Until we had acquired

View 1

View 2

The photographs were taken on January 12th.

(Posting title is from the poem The Orders by Thomas Centolella.)

Before the long silence

Boat 1

Boat 2

The photographs were taken on June 28th while visiting Vallisaari island in Helsinki.

(Posting title is from the poem Pine by Chase Twichell.)

To say no more of art than that it makes

Boats

The photograph was taken at Meiko on February 22nd.

(Posting title is from the poem courthouse steps by D. A. Powell.)

Faster when you turn to face it

Boat

The photograph was taken in Nuuksio southwest of lake Suolikas on March 30th.

(Posting title is from the poem And Still It Comes by Thomas Lux.)

And I think it's gonna be a long long time

Lake 1

Lake 2

Lake 3

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

(Posting title is from the song Rocket Man by Elton John.)

I'm gettin' it!

Boat

The photograph was taken in Helsinki on April 7th.

This morning I walked for two hours in Luukki. Some of the snow from yesterday still remained, but it will melt soon away, as this will be a warm day, +13 °C is in the forecast for the afternoon. I saw a pair of Gavia stellata floating on a lake where a pair has been nesting each year for quite some time. It felt like spring, listening to the loud sound of their calls.

(Posting title is from the song I Can Add by They Might Be Giants.)

Eye our sound ship, or take leave

Harbor 1

Harbor 2

The photographs were taken in Helsinki on November 22nd.

During the night we got a little bit of snow, 0.5 cm or so, and it made the landscape a bit lighter. The length of day is now 5 h 51 minutes, and soon it will start getting longer, a little bit each day.

When commuting to work I saw in the snow half a dozen tracks left by bicycles. Thus I didn't feel that I'm the only one riding a bicycle in the morning darkness.

(Posting title is from the poem Harbor Porpoise by Jeramy Dodds.)

Even in what passes here for winter

Frost 1

Frost 2

Frost 3

Frost 4

Frost 5

These photographs were taken on December 30th at Oittaa. It was cold, and frost was in evidence.

Today we had -17 °C. For tomorrow morning the forecast promises -25 °C, but then it will get warmer, perhaps close to 0 °C next week.

I did some walking today with the new boots. An hour or two of walking don't really tell whether the boots are any good, but so far they have been excellent. A good pair of boots is a necessity when one walks several hours at one go. During the weekend I'll do that.

(Posting title is from the poem Fresco by Richie Hofmann.)

But only in my mind

Salmi 1

Salmi 2

Salmi 3

The photographs were taken at Salmi on December 21st. I have still quite a lot of photographs taken before it started to get colder.

The landscape looks quite different now, as there is snow, ice and frost, and temperature is at -25 °C. Today I commuted by car. I did see one person riding a bicycle in Helsinki.

(Posting title is from the poem Cuba, 1962 by Ai.)

The mind floats imageless

Lake 1

Lake 2

Lake 3

Today I commuted by car, and there was a traffic jam on the way home. I was already somewhat tired, after a busy week, and didn't enjoy being stuck inside a car.

On May 18th I visited lake Pitkäjärvi in Velskola.

(Posting title is from the poem Natal Command by Peter Sacks.)

Their theories of omission or commission

Lake 1

Lake 2

Lake 3

I'll be doing a little bit of traveling so there will be a break in the postings here. These photographs were taken on April 7th at Velskola.

(Posting title is from the poem Schools by Paula Tatarunis.)

That sea we see of surfaces

Harbor 1

Harbor 2

Harbor 3

Harbor 4

I'm feeling tired, probably because I have been getting a lot of exercise recently, eight hours in four days. Or maybe it is due to a lot of things happening.

The photographs were taken on January 13th, when we got some new snow.

(Posting title is from the poem A Swimmer in the Air by Howard Moss.)

Is it a metaphor for a river?

Boats

Boat

There were a lot of boats on the shore of river Vuoksi in Imatra. I don't know if they are for fishing or just for enjoying the river scenery.

(Posting title is from the poem A Test of Poetry by Charles Bernstein.)

So every seven years your substance is new

Sunrise 1

Sunrise 2

Sunrise 3

Today I went just before sunset for a walk at Tremanskärr swamp. I had rubber boots, and so I was able to explore the swamp which was partly frozen but not yet carried a person. It started snowing after sunset, but that didn't last long, and what snow there was started melting away. The temperature rose to +2 °C from -8 °C which we had during the night.

These photographs were taken in Helsinki on November 15th just before sunrise.

(Posting title is from the poem City Elegies by Robert Pinsky.)

No fortune base shall ever alter me

Street

Boat

Locks

Here are some more street views from Helsinki, photographs taken on October 23.

I forgot to note that yesterday was kekri, a feast day in ancient Finnish religion, "marking the end of the agricultural season and coinciding with the time when cattle were brought in from pasture for the winter". It is now end of autumn, start of winter - or should be, weather seems to be keeping rather warm.

For some reason the shops have been selling stuff for an American thing which I never can pronounce properly, "halogen" or something. There was a funny blog posting (in Finnish, here) of some Finnish kids trying to do trick-and-treating, and what they got was a satsuma - at least it was healthy.

(Posting title is from a poem by Sir Walter Ralegh.)

A pearl garland winds her head

Boat

Reflect

Waterlily 1

Waterlily 2

Boat

Here are more photographs from Vaakkoi, taken at lake Iso Lehmälampi ("Big Cow Lake"), except for the last which was taken at lake Vaakkoi.

(Posting title is from the poem The Lady of Shalott by Lord Tennyson.)

He looked like a boat

Fire

Boats

Here are two more photographs taken on Midsummer's Eve. Watching the fire from boats is a tradition for many, I think I have seen the same boats and people in this place year after year, rowing from the other side of the lake to join the festivities.

(Posting title is from the poem A Boat by Richard Brautigan.)

Much mirth and no madness

Boats

Smoke

Fire 1

Fire 2

Here is a second installment of photographs from Midsummer's Eve, watching a bonfire being set up by lake Pitkäjärvi. We were having picnic by the shore, and luckily there were few mosquitoes to bother us.

(Posting title is from the poem To Mistress Margaret Hussey by John Skelton.)

Chanting blessings in Finnish and Swahili

Ball

Reflect

Boats

Clouds

Today I was sitting a lot, in my car, in various offices and meeting rooms. Not much walking or riding the bicycle today. But tomorrow will be better, I promise, I'll commute by bicycle at least.

In the morning I took some photographs of the harbor side in Helsinki, where I stopped the car while searching for a parking space. It was a calm day, and partly clouded, and it would have been an excellent day to spend outside, but no such luck.

(Posting title is from the poem Impossible To Tell by Robert Pinsky.)