The photographs were taken at Ruka in Kuusamo on July 2nd.
This morning I rode the bicycle around the airport, getting 42 km of riding in two hours. When I came home I realized that some people are able to run the same distance in two hours.
(Posting title is from the poem The Toothless Wonder by Phil Bolsta.)
The photographs were taken at Ruka on July 2nd, showing Rukatunturi hills. The white plastic covers hide piles of show, stored for the autumn for the beginning of the ski season.
One of the things which I like about London is the multitude of cultures living together, and the glimpses of enjoyment of life one can see on the streets.
In Finland there is much less of this happening, which is a pity, and I do hope things will improve. Immigration is important for many reasons, not only because of the economy which benefits of new people coming in. There are less and less children in Finland, so we need immigration to cope with the challenges of aging population. Also, because Finland has been isolated, there are unfortunately quite a lot of hereditary diseases, and widening the gene pool (so to speak) would be rather beneficial. I really don't understand the arguments of people who oppose these benefits.
(Posting title is from the poem Don't You Wonder, Sometimes? by Tracy K. Smith.)
The photographs were taken on July 2nd while walking along the Valtavaara route at Ruka in Kuusamo.
Spending some time in London was rewarding although it was also exhausting. Most things were fine, but traveling in London posed problems.
We bought London travelcards, but they never worked at the underground gates. Well, once it happened that the children got through ok, and only my ticket generated an error message, but usually all the cards failed, giving error messages at gates, either "Seek assistance" or error code 09.
Luckily there was always a person somewhere near the gates to ask for help, and by showing the ticket we were able to pass the gates.
In bus traffic there were no devices for reading travel cards. One showed the ticked to the driver and that was fine.
In retrospect it would have been better to buy Oyster cards for traveling, but I'm not sure they would have worked any better, because lots of people seemed to have trouble passing the gates, even people with Oyster cards.
(Posting title is from the poem We wonder at our shifting capacities by Anna Moschovakis.)
Here are two pairs of photographs, taken at the Valtavaara hill route in Kuusamo on July 2nd. Two of the photographs were taken with the LX100, two with the iPhone SE. Can you spot the difference?
After a week of traveling to London I'm back in Finland, and it is raining, heavily.
And oh the awful wonder of what is happening with Trump. I do hope truth and openness will win this case.
(Posting title is from the poem Wonder as Wander by Sharon Olds.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
While traveling to London with the children I have got three to five hours of walking each day. In six days I learned Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Holland Park quite well.
One thing which felt a bit strange was the people who rode the bicycle within the car traffic, changing lanes rapidly, not even minding the wet road surface making it slippery. I wonder how many traffic accidents hit the cyclists each year.
(Posting title is from the poem Apparition of the Exile by Bruce Weigl.)
The photograph was taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
I have explored the parks in London. Today morning I visited Holland Park, having a look at Kyoto Garden. This is a place I really liked. After noon it started to rain, and this will continue for some time. I guess it might be worthwhile to take a walk when the rain eases a bit.
(Posting title is from the poem The Horse Fell Off the Poem by Mahmoud Darwish.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
Once again I walked around Hyde Park in the morning, looking at riders, runners, cyclists and other walkers. At noon we explored Kensington Gardens. Later today there are Harry Potter things to see.
(Posting title is from the poem Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100 by Martín Espada.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
Early this morning I had a look at horse riding at Rotten Row, getting 1 1/2 hours of walking. Then we went to London Zoo, checking out especially the reptiles. Some of them reminded me of Trump and his minions. No, not really, it is unfair to compare reptiles with the awfullness of the Orange One.
(Posting title is from the poem “I Came Out of Habitations Where Warmth Filled My Feet and Loins” by Calvin Bedient.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
Today I got quite a lot on walking in London, early in the morning at Hyde park, and later on visiting Sea Life aquarium, and King's Cross (Harry Potter stuff, of course). Two batteries of the LX100 were exhausted in the process.
(Posting title is from the poem What is this about losing respect? by Mark Rudman.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
I'm currently in London, traveling with the children. We did some shopping and sightseeing. I plan to take some photographs later today.
(Posting title is from the poem Confluence by Yusef Komunyakaa.)
The photographs were taken on July 1st while visiting the Sallatunturi fells in Salla, Lapland.
I'll be traveling the next few days, to London, so there may be a break in the postings here. But I'll take a lot of photographs, so there will be plenty of material to go through later on.
(Posting title is from the poem Carnal by Jocelyn Saidenberg.)
The photographs were taken on the Pyhävaara hill in Kuusamo on June 30th.
Yesterday the car passed the annual vehicle inspection, at 17 years of age. The car needed quite a lot of repairs. For example the exhaust pipe, the oxygen sensor and the distributor had to be fixed. In addition, I bought new summer tires. The car should be ok, but further repairs need to be done at some point.
I have been following what is happening in the United States, and things are becoming more and more strange. Half a year ago the country seemed to be quite ok, and now things are all messed up. Of course that was to be expected when electing a dangerous and stupid narcissist as the president.
(Posting title is from the poem City Without a Name by Czeslaw Milosz.)
The photographs were taken on the Rukatunturi hill in Kuusamo on June 29th.
This morning I rode the bicycle to Oittaa in Espoo, and found a route I hadn't realized was available for exploring.
(Posting title is from the poem Apparition of the Exile by Bruce Weigl.)
I reserved from the local library a book by Yrjö Teeriaho titled The Princess of Eastern Wilderness (in Finnish, Itä-Kairan prinsessa). The book tells of a legend of Lapland, a woman who walks alone across the forests and swamps of Lapland. She is in fact a real person, now over 70 years old, and still going for long walks alone.
If you make a Google image search with the phrase "Itäkairan prinsessa" you get lots of hits, due to articles about her published in Finnish newspapers. She hasn't taken photographs during the walks, but she has kept diaries, documenting how it feels to be alone in the wilderness, for several weeks at a time.
The idea of going for a two week long walk through wilderness, carrying everything needed with you was something that occasionally tempted me when I was younger, but these days I'm too fond of sleeping in a warm bed each night. And reading books and other such pleasures. However, going for long walks alone, that is something I understand very well, in reasonable dozes.
These photographs were taken late in the evening on August 8th.
(Posting title is from the poem The Stars and the Moon by Grace Schulman.)
We stayed for two nights in Kuusamo. On July 22nd I went for a walk in the forests, and on the path some reindeer appeared from behind a tiny hill. They didn't notice me straight away, and I stayed still, but it didn't take long for them to spot me.
(Posting title is from the poem A Twenty-fourth Poem about Horses by John Peck.)
On July 20th we arrived at Rovaniemi, where we spent a night. On July 21st we visited the Arktikum, a museum and science center which offers information on Arctic issues and tells stories about Lapland. I was impressed by the quality of the exhibitions. I'll make another posting about Arktikum.
(Posting title is from the poem Design by Billy Collins.)
Here are two more photographs taken at Kilpisjärvi, on July 20th, when we drove by car south to Rovaniemi. A reindeer walked past our accommodation in the morning.
Yesterday was hot, +29 °C, and today will be also. On Monday and Tuesday I went swimming with my daughter, today I might ride the bicycle, have to see how that goes. I haven't taken many photographs recently, but there are still plenty remaining from the 11-day trip to Lapland.
(Posting title is from the poem Deer Dance Exhibition by Ofelia Zepeda.)
I had today the annual vehicle inspection for my car, which is 14 years old. I had some worry that maybe expensive repairs would be needed, even though the car performed well during the 2100 kilometers I drove during the trip to Lapland and Norway.
But all was well, and the vehicle inspector even commented that the car model I have (Avensis) is reliable and as expected everything is okay.
In the photographs you see rapids in the river Rovvejohka, a.k.a. Rovijoki, which is by the road between Skibotn and Kilpisjärvi. The photographs were taken on July 18th, when we returning from Tromsø. The rapids are also known as Morsiushuntuputous, Bridal Veil Falls, and rather impressive they were, thanks to the rainy weather earlier this summer.
(Posting title is from the poem The Argument of his Book by Robert Herrick.)
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