Take opaque from eye

Lake 1

Lake 2

The photographs were taken on September 7th by lake Bodom in Oittaa.

(Posting title is from the poem Leaf Litter on Rock Face by Heather McHugh.)

That you were admitted to the company

View 1

View 2

The photographs were taken at Oittaa on June 22nd.

(Posting title is from the poem Gilgamesh: Tablet 11 by David Ferry.)

I believe in an honest and forthright manner

Lake 1

Lake 2

The photographs were taken at lake Bodom on June 17th.

(Posting title is from the poem More Experiments with the Mysterious Property of Animal Magnetism (1769) by Kathryn Nuernberger.)

They thought they knew

View 1

View 2

View 3

View 4

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.)

Be caught in a commonplace way

Ice 1

Ice 2

Ice 3

Ice 4

Ice 5

Ice 6

The photographs were taken at lake Bodom on December 29th, before sunrise. The ice was quite thin. On December 30th a person skating on the lake drowned when the ice fell apart, and another got luckily rescued. This in not uncommon in early (or late) winter.

Yesterday I finally decided that the hiking boots I have been using - made by Sievi - are too worn out to be useful any more. The leather is cracked in many places, and is falling into pieces. Snow gets inside the lining, as the gore-tex is no longer intact, and after a while the feet get wet inside the boots when the snow melts.

In a year I walk about 1000 km, or perhaps somewhat more. To complement the Sievi boots in extremely wet conditions - and for deep snow - I bought Nokian rubber boots in the summer 2012, and they are still in good condition.

I have been using the Nokian rubber boots and the Sievi boots about as much during the year, so I guess the Sievi boots have got over 3000 km of walking, and the Nokian boots about 2000 km.

Yesterday I ordered new hiking boots. There was one pair of size 48 (US size 13) Alpina K9 boots on sale, and I decided to try them out. They seem to be competent and durable, but that remains to be seen.

(Posting title is from the poem The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll.)

But till this astonishing creature I know

Lake 1

Lake 2

These photographs were taken at lake Bodom in Oittaa on March 23rd.

Today was a fine day for commuting by bicycle. It was cold in the morning, about -2 °C, but the road was not slippery and quite fine for the summer tires. And in the afternoon the temperature rose to +7 °C, and it was sunny, and the air was clean after the rain, so everything was about perfect for riding the bicycle. And then there was 7 m/s backwind as well, which helped so that I was home in 45 minutes, the fastest time this year.

In Finnish newspapers there have appeared articles about a group of ten men who recently won in lottery 57,3 million euro. Two days before this happened I pondered what I would do if I would get rich enough to do whatever I like with my time. My thinking still holds. The basis of my "dream life" would be walking four hours each day and reading books four hours each day. That would leave plenty of time for taking care of children and other family matters.

However, that said, I like my work quite a lot, especially working with the colleagues I have, and thus I have a dilemma. Maybe it would be possible to combine walking, reading and working somehow. Not that I'm doing too badly with this right now either.

But this is of course pure speculation as I have never played the lottery.

(Posting title is from the poem The Lover: A Ballad by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.)

Yield to a direction of significance

Reeds 1

Reeds 2

Reeds 3

Reeds 4

Reeds 5

On March 23rd I went for a walk with my daughter to Oittaa, south of lake Bodom. There were reeds by the shore.

I commuted by bicycle today. Some muscles, especially in the arms, were rather sore due to the things I did during the weekend. Probably changing summer tires to the car was the reason. If one would do it regularly the muscles would be used to it, but twice a year is not quite enough to keep in shape for that kind of work.

(Posting title is from the poem Corsons Inlet by A. R. Ammons.)

What use can I make of these magical forms?

Sign

Fallen

Shore

Key

Lights

Blue 1

Blue 2

Blue 3

Sometimes I get the feeling that the blue moment after sunset really is magical, or as close to photographic magic as I can imagine. These photographs were taken by lake Bodom during the hour after sunset.

Yesterday I had a lot of exercise. I went for a walk in the morning, walking along paths around the golf course at Katinkulta. The average depth of snow is rather close to zero, but there are patches where there is still up to 15 cm of snow. Then I spent time swimming in the spa, overseeing the daughters.

Later in the afternoon I went for another walk. And then there was some bowling, competing with my oldest daughter. I won, but just barely. It must be something like 15 years since I last went bowling. And late in the evening I had yet another walk. In all I got something like five hours of exercise. This is surely enough for one day.

When we started our travel up north I looked up the depth of snow measurement for Sotkamo, and it was over 20 cm. Today it was just 2 cm. The warm weather and the rain have melted away most of the snow, and the ditches and lakes are flooded with water. It doesn't feel at all like winter.

(Posting title is from Mozart’s Third Brain by Göran Sonnevi, translated by Rika Lesser.)

The twisted heart they thought

Red

Steps

Shore

Tracks

These photographs were taken by lake Bodom in Oittaa on December 20th, when my vacation started, exploring the lakeside with my daughter. I have been thinking about - and observing - humanity during the vacation, all the errors one makes even though trying to live a reasonably good life. Such twisted things we human beings are, or at least I am, or maybe I'm just an exceptionally error-prone one.

(Posting title is from the poem The Exorcism by Joyce Sutphen.)

At the bodom fundus of this royal park

Oittaa

Bodom 1

Bodom 2

I don't have the equipment to transfer the new photographs from the LX5, so I'm continuing with older photographs which I uploaded before the trip. These were taken a week ago at Oittaa, by the south shore of lake Bodom, showing how the ice has broken in pieces and reformed, and was melting away in the warm weather.

I has been wet also up north. It was raining when we arrived in Sotkamo, with some snowing mixed in. We spent time in the spa at Katinkulta, especially the outside pool where rain/snow was falling. That didn't feel too bad.

I have taken quite a few photographs, some of which I think may turn out quite well. As they say, bad weather for the photographer is good for the photographs.

(Posting title is from Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce.)

Some days the chimes raged

Path

Birches

Lake

Here are three photographs taken at Oittaa, near the south shore of lake Bodom, on December 1st. It was wet and dark. And so it has been earlier this week. Snow has been melting, and overcast sky above. The length of day is now 5 h 53 min, the darkest time is soon upon us.

I commuted by bicycle today, even though there was storm during the night. The wind speeds were up to 30 m/s, but by morning it wasn't quite so bad, even though there were spells of 20 m/s winds. In the morning I had backwind, and mostly it was very nice to ride the bicycle, the wind helping.

By afternoon it was much calmer, wind speed was only about 4 m/s, so it wasn't too bad to go against the wind when returning home.

(Posting title is from the poem The Wind Chimes by Shirley Buettner.)

It was good for my heart

Oittaa 1

Oittaa 2

If everything goes according to plan, I should fly to Bryssels and back home today, but one never knows with air travel. For example, Icelandic ash in 2010.

(Posting title is from the poem Leaves Fell by Juhan Liiv, translated by H.L. Hix and Jüri Talvet.)

Steps out of the lake

Oittaa 1

Oittaa 2

I'm not sure if there is anything connecting these photographs, except Oittaa, south of lake Bodom, where the photographs were taken.

(Posting title is from the poem A Poem That Starts Out Wrong by Landis Everson.)

The turning of the globe is not so real to us

Puddles

Bodom

Fence

These photographs were taken two weeks ago at Oittaa, by the south shore of lake Bodom.

On Sunday I changed studded winter tires to the car. So far I have managed without, but the weather forecast promises temperatures down to -5 °C next week, and roads may get slippery. I have installed studded tires both in bicycle and car, so I'm ready for winter roads.

(Posting title is from the poem Hymn to Life by James Schuyler.)

And there are those who fail to get their lessons done

Blue 1

Blue 2

Blue 3

Feeling blue? Yes I am.

(Posting title is from the poem A Small Anatomy of Feeling by Anna Rabinowitz.)