There are a lot of things to do today. The weather would be fine for a walk in forests and swamps, but I'm not sure if I have time for that. Have to see how that goes. The photographs were taken in Vaakkoi on July 29th.
(Posting title is from the poem After Su Tung P'o by Heather McHugh.)
These photographs were taken in Vaakkoi on July 29th. I really should start processing the newer photographs, but there has been so much other stuff to take care of.
(Posting title is from the poem Still Start by Kay Ryan.)
I need to start processing photographs, there are hundreds of them waiting on the computer. These photographs were taken on July 30th.
(Posting title is from the poem The Process of Explication by Dorothea Lasky.)
Today I got soaking wet when commuting by bicycle back home. The rain shower was short, but intense.
The photographs show the landscape of Vantaa city, which I explored by bicycle during the summer.
(Posting title is from the poem City of Grace by Jake Adam York.)
It rained today, but not when I commuted by bicycle, so I didn't get wet. The daily commute is starting to feel easy, which is as it should be. Since the beginning of May, I have got 1477 kilometers on the bicycle, which is less than last year, but not bad either. On the other hand, a colleague at work has got 5312 kilometers in the same time.
We are having a thunderstorm right now while I'm writing this posting.
(Posting title is from the poem Little Exercise by Elizabeth Bishop.)
This is river Vantaanjoki, photograph taken on July 30th. I commuted by bicycle today, and didn't get too wet.
(Posting title is from the poem River by Greg Miller.)
Yesterday I walked in north parts of Nuuksio, south of lake Saarijärvi, starting from the parking place at Yli-Takkula. I forgot to take a map with me, but I managed to go to lake Hauklampi anyway, using a compass, and back from there. There were a lot of deer fly, a dozen or so landing on me, and I for sure don't like the critters. The walk was shorter than I planned, but in any case I got over ten hours of exercise during the week.
The photographs of damselflies were taken in Vaakkoi on July 29th.
(Posting title is from the poem The Unfortunate Damsel by Mrs. Fleetwood Habergham.)
Yesterday I walked for almost two hours in Sipoonkorpi National Park, in the swamps west of Viirilä. It has rained quite a lot, so the swamps are getting wet. There was a thunderstorm passing by during the walk, with heavy rain. The temperature dropped from +17 °C to +11 °C, and I got soaked.
This reminds me that I should apply a new water-repellent treatment to my old jacket, it gets wet too easily. And I should wash it also, it got quite dirty during the walk.
I have got over nine hours of exercise this week, which is good. Next week seems to be rainy, but I have got used to riding the bicycle while it rains.
The photographs were taken in Vaakkoi on July 29th.
(Posting title is from the poem Beauty and the Illiterate by Odysseus Elytis, translated by Olga Broumas.)
On July 29th I visited Vaakkoi, walking a route going past five lakes. Except for route 2000, there are no marked paths, but on the other hand there are a lot of small unmarked paths, criss-crossing the area, from lake to lake and swamp to swamp.
(Posting title is from the poem Like Rousseau by Amiri Baraka.)
I commuted by bicycle each day this week, so in five days I got 7 1/2 hours of exercise. I keep on being hungry, despite eating a lot. In addition to riding the bicycle, I have been using the standing desk at work, which has put some extra pressure on muscles usually not so much used.
(Posting title is from the poem Enter a Cloud by W. S. Graham.)
I'm hungry, but that is ok. Commuting by bicycle in now becoming routine, and even though there are some pain and ache (and hunger feeling), I'm starting to enjoy it once again.
Work days are extremely busy. Somehow this photograph fits the feeling after a work day.
(Posting title is from the poem Poem: Octopus floating... by Bill Knott.)
I'm hungry. It is due to commuting by bicycle each day, 45 minutes both in the morning and in the afternoon. Thus, 4 1/2 hours of exercise so far this week.
It has been rainy. Yesterday I didn't get soaked, and neither today, as the rain (with plenty of thunder) happened conveniently during office hours.
The photographs were taken on July 27th.
(Posting title is from the poem “A peanut sat on a railroad track ...”.)
I commuted by bicycle today. On the way back home I had to do some quick repairs to the bicycle, but that wasn't a problem as had tools with me. I need to have the bicycle serviced at some point, but I hope it holds for a while.
The photograph was taken on July 27th in Helsinki. I ride past this bridge on my daily commute. Today was a wet day, but I didn't get soaked, as the big rain happened during the work hours.
(Posting title is from the poem Handling Destiny: Tools of the Trade by Adrian Castro.)
I commuted by bicycle today. I got soaking wet in the morning and in the afternoon. This was a rainy day.
The photographs were taken in Helsinki on July 27th. It was dry then.
(Posting title is from the poem From Violence to Peace by Jimmy Santiago Baca.)
The leg muscles were a bit sore this morning, after the 2 1/2 walk on a swamp yesterday, so I took magnesium, it should help with the ache. And that is not the only ache. One of the children got a bit of road rash yesterday, falling off a kick scooter. I cleaned the skin wound, and I have been changing the bandage regularly. The wound looked quite bad in the beginning, but now it is much better.
The photographs were taken on the night train from Oulu to Helsinki on July 24th.
(Posting title is from the poem Youth and Art by Robert Browning.)
I tested the bicycle yesterday, riding 17 km, and it worked well, the new axle nut keeps tight. I also installed new pedals to the bicycle. The old ones got 15 000 km of riding, and the new ones are the same model. When I got the bicycle I had different pedals, but they only lasted 400 km, and the second set of pedals even less than that. Then I switched to Shimano lock pedals, and they are durable.
Today I walked for 2 1/2 hours in Nuuksio, northwest of lake Siikajärvi, exploring Soidinsuo swamp. That felt good. This week I have got only 4 1/2 hours of exercise so far, and that is little.
The photographs were taken in Oulu on July 24th.
(Posting title is from the poem Piano Practice by Howard Moss.)
Today I got the axle nut for the bicycle, and it fits. I need still to do a test ride, but looks good.
Earlier this week I didn't get much exercise, as I had to commute by bus and car, because the bicycle was broken. But I got an ache in my leg muscles, as if I had done a lot of exercise. I wondered how this can be, until I realized that I have a standing desk at work. Some leg muscles were apparently underused during the summer, and now they got pressed back into service.
Yesterday I went for a walk in Petikko with my daughter, taking photographs of various plants. It felt good, and the headache went away.
The photograph was taken on July 24th in Oulu.
(Posting title is from the poem Mythistorema by George Seferis, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard.)
Last night there was an intense thunderstorm and heavy rain at 2 AM. For some reason I couldn't go back to sleep afterwards, and now I have a headache, because of lack of sleep.
In the photographs there is less headache. They were taken in Oulu on July 24th while waiting for the night train.
I got a notice that the axle nut which I ordered has now arrived. Tomorrow I hope to get the bicycle fixed.
(Posting title is from the poem Photographs by John Unterecker.)
I'm still missing the axle nut.
It has been a very busy week at work. A big change after being on vacation for seven weeks, which was the longest vacation I have had in 20 years.
The photograph was taken in Oulu on July 24th.
(Posting title is from the poem The Vacation by Wendell Berry.)
I'm still waiting for the nut for my bicycle. The photographs were taken in Kajaani on July 23rd.
(Posting title is from the poem Don’t Be Flip by Todd Boss.)
The photograph was taken in Kajaani on July 23rd. The exact species is unknown because I didn't see the underside of the wings.
(Posting title is from the poem Consecration by Susan Stewart.)
I thought that I would commute by bicycle today, but I got only 0.5 km away from home when my bicycle broke. The acorn nut in the rear axle came loose, and as the thread had got stripped in the nut, it wouldn't stay on. So, I had to walk the bicycle back home, and commuted by car instead.
This evening I tried switching the left side nut to the right, and it went on perfectly. But the stripped nut was so loose that there was nothing else to do that try to find a shop selling replacement nuts for the Shimano axle.
Apparently Shimano Nexus 8 axle nuts are 3/8 inch 26 tpi, which is an old thread standard (BSC), no longer as popular as it used to be.
I found that I'm not alone with the problem, as the flat spots on the Nexus axle are rough on the nuts. The axle is of much harder material than the nut, and thus stripping happens if one is not careful when installing the nut. It may be also that when one stresses the rear tire heavily (going up and down steep hills etc.) the nut thread gets stripped.
There is a bicycle shop in Helsinki selling Shimano spare parts, and this nut costs there 4.30 euro, and they have it in store. If it fits, the repair is cheap, even though 4.30 euro is a steep price for just one nut.
(Posting title is from the poem Lullaby by John Fuller.)
Here are some photographs taken in Kajaani, on July 23rd, by the river.
(Posting title is from the poem Afton Water by Robert Burns.)
Some views to the river in Kajaani, photographs taken on July 23rd.
(Posting title is from the poem River by Greg Miller.)
These photographs were taken on July 23rd near a bridge which crosses the river in Kajaani.
I rode the bicycle today, for 1 1/2 hours. Afterwards I did some repairs to the bicycle, and realized there is something bigger that needs to be done at some point. I hope the bicycle works still for a while until I need to go the the repair shop. The last time I had the bicycle repaired wasn't so great, I needed to have the bicycle re-repaired half a dozen times until it was ok.
(Posting title is from the poem A Fixed Idea by Amy Lowell.)
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