Patrick Johanneson

I’m in a podcast

Posted on September 2nd, 2020September 2nd, 2020 by Patrick

Years ago I wrote a funny little flash story, called “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One”, and shopped it around a bit to the few comedy/fantasy markets I could find. Nobody bit, so I shrugged and posted it here on my site.

Earlier this year, I got a message out of the blue from one of the people behind a SF/F/H podcast called Planet Raconteur. He’d stumbled across my story and was interested in adding it to their podcast. I said “Sure”.

And now it’s been posted, as the lead story in Episode 11. Enjoy!

Today’s bike ride

Posted on August 29th, 2020August 29th, 2020 by Patrick

Just short of 27 km in just under two hours. I took my camera along, too.

Reflections at Sunset

Posted on August 27th, 2020 by Patrick

The clouds looked interesting, about ten minutes before sunset last night, so I grabbed my camera and went to the west edge of town. I managed to get the last sliver of sunset—see the photo above.

I also snapped some photos of the sun’s reflected light on the clouds:

Orange sunset light on the clouds — Sunset light on the clouds

…and on the moon.

The half-moon — Sunlight bouncing off the moon

Photos at Clear Lake

Posted on August 26th, 2020 by Patrick

My friend Tim is camping up at Clear Lake this week, so last night after work I headed up for a visit. We had some burgers at the Boardwalk (the Jim Burger, I’m pleased to report, is pretty tasty) and then wandered around the town and beach for a bit. I had my camera and tripod, and was looking for a subject.

Someone, fortuitously, had stacked stones down at the edge of the water.

And on the boat dock, it wasn’t quite sunset yet, but the sun was quite orange as it tried to peek through the clouds.

Sun-dappled Clear Lake — The sun peeking through the clouds and reflecting on the water

Eleanor Kidd gardens

Posted on August 23rd, 2020August 23rd, 2020 by Patrick

On yesterday’s bike ride, I snapped a couple photos of the once and future Eleanor Kidd gardens, which are still full of plants but not the ones placed with care by a gardener.

Above, a tree in the concrete; below, a Brenizer panorama (6 photos) of a gazebo full of grass.

Series: Bike Ride Photos

The entire series: Down by the river; Bike ride birds; The ex-garden and the weir; Snapshots of a ride; Across Town; Blackbird; North Hill campus; Lilacs and country roads; A pop of colour; Back lane flowers; More Brenizers; The river is high; A bird and a reflection; Rideau Park; Writing Retreat 2020, Day 7; Writing Retreat 2020: The Numbers; Storm damage, sunflowers; Eleanor Kidd gardens; Scenes from today’s ride; All right, autumn can be pretty; Bike ride, April 10, 2021; Bike ride wildlife; Bike ride, May 16, 2021; Some flowers for you; Lilacs; Under the bridge; A fence, a tree, and the sky; Turtle Crossing; Cemetery critters; On Reflection; Weekend rides; Upon Reflection; Deer and paparazzi; September Bike Ride; Corn & Sunset; On Reflection: Oct. 1^st; Autumn Trees; A bit of graffiti; November bike ride; Geese; Day 30; Quack quack; Skinny deer; Monday bike ride; Saturday snaps; Deer + Flowers; Bike Ride — July 17, 2022; The meadow; It seems to be autumn; Portal fantasy; Slava Ukraini; Writing Retreat 2023: Thursday bike ride; Bike Ride, May 20, 2024; Shy; Canada Day ride; A long ride; Cookie Ride redux; Writing Retreat 2024: 6; Writing Retreat 2024: The End; Bike Ride, Sep. 22, 2024; Today’s Ride — Oct. 6, 2024; Souris Valley; Bike Ride Photos — May 19, 2025; Bike ride, May 24; Art in the trees.

Storm damage, sunflowers

Posted on August 15th, 2020August 16th, 2020 by Patrick

Panoramic photo of the pines on 18th Street; one has been lopped off about halfway up

…and a bunny.

I went for a bike ride on Friday and another one today, Saturday.

Friday I snapped a photo of a rabbit on BU campus.

Rabbit on BU's campus — Bunnies at BU. Nature is healing.

Today, I went on a longer ride, and got photos of some of the branches downed in the storm earlier this week.

As I snapped photos, a tractor came along and started to drag the top of the pine tree off of 18^th Street North. I tried to get a picture but it turned out too dark.

I found a colourful combo just off Kirkcaldy, too, that reminded me that blue + yellow = green.

And then, in the south end of town, I decided to get a couple shots of the sunflowers (and the dill) growing in the community gardens.

And then, I went home, content after a 26-km, 2‑hour bike ride.

Series: Bike Ride Photos

Lightning

Posted on August 13th, 2020August 13th, 2020 by Patrick

After this afternoon’s storm had mostly moved on, I set up my camera upstairs. In about 1500 photos, I got one good shot of lightning.

2 second exposure, ISO 100, 24mm, f/22 (as high as my camera would let me go), with a polarizer and a neutral-density filter on the lens.

Here’s a video, too, of about 40 minutes’ worth of storm clouds rolling through, condensed into 44 seconds or so.

Star trails, and a couple Perseids

Posted on August 12th, 2020 by Patrick

I went to my dark spot last night from about 10:45 pm to 11:45 pm or so, and set up my camera. I was hoping to catch a few of the Perseid meteors, though I knew I was too early for the peak.

I let the camera run for about an hour (the battery actually died at about the 0:55 mark, but close enough), and the result is the star-trails photo above. I found two bright(ish) meteor trails in it, highlighted below. (The star trail image is bright because the sky was still faintly glowing with sunset light, even at 10:45, when I started; the meteors below are from later on in the process.)

A soundtrack for tearing down a garage

Posted on August 10th, 2020August 10th, 2020 by Patrick

As we finished up, my phone’s randomizer delivered Corb Lund’s song “Hard on Equipment”, which seemed appropriate, given it reminds my wife of me and reminds me of my dad.

I had my phone playing music throughout the week, and it delivered some gems:

Good times.

What a difference another day makes

Posted on August 6th, 2020 by Patrick

Another day, another bunch of garage demolition.

Above: the foreman checks the dumpster’s contents.

Below: some more comparison photos

[twenty20 img1=“4160” img2=“4165”]

[twenty20 img1=“4165” img2=“4166”]

And beginning to end.

[twenty20 img1=“4159” img2=“4166”]

There’s still some work to do—mostly cleanup—but we got a lot done in a few days. Huge thanks to Kevin, who lent his expertise, his muscles, and his chainsaw to the removal of the roof.

After, I sat in the yard and took a few more artsy photos.