To be snatched in an instant

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The photographs were taken on January 6th.

In January I got 442 km riding the bicycle. This morning there was black ice on a downhill slope, and I slid for some distance, but stayed upright. Once again the studded winter tires proved their worth.

The baby-carrot fingers (controlled by Bannon) are again and again proving disastrous. How long can this continue? On the other hand, a lot of great people are showing their worth by the skill and will to #resist.

(Posting title is from the poem A Romance by Lucia Perillo.)

Or it makes me the saddest

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The photographs were taken on January 5th.

We got a little bit of new (and very wet) snow today. Tomorrow the weather is getting colder, which means slippery roads, once again.

The amount of stupid and insane things started by the baby-carrot fingers in ten days must be a record of some kind. Is there a category in Guinness World Records for this?

In any case, #resist. And support the people who are doing admirable things, showing their love.

(Posting title is from the poem Don't Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine.)

if I don’t say something, if I just lie still

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The photographs were taken on January 5th.

This week I got over 13 hours of exercise. Snow is disappearing, it doesn't feel quite like winter.

These days one gets scared when reading the news, which are full of hateful and unlawful things. It seems that whatever the baby-carrot fingers touch turns into evil. And that he is playing in the same team as the terrorists. Fermenting trouble is the name of the game. And the culprit to blame - as well those who suffer - is always someone else.

(Posting title is from the song Quiet by MILCK.)

Can you see

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The photographs were taken on January 4th.

In six days I have got 11 1/2 hours of exercise, of which 8 hours riding the bicycle. Today I walked for two hours, circling around lake Kattilajärvi in Nuuksio. The paths were icy and slippery, and it started to rain. Snow is melting away.

I'm a bit afraid to check what has been happening with the world during the walk.

(Posting title is from the song Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves by Eurythmics.)

I get them to make a list of many-colored things

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The photographs were taken on January 4th.

Thomas Wilhelmsson, Chancellor of the University of Helsinki, wrote on Twitter: ”US and UK researchers, welcome to Finland! Finnish people still believe in science and real facts”.

Welcome to Finland – WTF for short – sounds rather good.

I can’t believe what is happening in the US, which has become a dictatorship with an easily lead narcissist as the frontispiece for unscrupulous fraudsters and all kinds of evilness. Science – including humanities, liberal arts, etc. – is no longer open or to be relied on because of political control, and access to information is being drastically curtailed.

The blindness to facts (and preferring “alternative facts” and putting forward the big lie) will lead to suffering and dying people. All this will be blamed on “the other”, as it is impossible for a narcissist to acknowledge that he is to blame. And thus there is need to hide the real facts, such things as global warming, unemployment statistics, public health, etc. Otherwise people would see the emperor having no clothes (and tiny hands).

What will happen unless plenty of people #resist?

Here are some scenarios: Collapse of the educational system. Shipwreck of research institutions. Large-scale economic misery and unemployment, except for some of the wealthiest robber barons and baronesses. Extreme weather destroying property and killing people. Bankruptcy of health care, and manifestation of diseases that had almost been vanquished.

What can be done? The Women's March which was organized on January 21, 2017, showed the way. One needs to #resist, and it helps to have plenty of humour on the way.

And coming back to WTF. We do have problems here in Finland as well, including some populistic politicians who are doing hateful and unlawful things and fermenting trouble. Still, I trust in the sanity of the Finnish people.

(Posting title is from the poem Husky Boys' Dickies by Jill McDonough.)

And who could resist

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The photographs were taken on January 3rd.

Please support Red Cross, UNESCO, Amnesty, etc. And remember to #resist evil.

(Posting title is from the poem Comings and Goings by Glenna Luschei.)

I can never resist it

Dark

The photograph was taken on January 2nd.

Today was the coldest day this week, -6 °C in the morning and -4 °C in the afternoon. Tomorrow it will be warmer, and the weather forecast promises some rain. Thus, roads will be wet and slippery in places where there is snow and ice. But the studded winter tires have kept me safe while commuting by bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Dog in Bed by Joyce Sidman.)

Did you cover your eyes when they told you

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The photographs were taken on January 2nd.

"Are you claiming that my opinion is not as valuable as scientific facts?" What can you answer...

(Posting title is from the song Praying For Time by George Michael.)

Let them not say: we did not see it

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The photographs were taken on January 1st.

This morning I did some walking in Tikkurila. I realized that I know very little what there is to be seen, because usually I just pass by along the roads or railway tracks.

And concerning "alternative facts": #resist.

(Posting title is from the poem Let Them Not Say by Jane Hirshfield.)

We don’t want your tiny hands

Blur

The photograph was taken on January 1st, 2017.

This morning I walked for two hours, exploring a frozen swamp. Once again the sun was visible on the sky.

Yesterday a lot of people were walking, to #resist. It was great to see so much positive feeling. The world is not lost.

(Posting title is from the song Tiny Hands by Fiona Apple.)

The makeup artist is hard at work in the Oval Office

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The photographs were taken on December 31st.

This morning I walked for two hours, starting half an hour before sunrise. The cloud cover had disappeared, and I saw the sun, which felt like a rare phenomenon.

During the walk I thought about the future of the Little Britain and the Little America, feeling sad. On the other hand, there are people who #resist, and I greatly admire many of them.

(Posting title is from the poem February 30th by Frederick Seidel.)

You’ll see soon

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The photographs were taken at Oittaa on December 31st.

I have got 272 km riding the bicycle this year. Last year I got over 6,500 km of riding, which now feels quite a feat, perhaps because in winter riding the bicycle is much heavier and slower than during summer.

But at least the days are getting longer. This morning I saw a little bit lighter sky in the east while commuting by bicycle, even though it was over an hour before sunrise.

(Posting title is from the song Springtime for Twittler by Irwin Collier.)

Completely crazy but not at all insane

Birch

The photograph was taken on December 30th.

The weather forecast promises colder weather for tomorrow, -6 °C in the morning. The roads are wet because of melting snow and ice, and thus it can be quite slippery tomorrow.

(Posting title is from the poem Me by Frederick Seidel.)

We have seen the best of our time

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The photographs were taken on December 29th at Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

The length of day is now over an hour longer that it was at the shortest, and it is getting 1/2 hour longer each week. But what is not so good is the temperature, which is once again above 0 °C, which means that the streets are wet and muddy.

(Posting title is from King Lear by Shakespeare.)

Like a flowering tree and smelled sweet

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The photographs were taken at the Winter Garden in Helsinki on December 29th.

(Posting title is from the poem Mount Street Gardens by Frederick Seidel.)

The day before the day

Street

The photograph was taken on December 29th.

The day is an hour longer than it was at the shortest. It is not dark when I commute home, and that is quite a change.

(Posting title is from the poem The State of New York by Frederick Seidel.)

See the silhouettes agape

Trees

The photograph was taken on December 28th.

I got 12 hours of exercise this week, of which 8 hours commuting by bicycle. The next week seems promising for riding the bicycle, as there is no heavy snowfall in the weather forecast.

(Posting title is from the poem Louse Hunting by Isaac Rosenberg.)

That he was going to carry it for a very long time

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The photographs were taken on December 27th in Nuuksio.

(Posting title is from the poem Faint Music by Robert Hass.)

On map there is no space, no time, for people...

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The photographs were taken at Myllyjärvi south of Luukki on December 26th.

Today I left the bicycle at home. We got new snow, but it is melting away.

(Posting title is from the poem Charles Meryon by Christopher Middleton.)

She let him look, sure that he wouldn’t see

Blue

The photograph was taken at lake Mustalampi south of Luukki on December 26th.

It started to snow today. During the night we may get 5-8 cm of snow, which means that commuting by bicycle could be challenging tomorrow.

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

They thought they knew

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The photographs were taken at lake Bodom on December 25th.

This morning there was 10 m/s headwind in the morning, and 10 m/s backwind in the afternoon. Not bad - sometimes the wind has changed so that there has been headwind both ways.

(Posting title is from the poem Program for The Dance by Ed Roberson.)