Very cold nights here in Turku. - 20 - 24 Celcius. Traveling today by train to Jyväskylä; being 45 minutes late due to some problems. I'm not in a hurry, going to visit the cafe soon!

     Lost spring --
     some of the snowy trees 
     waiting the sun

1. Day

though
a sunny day
an old icicle
not going to melt
yet


2. Night

midwinter --
on the white snow
a frozen star


p.s.
15th morning a record temperature here in Turku during this winter: - 24 Celcius.
Outside. Inside + 20 C.

3. bonus

A cold night --
whose turn to make tea
this morning?

1.

snowy road
dim sunlight
overspeeding


2.

on snowy treetop
neither of the magpies
says anything

passing rapidly
our window -
snowflakes

midwinter -
on the icy road
a starving snowflake

February - 
on the snowy road 
sky's shadowing

Finnish roads got many internet-cameras. I check from those how the world looks like. Online here.

Main page: http://alk.tiehallinto.fi/alk/frames/kelikamerat-frame.html

    sooner or later 
    the spring is coming -- 
       is it?

Today we had a short walk by the Turku Art Museum. There is a small V. I. Lenin's statue. He is heading his eyes eastwards, down to the market place and over the River Aura. It is about seven hours trip by train from Turku to St. Petersburg, ex. Leningrad.

       Comrades ! 
       Let's all head 
       eastwards!

See also my Finnish blog:

http://juhanitikkanen.blogspot.com/2011/01/kaytiin-paivakavelylla-taidemuseon-maen.html
Three liner in my Finnish blog is something like this:

   from pure white snow 
   rising 
   Lenin's bare head

    old steamer -- 
    snowgulls 
    still overwintering?

Sleepy snowy winds

Yesterday I visited Helsinki again, this time by an Express Bus. Two hours sitting. Tried to read some haiku; slightly the misty morning woke up into a dim light. Mist. Soft.

        misty morning -- 
        snowy winds 
        still sleeping



   sleepy wind --
   slightly warmer day 
   for the forest

I visited Helsinki and returned yesterday. The train arrived as planned by the Time Table. This time. Turku is westwards from Helsinki.

     To the west!
     Red light 
     disagrees

parking lot
filled with
snow-capped cars

(Published today in Taro Kunugi's Facebook as my comment.)

This weekend we have got some rain. Plain water. +2 Celcius. This winter's beginning so early (in November already!)was one of the coldest I do remember. And usually winter begins here in January, (as today), and February is the usually the coldest month. (In March the sun is getting higher and is able to warm during lenghtenig daytime.) Let's see what is going on in near future.

Here is my own car:

    A happy car 
    sheltered by soft snow --
    peaceful January!

smoke from chimneys --
global warming theories
cancelled?

End of the year --
this freezing snow
fell in love to me?



Happy New Year!

I read my calendar and found that:

       eight minutes 
       longer day today --
       this dwindling year

21st Dec Sun from 9:22 to 15:14
29th Dec Sun from 9:23 to 15:21

This is here in Turku, 60 Degrees North, in Utsjoki (70 Degs North) not any sun at all.

Ice-lantern # 2

 
the day after Christmas -- 
pretty new snowflakes 
just born

inside 
ice-lanterns 
candles flicker

Merry and warm Christmas!

Not whistling,
suspicious bird,
just looking

A Happy Christmas for you!

winter solstice --
a dog barks at
the bright sky

       new snow 
       on the old one ...
       the sky's breath

One of my favorite lines in Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
Poem Nr 15 L5: yuki wa furitsutsutsu. The whole waka (=tanka):

As I gather herbs
From this field in early spring,
Intending them for you,
The falling snow starts to gather
On the sleeve of my outstretched arm.

-- Emperor Kōkō

Also Ogura Poem Nr 4:
Yamabe no Akahito's waka in 'Turku-area-language'

In English:

As I venture out
Onto the shore at Tago Bay,
I see snow, pure white,
Falling now ever deeper
On Mount Fuji's lofty peak.

-- Yamabe no Akahito

English translations' copyright by

http://www.jlit.net/authors_works/premodern/hyakunin_isshu/poems_01-05.html#top