Light Scrape

Final proof he was not handicapped by his handicap?

2013-06-19T07:30:00.000+03:00

On Tuesday I commuted by bicycle, which was 1 1/2 hours of exercise. After making dinner at home I went with my oldest daughter for a walk in the Petikko forests, for 45 minutes. Then I spend some time outside in the yard with my youngest daughter. And at the end of the day I made some small repairs to the bicycle, installing new brake pads, cleaning the chain etc., and after this I went for a test drive with my second oldest daughter. And oh yes, I did some walking at work when going to a meeting. Not bad for one day.

These photographs were taken on Saturday at Vaakkoi. It seems I'll be much behind in processing my photographs this week.

(Posting title is from the poem Tomahawk by Mark Rudman.)

O nymph reserved

2013-06-18T17:30:00.000+03:00

Path

Vaakkoi

Dragonfly 1

Dragonfly 2

Last Saturday I walked with my oldest daughter in the forests at Vaakkoi, and by the lake Vaakkoi we found a dragonfly nymph shedding its skin to become a young adult dragonfly. Or rather it was my daughter with her keen eyes who spotted what was happening. I'm not sure about the species, though.

(Posting title is from the poem Ode to Evening by William Collins.)

You cannot let me walk inside you too long

2013-06-18T07:30:00.000+03:00

Myyrmanni

I'm not always outside walking in forests and swamps when taking photographs...

(Posting title is from the poem Inside Out by Diane Wakoski.)

My bands of silk and miniver

2013-06-17T17:59:00.002+03:00

Centaurea montana

Geranium

Eaten

Here are three photographs taken last Tuesday, when I went for a walk with my youngest daughter. There were signs of summer to cherish, or perhaps not, for example the webbing made by Yponomeuta evonymellus. It is such a beautiful moth as an adult but the larval web can make one shudder.

(Posting title is from the poem Full Moon by Elinor Wylie.)

Leave nothing of my self in me

2013-06-16T10:00:00.000+03:00

Here are photographs from last Sunday, taken at the north parts of Nuuksio, at lake Saarijärvi and lake Sarkkinen. There were some other cars at the parking place, but we saw only a couple of people during the two-hour walk, it is such a big area to explore.

(Posting title is from the poem The Flaming Heart by Richard Crashaw.)

It pricked my tender heart

2013-06-15T15:00:00.000+03:00

Calopteryx virgo

There were several Calopteryx virgo by lake Saarijärvi last Sunday, and I took of course some snapshots of them. However, there were a lot of mosquitoes near the lake, which provides a breeding place for them, and the daughters didn't want to linger here for a longer time.

(Posting title is from the poem The Unfortunate Damsel by Mrs. Fleetwood Habergham.)

That’s no compensation

2013-06-15T10:00:00.000+03:00

Rowan

Pine

Hill

Path

Fallen

I took these photographs last weekend, in the forests at Vaakkoi and at north parts of Nuuksio, walking there with my daughters. It was a fine weekend to be out walking, as the cool and rainy weather had not yet started.

My photographs do not look quite the same as last summer, as the click wheel of the LX5 is no longer working and I'm unable to change exposure compensation with it, so I'm using -2/3 EV which on sunny days isn't always what is needed, as -1 EV or -1 1/3 EV would be better.

(Posting title is from the poem Divergences by Gottfried Benn, translated by Michael Hofmann.)

And it slithered through my fingers

2013-06-14T19:40:00.001+03:00

Väärä-Musta

Fishing

Shore

Reflect

I got completely soaked twice this week while commuting by bicycle, and today was the second time. In the morning the street was wet but it wasn't raining any more, except a little when I was already near the Ministry. But when I returned home it was raining, part of the way quite heavily.

One does get used to this, but still it wasn't a great feeling to get wet all over. Well, except for the feet, as I have waterproof cycling shoe covers which keep the feet (and the shoes) dry enough.

Here are photographs taken last Saturday at Vaakkoi, by the lake Väärä-Musta. Maybe I'll have some time to go walking during the weekend, to see how the summer looks after the rain.

(Posting title is from the poem I knew something was wrong by Dorothea Grossman.)

No more nature less natural

2013-06-13T22:50:00.000+03:00

Twig

I was today almost too tired to make a posting...

(Posting title is from the poem No More by Vanessa Place.)

The first I ever loved can still incite such desperation

2013-06-12T07:30:00.000+03:00

Libellula quadrimaculata

On Wednesday I have a meeting starting at 6:30 AM, and it will be a long day. Thus I have prepared this posting in advance, to appear while I'm being busy at work, as I'm probably too tired to even think about photographs at the end of the day.

The photograph shows a fellow who kept busy most of the time, but somehow it all seemed so effortless, and there was even a short pause in the flying to allow me to take a photograph.

(Posting title is from the poem Submission by Lynn Crosbie.)

Cleaner than he’ll ever be again

2013-06-11T17:09:00.001+03:00

Bow

Saaren-Musta 1

Saaren-Musta 2

Island

Here are some landscape photographs from Saturday, taken at lake Saaren-Musta at Vaakkoi. Since then it has been cooler, but quite dry, as all the rain seems to fall somewhere else than here in the Helsinki region. Well, there were a few drops of rain today while commuting by bicycle, but not so much as to make the ground wet. But elsewhere in Finland there have been cases of intense rain, flooding the streets for a while. Nothing like that which has been happening elsewhere in Europe, though.

(Posting title is from the poem Bath by Stuart Dybek.)

Oh, that is a lover for me

2013-06-10T17:29:00.001+03:00

Coenagrion hastulatum 1

Coenagrion hastulatum 2

Coenagrion hastulatum 3

Coenagrion hastulatum 4

Coenagrion hastulatum 5

Here is a tale of damselflies, a pair and a third one hovering around. Taken on Saturday at lake Saaren-Musta at Vaakkoi, while walking there with the daughters.

(Posting title is from the poem The Unfortunate Damsel by Mrs. Fleetwood Habergham.)

To make dreams truths, and fables histories

2013-06-09T21:14:00.001+03:00

Rowan

Pine

Lingonberry

Shore

Twigs

Vaakkoi

I have almost caught up with the photographs, as these were taken yesterday at Vaakkoi where I went for a walk with the daughters. As I mentioned, it was dry, and we didn't get to meet any mosquitoes. The wind also contributed to the enjoyment, as it wasn't too hot.

Maybe I'm a bit too excessive about exercise, as during the week I rode the bicycle for 7 1/2 hours, and during the weekend I was walking in forests for four hours. But this is such a great time to be outside enjoying the summer.

(Posting title is from the poem The Dream by John Donne.)

We only know to take the wheel

2013-06-08T21:23:00.001+03:00

Fragaria vesca

Trientalis europaea

Geranium

I'm still posting photographs from last Sunday, and here is a batch of summer flowers. Wild strawberries seem to be thriving, it may be that we get a lot of them, if the dry weather doesn't continue too long.

Today I went for a walk to Vaakkoi, around noon, with my older daughters, and not a single mosquito bothered us. The ground is so dry that there are few places where mosquitoes find water for breeding.

My youngest daughter is keen on swimming, and we have gone to Luukki lake four times this week, late in the evening, and it has been warm even then. She likes to get underwater, saying "Again!" and then: "Again!" It is a wonder how much dedication the children have on something they enjoy doing.

(Posting title is from the poem The Voyage Home by Philip Appleman.)

My JPEG gessoed or rawhide suit

2013-06-08T10:51:00.000+03:00

Path

Green

Twigs

I'm still posting photographs taken last weekend. These are from Petikko where I had a walk with my daughter on Sunday evening, when it started to be a bit cooler. And speaking of cool, it isn't quite so hot anymore, for today the forecast promises +23 °C, and for tomorrow +19 °C, which is quite all right after the hot period.

I commuted by bicycle every day this week, a total of 160 km, and 642 km since the beginning of May. Perhaps I should have had a rest day in between, but I'll take it easier during the weekend. And even though were had up to +29.5 °C during the afternoon last week, it didn't feel too hot while riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Cool Dust by Aaron Shurin.)

Because we forget how beauty was once itself

2013-06-07T21:24:00.000+03:00

Stellaria holostea 1

Stellaria holostea 2

Stellaria holostea 3

This is Stellaria holostea, a beauty.

(Posting title is from the poem Doisneau: Underground Press by George Szirtes.)

And all are flowers again

2013-06-07T07:30:00.000+03:00

Stellaria holostea

Vicia cracca

Silene dioica

Well, here are some photographs of summer flowers, taken last Sunday while walking with my daughter at Petikko. Since then I haven't had interest in taking photographs of flowers, or rather I have been otherwise busy. But maybe during the next weekend there is time for exploring flowers.

(Posting title is from Idylls of the King: The Last Tournament by Lord Tennyson.)

There's machinery in the butterfly

2013-06-06T07:30:00.000+03:00

Butterfly

Apple

Here are two photographs from last Saturday, which was a sunny and warm day. And so it has been since then, hot and dry weather. There is some rain in the forecast for Friday, but than can change. It would be good to get a little bit of rain to clean up the air.

(Posting title is from the poem The Horrid Voice of Science by Vachel Lindsay.)

And love makes men such noddies

2013-06-05T07:30:00.000+03:00

Luukki

I have been far too busy to take photographs of the summer, which is now in full bloom. There are all kinds of flowers to enjoy by the roadside and in the fields and forests.

This week I'm commuting by bicycle, with maybe one day of resting in between, commuting by bus. The commute time starts to be almost constant, about 39-43 minutes to get to work, and 43-46 minutes to get back home. And I don't get too tired any more, in fact it usually feels that I could go on for hours, it is so pleasant to be riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem A Sweet Nosegay, or Pleasant Poesy, Containing a Hundred and Ten Philosophical Flowers by Isabella Whitney.)

Pictures shall as softly look

2013-06-04T07:30:00.000+03:00

Birch

Leaves

Blue

Lake

Clouds

Barn

A year ago I wrote that during May I had ridden the bicycle for a total of 416 kilometers, most of it while commuting to work. This year I rode 482 kilometers in May, and would have got more if the rear wheel had not broken three days before the end of the month.

This year I have commuted by bicycle on five days a week, a year ago I arranged a rest day in between, so usually I commuted by bicycle on three days per week. I do get a bit tired, and a rest day probably is a good idea.

(Posting title is from the poem The House of Rest by Julia Ward Howe.)

In service stairs the sweet corruption thrives

2013-06-03T17:02:00.000+03:00

Bicycles

Bicycle 1

Bicycle 2

Today I commuted by bicycle, and the repaired rear wheel worked all right, no problems at all. We are having a warm period, today the temperature rose to +28 °C, and the next days will be warm also. The 45-minute commute is about right, a longer one would require something to drink while riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem Pyrography by John Ashbery.)

Where humbler men found but a mess of sparks

2013-06-02T10:57:00.001+03:00

Blur 1

Blur 2

Blur 3

Blur 4

Last week I transported my bicycle home by car, to get the rear wheel repaired. I hadn't used the car much, and it got somewhat dirty, the sap from a big birch tree falling on the car, and pollen and other dirt getting stuck to the sticky sap. This happens always in late spring, but this time there was more of the sap and dirt than usually. Here is what the camera saw when focusing on the dirt in the windows. And then I had the car washed.

(Posting title is from the poem Five Visions of Captain Cook by Kenneth Slessor.)

Order in a sweet neglect

2013-06-01T07:30:00.000+03:00

Green

Well, I got the rear bicycle tire back from the repair shop on Friday, and next I need to mount it back to the bicycle and test it a bit. I won't have time for this on Saturday, but maybe Sunday will be better. It will be warm during the weekend, up to +25 °C, but riding the bicycle might be just the right thing to do. I skipped two days of commuting by bicycle, and I feel lazy.

The photograph was taken a week ago. I haven't processed any of the newer photographs, and there are not that many of them, as I have neglected to use the camera.

(Posting title is from the poem What Kind of Mistress He would Have by Robert Herrick.)

The sweet smell holds the strongest memory

2013-05-31T07:30:00.000+03:00

Birch 1

Birch 2

Birch 3

Birch 4

On Wednesday I went with my youngest daughter to Luukki lake, as she wanted to try swimming for the first time this year. There is a big field of grass by the lake, and while going to the lake we saw some people in a very strange-looking activity.

There were half a dozen people of which half were dragging a meter-long wooden stick along the ground, in a squating position, very very slowly. This looked like a strange kind of tai chi. There were 30 cm tall markers with colored ribbons here and there, 20-30 meters from each other, and the squatters were slowly moving between these markers.

I heard someone say something like "Now I feel it will be found", and thought that perhaps this was some occult thing, such as geomancy, looking for underground water for placing a well.

When we returned it turned out that there were a couple of dogs sniffing the ground between the markers. So, this was exercise for dogs - search dogs or tracking dogs - and the people with sticks had been marking the ground for the dogs to follow the scent. Oh well, my original thoughts were much more exciting!

These photographs were taken last weekend. Birch! Birch! Birch! Birch! I do love these trees.

(Posting title is from the poem Smoke in Our Hair by Ofelia Zepeda.)

Deceive, deceive me once again!

2013-05-30T16:57:00.001+03:00

Rowan

Today I commuted by car, fetching the rest of my bicycle from work. I haven't heard from the repair shop, so it may be that the rear tire won't be ready until tomorrow.

The shop expert who looked at the tire was surprised that five spokes had broken at the same time, and all near the rim, which is very unsual, usually the break happens in the center. There must have been something seriously wrong with the spokes. I hope I get the bicycle in working order this time so that I don't need to get it fixed once again.

It would have been nice to commute by bicycle today, the weather has been excellent, sunshine, +20 °C, a little bit of wind. Well, maybe I'll go for a walk this evening. Sitting in a car during the rush hour is not something one cherishes.

The photograph was taken last weekend. Since then the leaves have got much, much bigger. It is summer, finally.

(Posting title is from the poem You Smiled, You Spoke, and I Believed by Walter Savage Landor.)