Something there is that doesn't love a wall

Wall

The photograph was taken on January 3rd.

(Posting title is from the poem Mending Wall by Robert Frost.)

Held his heart in his hands

Wall

The photograph was taken on January 7th.

This morning when I started the bicycle commute to work, the front brake got stuck and the wheel didn't turn. Fortunately I was still close to home, so I returned and looked at what was wrong. The rim had got broken, and the broken part hit the brake pad. I didn't start repairing the bicycle but commuted instead by car and train. Now I have some repairs to do during the evening.

(Posting title is from the poem In the Desert by Stephen Crane.)

And kept a pack of fools around you

Wall

The photograph was taken on January 14th.

It was cold in the morning, -14 °C, but it got warmer, -6.5 °C in the afternoon. I got to know that the combination of a dentist's appointment and commuting by bicycle in cold weather can produce surprising results. Due to local anesthesia the face muscles didn't work properly, and there was more saliva production that usually, which meant that my chin got a covering of frozen saliva, and there were icicles hanging as well.

I have been thinking about the orange one who tries to make America hate again. I think it is not only him who should be the target of the #resist movement, it is especially those politicians who are enabling his atrocities, some actively defending him but most being silent about the viciousness.

(Posting title is from the poem You Who Wronged by Czeslaw Milosz.)

That words no longer count for much at all

Wall

I walked for two hours in Vaakkoi today, exploring the north part of the area, around the open swamps there. There were lots of paths in the snow, but in some places I had to cross unbroken snow. Snowshoe tracks were also an option, as the snow had compressed and frozen enough to carry a person walking. I found new routes to be explored next summer, or perhaps in the spring at the point when there is only a little snow remaining.

Today we had dinner at a tex-mex restaurant which used to be almost a weekly ritual years ago. The place hadn't changed much. The vegetarian fajitas was excellent. Children liked their choices as well. Afterwards, it was a bit difficult to get up and start walking, but we managed.

The photograph was taken on January 25th.

(Posting title is from the poem My Pain by Roddy Lumsden.)