Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Be like looking

The photographs were taken on October 14th.

It was rather cold today, temperature below 0 °C both in the morning and in the afternoon. I need to use the headlight in the bicycle, as darkness creeps in. So far this year I have got 5,393 km riding the bicycle.

(Posting title is from the poem The Unreliable Narrator by Keith Waldrop.)

Monday, October 30, 2017

Every time I got to thinking

The photographs were taken on October 11th in Helsinki.

This morning there was a little bit of black ice on the road when I commuted by bicycle, so it was nice to have studded winter tires. In the afternoon I had heavy headwind, up to 14 m/s, so it was slow riding, and it took almost an hour to get home.

People close to Donald Trump are getting indicted. A nice start for the week.

(Posting title is from the song Surrender by Cheap Trick.)

Sunday, October 29, 2017

And for everything

The photographs were taken in Helsinki on October 10th.

The snow is fast melting away, but a little bit still remains. The weather forecast indicates that the rain should stop by Monday, and we might even get some sunshine. The length of day is now 8 hours 55 minutes, and shortening rapidly. Soon it will be dark in the morning when going to work, and dark in the afternoon when returning from work.

I have followed what is happening with Donald Trump, and quite a mess it is. One rather interesting thing about Trump is his body language, especially what he does with his tiny hands when he sits behind a table. It looks as if an alien creature from outer space is inside the bloated body, trying to get out. What is crazy is that this is less frightening than the fact that such a daft wanker is president. (Or is "daft twerp" a better phrase - I'm so bad with English idioms.)

(Posting title is from the poem The Meaning of the Shovel by Martín Espada.)

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Can’t seem to get enough of it

The photographs were taken on October 8th.

Today I'll be traveling to Tampere, planning to walk and take photographs. There is still snow remaining on the ground, but it will be melting away, due to rain. The conditions for walking may not be good, but that remains to be seen. It was rather wet a month ago at Tampere as well.

(Posting title is from the poem The Steam-Shovel by Maxwell Bodenheim.)

Friday, October 27, 2017

Of some incredible control

The photographs were taken on October 8th.

We have still snow on the ground, but it is melting away. Tomorrow I'm planning to go for a long walk near Tampere, and I hope there will be still some snow remaining.

(Posting title is from the poem The Steam Shovel by Eunice Tietjens.)

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Close your eyes and strike

The photographs were taken on October 7th.

We got snow today, current depth is 11 cm. It was good to have winter tires in the car, otherwise it would have been very risky or impossible to cope with the road conditions. Shoveling snow is also in the program for today.

(Posting title is from the poem The Golden Shovel by Terrance Hayes.)

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Imagine the ways to betray a man

The photograph was taken on October 7th.

The bicycle commute takes now 10 minutes longer than in the summer, 50 minutes or more, due to studded winter tires and the clothing one needs to wear in cold weather. In the morning there was some headwind. The wind got stronger, and in the afternoon I had up to 16 m/s backwind, which was rather nice.

The weather forecast promises show for tomorrow, up to 15-20 cm, and strong wind. I started installing winter tires to the car yesterday after work, but it didn't go as planned because some of the bolts were stuck. Today I used CRC Penetrating Oil and a telescoping lug wrench to help turn the bolts. I got the remaining two tires changed. But the lug wrench got broken - I had to use a lot of force. I'm rather tired and muscles are sore.

Tomorrow I'm not planning to commute by bicycle, because riding the bicycle is not nice if there is 15 cm of wet snow on the road.

(Posting title is from the poem My Death Space Dot Com by Bruce Bond.)

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

As at the very least worthy of note

The photograph was taken on October 7th in Petikko.

This morning the temperature was -4 °C when I started the bicycle commute. In the afternoon we had 3 °C. For Thursday the weather forecast promises 10 cm of snow, so the landscape will change.

(Posting title is from A Pillow Book: "A Great Book can be read again and again..." by Suzanne Buffam.)

Monday, October 23, 2017

But it was our own foundations, crumbling

The photograph was taken on October 7th.

Today I commuted by car and train, because of meeting logistics. Tomorrow there might be a little bit of snowfall, but I have studded winter tires in the bicycle, so it should be fine.

(Posting title is from the poem An Immigrant Woman by Anne Winters.)

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Evidence is always good to gather

The photographs were taken on September 7th.

This morning I did some walking, and took photographs. There was once again frost, and some fog.

(Posting title is from a poem by Lisa Grunberger.)

Saturday, October 21, 2017

But he said that’s not the point of the story

The photograph was taken on September 30th.

This morning was cold, -3.5 °C when I started walking. There was plenty of frost, and small puddles and ponds had ice on top. Almost all leaves have fallen off trees, and the remaining will probably fall down during this weekend.

What happens in the USA shows that there is no bottom to the depravity of Donald Trump and his minions (including almost all of the GOP). Lies, lies, lies - and when they get caught, as inevitably happens, they don't learn anything.

(Posting title is from the poem Deepwater by Holly Corfield Carr.)

Friday, October 20, 2017

Those months come down to moments or small plots

The photograph was taken on September 30th.

We had a cold night, and there was frost and ice in the morning. I walked for two hours in Petikko, and before sunrise I saw four white-tailed deer, having a bite at a field. I wonder how bright the deer are, as last weekend there was a hunt going on around those same fields. Perhaps they know that it is not safe only on weekends.

(Posting title is from the poem English Sonnet by Chelsea Rathburn.)

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Ability to hover there over

The photograph was taken on September 30th.

Today I got the bicycle back from the repair shop. It turned out the some water had leaked inside the Nexus 8 gear hub, and there was plenty of rust. The hub has been cleaned and oiled, but it may be that it will stop working rather soon. That is a pity. But at least today it worked finely. I have studded winter tires in the bicycle, so I'm ready for winter. Next week there might even be some snow, according to weather forecasts.

(Posting title is from the poem Dynamic Positioning by Juliana Spahr.)

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

By the light of dawn, and in my blues

The photographs were taken at Torronsuo National Park on September 25th.

The weather forecast promises some sunshine for today and tomorrow. That would be great.

(Posting title is from the poem Live With Me by Massive Attack.)

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

I think I know the kind of thing

The photographs were taken at Torronsuo National Park on September 25th.

This morning I walked for two hours in Luukki, exploring the late autumn landscape. During the night the temperature had dropped below 0 °C, as there was frost on the ground in some places.

(Posting title is from the poem Godolphin Horne, Who was Cursed with the Sin of Pride, and Became a Boot-Black by Hilaire Belloc.)

Monday, October 16, 2017

Buddha, bring me another

The photographs were taken at Torronsuo National Park on September 25th.

This is a vacation week. I'll be doing some walking. Today I'll take the bicycle to a repair shop, to make it ready for winter.

(Posting title is from the poem Lines Written on Nursery Wall by Sandra Simonds.)

Sunday, October 15, 2017

I see you're already lower-casing him...

The photographs were taken on September 24th.

My left arm is still a bit sore after the flu shot, but there have been no other symptoms, as expected. The weather has been rather wet, but for today the forecast promises even some sunshine. That is good to have.

The vindictiveness of Donald Trump and his minions (or rather frenemies) is becoming more and more apparent. The clown is willing to go to any lengths to harm those people who are not willing to ingratiate and brownnose him.

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

Saturday, October 14, 2017

I will not transmit

The photographs of autumn colors were taken on September 24th.

On Friday I took influenza vaccine, for the first time ever. The arm is a bit sore at the place where the shot was given, but there are no other symptoms. After two weeks the vaccine should be active. Apparently it should be reasonably effective, but one never knows. On the other hand, I don't even remember when I had influenza for the last time. Must be 10-15 years ago.

(Posting title is from the poem H1N1 by Robyn Schiff.)

Friday, October 13, 2017

Though the little peace

The photographs were taken in Luukki on September 23rd.

I have got 5,247 km riding the bicycle this year. The new waterproof coat seems to be excellent. There is a front pocket, excellent for storing keys, and the light yellow color with reflective stripes is much better than the dark red of the old one, which wasn't so good during the dark season. I hope the coat is at least as durable as the old one, which lasted three years.

(Posting title is from the poem That Strait-Jacket Case by Frederick Bock.)

Thursday, October 12, 2017

He was bleary-eyed

The photograph was taken in Luukki on September 23rd.

Today I commuted by car and train, because of meetings. In the morning the temperature was at 1 °C, the coldest day so far this autumn.

(Posting title is from the poem The Resident Poet by Thomas Carper.)

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Rising like a nameless feature

The photograph was taken at University of Helsinki on September 22nd.

I have been buying new clothes for commuting by bicycle. Both my waterproof jacket and autumn/spring gloves got worn out, with holes in the fabric and tears in the seams. Today I used for the first time the new waterproof jacket, and it rained both in the morning and in the afternoon.

(Posting title is from the poem Jacket Photograph by Elizabeth Holmes.)

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

I am not absolute. If so, it doesn’t figure.

The photographs were taken at Bank of Finland in Helsinki on September 22nd. They have rather impressive art pieces inside the building.

(Posting title is from the poem A Thousand Words by Daryl Hine.)

Monday, October 9, 2017

They grew non-silent and then silent

The photographs were taken in Petikko on September 16th.

This week is rather rainy, but luckily I didn't get very wet when commuting by bicycle in the morning. It remains to be seem how it turn out tomorrow.

(Posting title is from the poem You May Visit the Cosmos but You May Not Speak of It (or on the Tackiness of Elegy) by Ken Chen.)

Sunday, October 8, 2017

See and if I only could

The photographs were taken on September 10th while I visited Hatanpää Arboretum in Tampere.

I have taken quite a lot of photographs this weekend as well. Autumn colors are prominent, and there is a lot of variety in the landscape. And lots of details to explore with a camera.

(Posting title is from the song Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush.)