He found the very thing he’d sought

Frost 1

Frost 2

The temperature dropped below freezing last night, but that lasted only a short while. Now we are back at +7 °C, and that seems to be lasting for several days (and nights). But regardless, here are two photographs of frost, taken ten days ago at Nuuksio north of Kattila.

I have commuted by bicycle on four days this week. Today I was somewhat tired at work, getting cramps in the big leg muscles. Thus I think I'll commute by bus tomorrow, to get a little bit of rest. (And it will be a rainy day.)

(Posting title is from the poem Recitation by Scott Cairns.)

Of gems, that in their bright shades play

Bridge

Stream

Lake

These photographs were taken in Nuuksio, north of Kattila, up to lake Iso-Parikas near Salmi. During the night some ice had formed in still water.

This week seems to be good for commuting by bicycle. There has been rain, but it has happened mostly during night, and not when I have been commuting. During the night between Wednesday and Thursday the temperature drops again below zero, it remains to be seen how well the commute goes. I don't have studded winter tires in the bicycle so I hope there is no ice on the road.

(Posting title is from the poem Wishes to his (Supposed) Mistress by Richard Crashaw.)

That country crossed was what I could imagine

Green 1

Green 2

Red 1

Red 2

We had a walk in Nuuksio on October 20th, starting north from Kattila, circling towards west, and returning via southeast direction. The map wasn't too accurate, and the paths disappeared, and it started to get dark before we finally got back to the parking lot. But it was a fine day for walking.

(Posting title is from the poem As at the Far Edge of Circling by Ed Roberson.)

Whose leaves already are burnt with frost

Frost 1

Frost 2

Frost 3

We had cold weather earlier in October, but recently the temperature has hovered around +10 °C. Here are photographs from the colder period, of frost in the garden.

(Posting title is from the poem October by Robert Frost.)

The ripple and splash of rain on the blurred glass

View 1

View 2

I commuted today by bicycle, and on the way home there were some strong winds, as the storm which hit UK is arriving here. But it isn't very strong, wind speeds are up to 22 m/s on the sea and 16 m/s inland. And instead of fresh photographs I offer two old ones, taken three weeks ago.

(Posting title is from the poem Storm Windows by Howard Nemerov.)

We hold or cannot hold to what we are

Pine

Lake 1

Lake 2

Sauna

Gate

Cabin

It got dark before we got back from the forest on October 19th in Nuuksio, near Kattila. These photographs were taken during and after the blue moment, while we walked along the lakeside trying to keep on the path in the darkness. The camera saw more than the eye.

(Posting title is from the poem The Bodies by Elizabeth Spires.)

Cursing the light that never seems to change

Signs

Grass 1

Grass 2

Lake 1

Lake 2

On October 19th I went for a walk with my daughter in Nuuksio. We started walking from Kattila, which is halfway between Haltia in the south and Salmi in the north. We walked towards south and then west, and it started getting dark when we were halfway back to Kattila.

(Posting title is from the poem Getting Where We're Going by John Brehm.)

The imagination is more restless than the body

Lamps

Lamp

Moon

Blur

Yesterday I made a posting with b&w versions of photographs. Here you see how the color versions - the original ones - look like. As Martina suggested, the feeling is rather different. Which version do you prefer?

(Posting title is from My Life: A name trimmed with colored ribbons by Lyn Hejinian.)

To me, fair friend, you never can be old

Steps

Books

Art

View

Up

Curtains

I visited today with the children Helsinki Book Fair, and spent 3 1/2 hours there. It is more tiring to walk around a fair or an exhibition than walking the same amount of time in a forest or a swamp. Why it is so, I wonder.

(Posting title is from Sonnet CIV by William Shakespeare.)

Every year the moon inches away from us

Lamps

Lamp

Moon

Blur

Usually I don't convert photographs into b&w, but this time I decided to try it, as the color balance was rather strange, thanks to artificial lights and full moon on the sky.

(Posting title is from the poem Red Moon Eclogues by Mark Tredinnick.)

You make an effort to find some grand design in this blindness

Blur 1

Blur 2

Blur 3

Sometimes the days are rather blurry.

(Posting title is from the poem The Ice Age by Amy Gerstler.)

It is as though the world were a great writing

Grass 1

Grass 2

Grass, growing in Torronsuo swamp.

(Posting title is from the poem Writing by Howard Nemerov.)

Into another frame of space

Sign

Leaves

Boards

Crossing

Swamp

This is how it looks like to walk in Torronsuo swamp. A great place to visit, although a bit too far for doing it often.

Yesterday I upgraded one of the two Macs at home to OS X 10.9 Mavericks. I made a fresh backup, and a bootable installer on a USB stick just in case something goes wrong, but the upgrade was the most straightforward ever, no problems whatsoever.

The two Macs I have at home are six and five years old, and both are the oldest Macs of their kind which still run OS X 10.9. It is in fact a bit surprising that so old machines run the newest OS without problems.

(Posting title is from the poem Center by Josephine Miles.)

Sheds blood to pry the gemstone from the ground

Quarry 1

Quarry 2

Quarry 2

On October 17th we visited the old quarry at Härksaari in Torronsuo swamp. I brought a shovel with me for a little big of digging, following the orders of the youngest daughter who really likes rocks.

(Posting title is from the poem Professional Middle-class Couple, 1922 by Adam Kirsch.)