Through the whites of their eyes

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The photographs were taken on February 6th and 7th in Luukki.

I commuted by bicycle today. There was some snow and ice on the road, but mostly the asphalt was bare. Sand/gravel has been used to add traction to asphalt, but this is not so nice for bicycle tires. One year I fell down when the worn gravel on top of asphalt acted the same way as ball-bearings. However, taking some care the conditions for commuting by bicycle are excellent.

In January I got 160 km riding the bicycle, and in February 288 km, which means 448 km so far this year. I hope March will be good (e.g., not much snowfall) for riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem On A Moonstruck Gravel Road by Rodney Torreson.)

In a certain light, changing nothing, but touching

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The photographs were taken in Luukki on February 6th and 7th.

(Posting title is from the poem City Elegies by Robert Pinsky.)

The self for those moments

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The photographs were taken on February 3rd.

This morning I walked in the north parts of Sipoonkorpi National Park. It is a long time since I was there previously, and I had forgotten quite a lot of how the landscape looks like. But when I had walked for some time things started to come back, as if a collection of movie fragments or perhaps photographs would have been shown in a theater inside my head. There were some changes, but many things were similar, and I remembered things from the previous visits, things that I had mostly forgotten. It was a great day to be walking, enjoying the sunshine.

(Posting title is from the poem The Ghost Trio by Linda Bierds.)

And why do I often meet your visage here

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The photographs were taken in Helsinki on February 2nd and 3rd.

In five days I have got 11 hours of exercise, going for walks in Vaakkoi, Luukki, Nuuksio and Oittaa. The landscape keeps changing, as there has been new snow, then it has melted, and this has repeated.

February has been rather wet, in terms of snow and rain and flooding. For the next few days the weather forecast promises cold and sunny weather, which would be great. The snow has compacted due to above 0 °C temperature we had yesterday. The cold weather means that the snow will freeze and might even carry a person walking. That remains to be seen.

(Posting title is from the poem The Bridge: The Tunnel by Hart Crane.)

My hands remember enough not to touch

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The photographs were taken in Nuuksio on January 31st, southwest of lake Suolikas.

I have got eight hours of exercise in four days. Walking in deep snow is rather tough, and back muscles are a bit sore, but that should pass soon.

(Posting title is from the poem A Chest of Angels by John Reibetanz.)

Saw a way to scratch in living infinitives

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The photographs were taken on January 30th at Vaakkoi.

This morning I walked for 2 hours 10 minutes in Nuuksio, visiting four lakes: Pitkäjärvi, Kattilajärvi, Vääräjärvi and Myllyjärvi. A pair of swans flew a couple of times over me, landing on a flooded field. Some hillsides had a lot of snow, but there were also places where there was only 5 cm of snow on the ground.

(Posting title is from the poem A Walrus Tusk from Alaska by Alfred Corn.)

But, you see, though I had the mansion house

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The photographs were taken on January 28th.

Last week I got 12 hours of exercise, some of it shoveling heavy snow. This week I have got four hours of exercise, mostly walking, some of it in deep unbroken snow. Show shoes would be useful to have, but I have managed without, even though in some places there is almost half a meter of snow.

(Posting title is from the poem Lambert Hutchins by Edgar Lee Masters.)

This is no simple mug shot

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The photographs were taken in Helsinki on January 28th.

I shoveled heavy snow during the weekend, and my arm muscles are sore.

There is a generous amount of snow in the forests. The depth of snow measurement at Helsinki-Vantaa airport is 28 cm, and in Nuuksio 36 cm. The weather forecast promises a bit colder weather for the next few days.

(Posting title is from the poem The Militance of a Photograph in the Passbook of a Bantu under Detention by Michael S. Harper.)

The rest, contented boredom

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The photographs were taken on January 27th.

We are getting a lot of new and heavy snow today. I did quite a lot of shoveling snow in the morning, and more of this is in the program for the afternoon. At some point I might even go for a walk.

(Posting title is from the poem The Potato Eaters by Leonard E. Nathan.)

I’d looked the wrong way

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The photographs were taken on January 27th in Helsinki.

I got already over 2 1/2 hours of exercise today. I visited six lakes: Mustjärvi, Kakarlampi, Immerlampi, Kommelpott, Tränuhals and Nydalsviken. I was planning an even longer walk, but there was quite a lot of wet and heavy snow in the forest, making it slow going. I didn't pay much attention to the map or the compass, and it was a surprise I didn't get much lost when walking the 1.5 km distance between Immerlampi and Kommelpott. I saw a moose at 30 meter distance, and plenty of birds made noise.

(Posting title is from the poem The Dictionary of Silence by Debora Greger.)

Stale, soot-spotted heapings of winter

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The photographs were taken on January 26th in Helsinki. It was warm and snow started to melt away.

The weather forecast promises 20-30 cm of new snow during the weekend. The landscape will change once again. Well, at least it isn't the same all the time.

(Posting title is from the poem Innocence and Experience by Anne Stevenson.)

Unrepentantly elusive, wild

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The photographs were taken near lake Myllyjärvi on January 24th, and there was quite a lot of snowfall.

I commuted by bicycle today, and didn't get home until it was quite dark. The length of day is now 9 h 24 min, which is a big step towards spring.

(Posting title is from the poem Immigrant Picnic by Gregory Djanikian.)