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Category: Relaxing

  • July 16th, 2026

    Been busy, but managed to get some photography and short video clips, joined three together into a short silent video (standard stabilization artefacts apply), two clips of giant white poppies, probably Romneya or Matilija poppies which are native to California, and one clip of bees foraging in lavender.

    I like the floppy petals of the poppies. The lavender and bees seem to be an all year feature – when one lavender bed withers, another seems to begin to bloom somewhere else, if not immediately, then soon.

    Not all flowers are showy – here is Plantago (I don’t know the species, but it’s not Plantago major based on the narrow .leaves). I would love to process some day a photo of a Plantago flower from close up, they are quite funky to look at but difficult to photograph so as to show it.

  • Skipper Butterfly and Flowers, July 10th, 2026

    While walking with intention to snap photos of urban vegetation, I noticed a skipper butterfly within videoing distance. Quickly, a clip before it flies away! It did not. I took a second clip. The butterfly had slightly shifted. I waited and took three more clips in case the butterfly would do something interesting. It id not. It was mostly concentrating on florettes. Eventually, I continued my walk and left the butterfly at it.

    A bit of a slow paced video, but maybe somebody will find it ASMR despite the stabilization errors. Maybe I should invest on gimbal, but that would be one extra thing to carry for a rare moment (that will without gimbal be shaky or distorted depending on whether the original or the stabilized clips are used.)

    Sucking nectar. Occasionally shifting position.

    Some yellow flowers from July 10th, 2026, image cropped and colors adjusted brighter.

  • Midsummer Day

    Still eschewing traditional celebrations.

    Decided instead to make an art video illustrating some variations in a theme, based on a photograph of some yellow flowers (looks like they are related to agaves or aloes) taken in Berkeley, CA, June 2nd, 2026. Just as a demonstration of the types of designs I have so far usually used for PlanktonPunkt Designs.

    I am planning to make more of these, occasionally (the next one will probably be about tree bark), and post them here, Pinterest and/or YouTube.

  • Midsummer in Finland

    Nearly slipped by me – apparently it is no longer 24th of June (6 months from Christmas Eve, on St. John’s Day) but by government edict on Saturday closest to Summer Solstice. So, this year Friday, 19th of June is Juhannusaatto, a Midsummer Eve’s celebration in that peculiar country.

    An example of June 19th flowers in Berkeley, CA

    National traditions of Midsummer Eve include retreat to country cottage, preferably along lake or sea shore, having a barbeque (hot dogs and chicken are popular, pork and fish, and more rarely beef work, too), having a communal bonfire party and/or more private sauna are also typical, as is getting drunk. Government typically publishes PSAs warning about traffic accidents (due to the massive exodus emptying cities to summer cottages, some drivers already under influence) and boating accidents or other forms of drowning (don’t drink and boat, or drink and swim.)

    My photos today are from urban California, so the Finnish lake video with swaying birch branches and sunlight glimmering on water (taken on late May, not on Midsummer Eve) is from last year.

    Lake in Finland, May 28th, 2025

  • Happy Pentecost!

    I don’t have very much topical or important to post as of this morning today, so how about a couple of clips of small woodpecker(s)?

    (For those who are interested, here is a link to a selection of topical verses but for TLDR, Pentecost commemorates the event when the Church got upleveled.)

    However, a few days earlier (May 22nd), I was walking around looking for pretty plants to photograph, when I heard a racket from the trees, sounded like multiple small birds. I searched for a while and discovered the source of the sound – holes high up in the tree where a small woodpecker was fussing about. A nest of woodpecker chicks plus a parent. Somewhere further away a woodpecker was drumming, as noted by a passerby while I was trying to video.

    After some cutting and editing last night, here are the highlights:

    This video is silent, commentary removed.

    And here is some birdsong. And drumming.

    Other than that, I have been selecting and editing photos for POD and tinkering with my writing.

    I wonder if I should some day post some of my fiction in this blog? On one hand I am tempted, on the other hand, I am still shy. It took me a long time to start even a blog.

    Reddish flowers, May 23rd, 2026, Berkeley, CA

  • Some May Beauty

    Selected and edited from video clips taken 2026 May 09.

    Purple flowers in wind

    Birch branches swaying in wind.

    May 9th 2026 was an average day with some wind and sunshine. And flowers. And insects. And birds. I did not get much done but got some video clips I checked tonight, and photos I am working on to see which ones I can convert into something useful and/or fun, if I have time.

    P.S. I am having some weirdness with video editor – hopefully the birch branches will be visible to all, once I have published this post.

  • Monarchy in Berkeley

    Despite lots of No Kings-signs, monarch butterflies continue to flit around Berkeley, CA. This one was filmed perching on a flowering tree on April 15th, 2026.

    Another, smaller insect makes an appearance at about 9 seconds into the video.

  • Busy Bumblebee

    A cute bumblebee seen 2026 April 18 among flowers in Berkeley, CA.

    Working hard.

  • Berkeley Trees

    A selection of clips showing types of views of different types of trees taken February 21st, 2026, in Berkeley, CA, silent and stabilized post filming (with the known artefacts).

    The spring is bursting fully. On 22nd, it was tee shirt weather and small birds were very active and singing. Heard a hummingbird, saw and heard many small titmouse and sparrow sized birds, even a very small woodpecker, and a hawk and later a pair of probable hawks. And a seagull, which is sort of normal for a seaside city. I think the small birds have a mating season.

    Crows, too, seem restless, but that might be them ending their winter. Back in Finland, the local crows (gray and black, not all black as in Berkeley) would form larger flocks and many migrated south during winter. The crows here seem to have some winter flocking behavior, even though they do not migrate.

    The bird activity coincides with the swelling of buds and opening of young leaves in many deciduous trees. The earliest fruit trees which began to bloom weeks ago are finishing their season, as are faster magnolias. It is stressing to think of all the seasonal blooming which I am missing instead of photographing it. But there are new trees coming to bloom, though one magnolia that was among the first to start in my neighborhood is still going strong. Weird to think that spring began in February.

    Dappled shadows on tree trunk, blooming fruit tree, redwood with creeping ivy.

    Magnolia, February 21st, 2026 (not the one I have been following in my neighborhood)

    Click the image above to open a free 48-piece jigsaw puzzle made in Jigsaw Explorer

  • Squirrel Eating Ginkgo Fruit

    I have been out of synch for a while, but today I realized that it is Shrove Tuesday, AKA Mardi Gras. In Finland, this day is known as laskiaistiistai, and people used to go on laskiainen downhill sledding (alternatively on laskiaissunnuntai, February 15th this year) and eat laskiaispulla which is sweet wheat bun cut like a burger but filled with whipped cream and marzipan or berry jam. Then begins lent and after that it is again Easter.

    Being unprepared, did not eat laskiaispulla, and would not have time for a day of downhill sledding, even if Berkeley weather would have allowed it (hint, there is no snow, though it was hailing a bit.) But I have a number of video clips, some maybe presentable, waiting to be processed and their fates decided, and last weekend I discovered an October 19th, 2025 squirrel eating ginkgo fruit that would be fun to post. While not exactly topical to this religious celebration, here it is, anyways.

    I was surprised last year that ginkgo fruits are yellow.

    Maybe that should not have been surprising, as their autumn leaves are also yellow.

    And Happy Chinese New Year, too!