need to wait until Monday to report such minor offences.

Namely a bicycle - a green one, for ladies, and a little bit rusty - was left by roadside near our house, and there wasn't anyone who knew about it. It appears that this may be a bicycle used by the guy who stole out bicycle, leaving the old one behind. And probably this was also stolen from somewhere. So I need to report the found bicycle and maybe the police will come to pick it up at some point.

We searched to the daughther's bicycle for some time this morning, but didn't see it anywhere nearby. So I think there is little hope of getting it back.

Later I went with my daughter for a walk to lake Myllyjärvi. There are several lakes with the same name in Espoo, this is the one near the Carmelite Monastery.

We walked around the lake. There was some wind, which probably helped with mosquitoes, as I only got two or three bites. My daughter says she is not bitten by mosquitoes, and she was not, so she may be right.

We both had Nokian rubber boots, which made it possible to walk across swamps and ditches, no need to circle around. It has been some time since I have owned rubber boots, but when I was young I did a lot of walking in such boots, and I wore them also when working on our farm.

(Posting title is from the poem Eyes Only by Linda Pastan.)

The volume of them, and each other’s weight

Reflect

Colors

Rock

Forest

Hillside

I commuted by bicycle today. Since the beginning of May I have a total of 774 km of riding the bicycle. My body weight has gone down a bit. This tends to happen during summer when one has more exercise, but this time the slimming down has been more noteworthy than usual. In fact, I haven't had this low weight in 5-10 years.

After dinner my oldest daughter wanted to go for a walk in Luukki, and so we went there, walking by the lake Kaitalampi in the fine evening sunshine. There were some mosquitoes, but not too much.

After the walk I celebrated by making a lot of pancakes for the family, the children being eager helpers. I think I got back what weight I had lost so far.

(Posting title is from the poem The Weight by Linda Gregg.)

Update: Speaking of bicycles, at 22:10 today the bicycle of our oldest daughter was stolen from the yard beside our house. A young guy walked away carrying it. He carried the bicycle up the nearby hill before we managed to go out looking for it, and when we searched for the bicycle we saw no sign of it. It was a new bicycle (lilac-colored Helkama Jopo), bought in April, and a sad thing for my daughter to lose.

Awaken the guitar and we might sense the unknown

Guitars

Helsinki

Clouds

Steps

The second youngest daughter is interested in learning to play the guitar. Today I walked past a shop selling all kinds of music instruments. I'm not sure what kind of acoustic guitar is the best for learning (are there different sizes for children?), but that should clear up when the lessons start in autumn.

We had quite a show of clouds today, but no heavy rain. And tomorrow should be a fine day for commuting by bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem If I Were Another by Mahmoud Darwish, translated By Fady Joudah.)

A day or two to dance, to fly

Wet

Street

Apple

Bell

Rubus odoratus

We got rain also today. I commuted by bicycle, but luckily this time the rain didn't soak me wet. After dinner the sun came out for a while, and I had a short walk.

It may be the rainy summer which has hit some apple trees, curling and coloring the leaves. Some bug perhaps?

(Posting title is from the poem The Mayfly by Douglas Florian.)

No one felt over the edge of her silk pocket

View

Harbor

Bicycle

School

Bell

Bug

It seems that time is slipping by. I commuted by car today. A lot of people have already started their vacations, which is seen in the availability of parking space in Helsinki center.

I have been busy at work, reading memos and articles and e-mails and reports and so on. However, things seem to be relaxing day by day.

I had a short walk after dinner, looking at the summer landscape which almost seems to give a promise of autumn already.

(Posting title is from the poem Little Black Tangrams by Dara Wier.)

Feels like burning and flight and running away

Rubus odoratus

I commuted by bicycle today. The morning was fine, but it started to rain after noon. When I commuted back home it had been raining for some time, and occasionally it still rained quite heavily.

I got completely soaked. And at one point, when making a turn on the wet asphalt, I slid sideways with the bicycle but fortunately I stayed upright and didn't fall.

Later I went for a walk with the youngest daughter, testing my new rubber boots. Namely the hiking shoes I bought in April (or was it March) last year have developed a leak, in the same place in both shoes. Apparently Gore-Tex isn't a guarantee of durability. I have walked only about 700 km with the hiking shoes, that shouldn't be too much.

Because of the leak in the hiking shoes I bought rubber boots, a tall model suiting wide feet, size 47: Kontio Classic by Nokian footwear. These boots I'm very familiar with, having practically grown up wearing them. I hope they are as durable as they used to be years ago. In any case, when I tested them by walking across a ditch, no water leaked inside. I think I'm now quite well equipped for the wet summer conditions which we are apparently having this year.

(Posting title is from the poem This Hour and What Is Dead by Li-Young Lee.)

The drifting sun that gives us our lives

Reflect 1

Reflect 2

Reflect 3

Reflect 4

These photographs were all taken at lake Kaitalampi, where I had a walk with my daughter. I couldn't decide which one is best, so I am posting all four.

(Posting title is from the poem Vapor Trail Reflected in the Frog Pond by Galway Kinnell.)

I say your vision goes as far as this

Ant

Ground

Rowan

Drops

Dactylorhiza maculata

Floating

Today I went out twice for a walk. Before noon it was dark, thick clouds above, and I had a walk at Tremanskärr, going across the swamp and by lake Kurkijärvi. Three hours later I went for a walk again, this time with my daughter, to lake Kaitalampi in Luukki. By then the clouds had thinned and the sun appeared.

My daughter had her LX3 with her, and she also took some photographs, and we discussed photography a little bit. I checked the settings of her camera and provided some hints on avoiding overexposure. But I'm not sure if she still needs any instructions from me.

(Posting title is from the poem Benjamin Banneker Helps to Build a City by Jay Wright.)

I like to find what's not found

Flowers

Larus ridibundus

Reflect

Cirsium

Leaves

Syringa

Buttercup

I went for a walk with my youngest daughter around noon, before it started to rain. It was cooler than yesterday, and there was wind, which kept mosquitoes away. A fine day for a walk.

(Posting title is from the poem Pleasures by Denise Levertov.)

In the intensity of its own fires

Sun

Geranium

Calm

Smoke

Fire

View

Lake

Boats

Yesterday, Midsummer Eve, was a nice day, but I didn't feel like taking photographs. I went swimming with the children, and even though the water was still cool, there were less mosquitoes, or at least the youngest daughter got only one bite instead of half a dozen.

At 10 pm we had a look at a midsummer fire being set up. This has become a tradition for us. As you can see from the photographs, sun was up and it was still light, as the length of the day is 18 h 59 min. There were a lot of people watching the fire, and celebrating, and as you probably know about Finnish drinking habits, not all were sober. But it was still nice to be out there with the children.

(Posting title is from the poem Friendship After Love by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.)