Harakka in Autumn: Chapter 6

It’s time to take another walk with Ice Swimmer as he tours us around Harakka.

Chapter 6 – Viola on the Rocks

These pictures were taken on the rocks of Harakka, in various places and various times, both on Saturday and on Sunday. The wild/feral violas could be found all over the rocks wherever there was a large and dry enough crack or other place in which there was some soil.

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

Our journey on the rocks of Harakka will continue in the next post of this series.

Harakka in Autumn: Chapter 5 (link to previous post)

Contrasts

As I am in Vilnius until Wednesday, I would like to take this small moment to cast a shadow (work will most likely occupy the rest of my time). Thank you, Nightjar, for those lovely photos of flowers and sunshine (really – today I got back to the hotel, refreshed Affinity, and it was… wow) – in sharp contrast, this is what we have: a look at Vilnius in evening (NB: there is still light, a month ago it would be completely dark!).

©rq, all rights reserved.

Here is a song from Estonia, to complete the Baltic triptych:

[Read more…]

Harakka in Autumn: Chapter 5

It’s time to take a walk again with Ice Swimmer who’s here with the next chapter in his series.

Chapter 5 – Sunday in the West of Harakka

Railing and Autumn Colours ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

A look back north to the path that goes to the western cliffs. The Artists’ Building is in the right behind the earthworks. [Read more…]

Love Is Metaphysical Gravity

That, apparently, is a quote by R Buckminster Fuller. It is also the title of a series of photographs by Reuben Wu, taken in Spitzbergen, with a particular focus on the Svalbard Satellite Station. About the series:

Taken on Spitzbergen, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Reuben Wu’s images detail the breathtaking appearance of our planet’s extremities. His photograph series Love Is Metaphysical Gravity is a visual feast of soft pink and blue colour tones, artic landscapes, dreamy auroras and the incomprehensible beauty of the unpolluted night’s sky.

[…]

While Love Is Metaphysical Gravity in part serves as a documentary of the remote islands and the radomes of the Svalbard Satellite Station, what it is perhaps most sensitive to is this: It may be one of the most uninhabited places on Earth, but Spitsbergen is no stranger to communication.

Picking out favourites out of that icy landscape is a challenge, but here’s a couple from Reuben’s website:

Love Is Metaphysical Gravity by Reuben Wu

Love Is Metaphysical Gravity by Reuben Wu. This one is by far my absolute favourite. Turns out it is possible to choose after all!

Love Is Metaphysical Gravity by Reuben Wu

For full effect and full-size pictures, visit his site, and there’s plenty more to explore, too. I sense a timesink of the best kind.

 

Another Look from Mt. Lofty

Lofty has sent us a few follow-up photos to his post  of January 21/19, Mt. Lofty.

Here are some pictures taken from Mt Lofty on the morning of the day after the super Bloody Full Moon Eclipse Thingy. The first shot is of moonset over the city, the second and third are of the sun about to rise over Mt Barker, the next little mountain to the ESE. They only vary in zoom and where the auto exposure is pointed. The building on the right of the picture is Mt Lofty House, nowadays an upmarket hotel. Notice how they are taking fire safety seriously, with a row of large water tanks set below the main entrance.

©Lofty, all rights reserved

©Lofty, all rights reserved

©Lofty, all rights reserved

Beautiful shots, Lofty. Thanks for sharing.

Harakka in Autumn: Chapter 1

It’s time to go for a walk with Ice Swimmer in the latest chapter of his series.

Chapter 1 – Rocks in the South on Saturday

The Path on the Rocks in the South. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

On Harakka, humans are supposed to be restricted to the roads, paths and other designated areas. On the rocks, stones or painted triangles mark the paths. [Read more…]

Harakka Island in Autumn: Introduction

We’re starting a new series today from Ice Swimmer. It’s a follow-up to his series last fall Harakka an Island and it’s full of colour which has been missing from my part of the world for months.  I invite you all to sit back and enjoy as Ice Swimmer takes us on a tour.

Introduction: Approaching and Arrival on Saturday

This series is about the island Harakka in Helsinki. I revisited Harakka in October 2018, about three months after the first visits in July 2018. As in July. I actually went there twice. The first visit in October was on Saturday afternoon and the second was the next day, Sunday, also in the afternoon.

1. Harakka in Autumn. ©Ice Swimmer, all rights reserved

[Read more…]

Tree Tuesday

This lonely Norway Spruce lives on top of Falufajallet Mountain in Sweden and is estimated to be about 9, 550 years old making it the worlds oldest tree. According to Atlas Obscura,

Located in Fulufjallet National Park, Old Tjikko began growing in this harsh tundra shortly after the glaciers receded from Scandinavia at the close of the last ice age. To put that into perspective, this lowly shrub was growing as humans learned to plow fields, domesticate the cat, and—2,000 years after it first took root—our ancestors begin learning to smelt copper.

Old Tjikko is part of a clonal organism and its age was determined by carbon dating of its roots. There’s a small path that leads to the tree and park rangers give free guided tours. It’s preferred that visitors not go unaccompanied. I’d say that people shouldn’t be allowed to visit at all except I’d like to go myself.

I may need to start a new bucket list just for the trees that I’d like to visit.