Saturday, April 30, 2016

While making sure unseen is plainly heard

The photographs were taken on April 2nd.

This morning I walked for three hours, mostly along swamps, by Tränuhals to Grenomossen and then back via Talimossen and Bergängarna. I got quite tired, and even a little bit lost along the way, finding new routes and new places.

(Posting title is from the poem The Cricket in the Sump by Catherine Tufariello.)

Friday, April 29, 2016

Each eye a storm trooper

The photograph was taken on April 2nd.

I commuted by bicycle every day this week, and so far this year I have got 1519 km riding the bicycle. The bicycle got rather dirty, and I did some cleaning today. One thing I don't like to do is cleaning the chain, so I bought a Park Tool CM5.2 Cyclone Chain Cleaner to help. Today I tried it for the first time, and it worked well, much better than I thought.

Before buying the tool I read some reviews on the net. Another such tool is Pedro's Chain Pig, but the Park Tool was cheaper (at discount), so I bought it. I'm not sure of the durability, but it seems to be robust enough. Cleaning the chain a couple of times each month is no longer a difficult task at all.

(Posting title is from the poem Vacating an Apartment by Agha Shahid Ali.)

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Glanced and stung and burned all day

The photographs were taken on April 2nd in Nuuksio.

Today while commuting by bicycle I realized I haven't been in a car which is stuck in a traffic jam since quite a while.

(Posting title is from the poem Where the Blue Begins by George Bradley.)

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

And not another like it could I see

The photographs were taken on April 2nd in Nuuksio northwest of Soidinsuo swamp.

(Posting title is from the poem The Wood-Pile by Robert Frost.)

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

To the deepest part of the woods

The photographs were taken on April 2nd at Soidinsuo swamp in Nuuksio.

Today it was wet, cold and headwind both in the morning and in the afternoon. There were not many people commuting by bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Windigo by Louise Erdrich.)

Monday, April 25, 2016

Where the stalking once was good

The photographs were taken at Soidinsuo swamp in Nuuksio on April 2nd.

This morning: cold, wet, headwind. This afternoon: dry, sunny, backwind. Not a bad day for commuting by bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Aquí by Carmen Tafolla.)

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Into the shape of its absence

The photographs were taken on March 29th at Vaakkoi.

This week I have got 13 hours of exercise, and one hour of breathing in chair yoga. Today in the morning I walked for over two hours in Luukki. There are lots of signs of spring, from flowers to singing birds. I saw a pair of Gavia stellata, for the first time this year, at a lake where they probably plan to be nesting.

(Posting title is from the poem EGG by Brian Swann.)

Saturday, April 23, 2016

And light danced in her eyes

The photographs were taken on March 29th at Vaakkoi.

Today I walked for over two hours in Nuuksio, starting from Velskola and walking around lake Kattilajärvi, returning via lake Vääräjärvi. At 7 am there was plenty of rain, and more is in the forecast for this afternoon, but during the walk it didn't rain and even the sun appeared. I met one other person on the trail. Lots of birds were to be heard.

(Posting title is from the poem Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti.)

Friday, April 22, 2016

It is correct to love even at the wrong time

The photograph was taken at Vaakkoi on March 29th.

I commuted by bicycle every day this week. So far this year I have got 1359 km riding the bicycle. Today I tried out one hour of chair yoga, first time ever. It was mostly about breathing.

(Posting title is from the poem ICU by Spencer Reece.)

Thursday, April 21, 2016

And my fingers close on it, caressing

The photographs were taken on March 29th at Vaakkoi.

(Posting title is from the poem The Blue Scarf by Amy Lowell.)

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Such is the power of love in gentle mind

The photographs were taken at lake Suolikas on March 28th.

We had rather variable weather today: sunshine, rain, hail. In the morning there was backwind and in the afternoon headwind. The other way round would be better.

(Posting title is from the poem Amoretti XXX: My Love is like to ice, and I to fire by Edmund Spenser.)

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

By the force of our longing it is

The photograph was taken on March 28th at lake Suolikas.

This morning we had rain, and the road was wet with deep puddles of water. But in the afternoon we had sunshine, and the road was dry. Quite variable weather, feels like spring.

Today I took my old bicycle to Sortti Station for recycling, after removing some parts that might still be usable. I thought for some time that I might make repairs to the old bicycle, but finally I realized I don't have any interest in it. I had the old bicycle for 11 years, and rode something like 30,000 km on it. Not bad at all, but still I was a little bit sad when I got rid of it at the recycling center.

(Posting title is from the poem “The pond is sheathed in ice” by Melanie Braverman.)

Monday, April 18, 2016

This discipline, this glaze

The photographs were taken at lake Suolikas on March 28th.

There have been over 1.5 million views of my photographs at Flickr. On June 29th, 2015 the count passed 1 million views. Currently the view rate is such that there would be 1 million views each year. Looking at the statistics, it seems that certain places generate interest, such as Sipoonkorpi, Tremanskärr, Saana, Porkkalanniemi, etc. Sometimes there are several hundred views in a day generated by such searches.

(Posting title is from the poem This Inwardness, This Ice by Christian Wiman.)

Sunday, April 17, 2016

Then the sun

The photographs were taken at lake Suolikas in Nuuksio on March 28th.

This morning I walked for 1 1/2 hours at Tremanskärr, exploring signs of spring. It rained a little bit, which cleared the air of pollen and dust.

(Posting title is from the poem Cloud by Kay Ryan.)

Saturday, April 16, 2016

I could be: ice

The photographs were taken on March 28th at lake Suolikas in Nuuksio.

This morning I walked for over two hours in the north parts of Luukki, enjoying the spring weather. When I started, the temperature was +1 °C, and when I returned, +10 °C. In some shadowed spots there still remains a little bit of snow, and a little ice remains on the lakes, but otherwise winter seems to have passed.

(Posting title is from the poem High and Bright and Fine and Ice by Darcie Dennigan.)

Friday, April 15, 2016

A solitude made more intense

The photographs were taken at Sipoonkorpi on March 27th.

This was the second week when I commuted by bicycle every day. So far this year I have got 1199 km riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Snow-Bound: A Winter Idyl by John Greenleaf Whittier.)

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Seeing the distant level further

The photographs were taken at Sipoonkorpi on March 27th.

(Posting title is from the poem A Low Bank of Cloud by Ed Roberson.)

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

To where the wood was chopped

The photographs were taken at Sipoonkorpi on March 27th.

(Posting title is from the poem Hands Are Wood by Seth Abramson.)

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Time speeds, like you speed. Only not an awareness.

The photographs were taken at Lemmenlaakso valley on March 26th.

Today was a sunny day, 0 °C in the morning and +12 °C in the afternoon. However, there was a lot of pollen and dust in the air, which made the bicycle commute not so pleasant.

(Posting title is from the poem Time as Memory as Story by Simon J. Ortiz.)

Monday, April 11, 2016

I imagine them now, they follow

The photographs were taken on March 26th at Lemmenlaakso, walking along the meandering river.

(Posting title is from the poem Blue by Carl Phillips.)