The snow and the sun

A powerful combination when it comes to qualia. The sensation of strong sunlight reflecting off the snow was something I only first experienced when on a skiing holiday in 1984, aged 27. Snow, when it came in England, was accompanied by dark clouds, and would melt away all too soon. Yesterday, as the clouds passed, I had the notion to recreate the skiing qualia flashbacks of Val de Whatever in France, and lit a cigarette, not to smoke, but as an incense stick in the kitchen. I also do this (very) occasionally in high summer to recreate Stella-Plage qualia. The whiff of cigarette smoke triggers those flashbacks far more intensely than visual stimuli alone. Sun, snow and tobacco smoke brings that back as though it were the same moment.

Propelling myself out of the cosy warmth into the snow required little effort this morning; I recently bought a USAF-pattern N3B parka (the long version of the N2B which I've owned since 1980). It's so warm that despite the cold, I had to stop along the way to remove my cardigan. Destination today: Rososz. The small grocery shop, where I can buy provisions for a lunchtime reverie.

Left: the little lane leading down to Grobice. All the apples are safely gathered in, the tractors have ceased chugging up and down. Here and there, the sound of chainsaws as old branches are pruned.

Below: something new in the neighbourhood – last week I noticed the arrival of the white hut installed in the gap between the turnoff to Machcin II and the path to Rososz. Since then, this plot has been enclosed. I'd expect a new house to pop up here; four or five new houses have already built to the east of Jakubowizna in the past few years.

Below: on the path to Rososz, passing the edge of Dąbrowa Duża. On the way out, I meet not one single person; on the way back I pass a Nordic walker. Quiet. The way I like it.

Below: most of my journey (5.25km/3.25 miles each way) is through forest. 

Below: having popped into the shop in Rososz, it's time to set back home. With the sun so low in the late-autumn sky, it feels like late afternoon despite being half past midday.

Below: it's time for lunch – feldakohol in the form of a tin of Warka Pstrąg, salt snacks [I choose Polish or German brands rather than Lays, as Pepsico has not pulled out of Russia and still owns and operates its factories there, paying taxes to Putin, which he uses to slaughter innocent people. Lays actually opened a new salt-snacks factory in Novosibirsk this year. Fuck Pepsico.] Here, I sit and eat and drink and find altered states and inspiration. I watched the clouds chase east. Every now and then one obscures the sun, but the wind is strong and the sun soons pops back out.

Below: just as forecast, an overcast afternoon and evening looms. I'm almost home. The sun is low. In two weeks' time, we'll have the earliest sunset, and by the New Year, the days will have become noticeably longer.

Left: the last few hundred metres, dense unbroken cloud rolls in from the west. The birches and oaks are almost leafless; winter is due. Will it be a harsh one? Or mild?

Below: aviation bonus: This is only the third time I've managed this: getting a photo of an aircraft flying across the moon. (The second time was a speck on a dot as I didn't have a long lens with me.) Here is a Polish medical air rescue (Lotnicze Pogotowie Ratunkowe) Eurocopter EC135, SP-HXG crossing a half-moon. Nikon D3500/ 70-300mm Nikkor zoom, 1/400th sec at f/6.3, 100 ISO. Snaps like this make carrying full kit worthwhile.

Below: less remarkable, but nice enough nonetheless. A Qatar Airways Boeing 797 Dreamliner begins its turn into its final approach at Warsaw Okęcie airport.

During the dark half of the year, every sunny day should be made the most of.

This time five years ago:
Photo round-up, London, Warsaw and Kraków

This time eight years ago:
Poland's North-West Frontier

This time nine years ago:
Cars must fade from our cities

This time ten years ago:
Unnecessary street lighting wastes money

This time 11 years ago:
Warsaw's heros on the walls

This time 13 years ago:
Tax dodge or public service?

This time 15 years ago:
Warsaw's woodlands in autumn

This time 17 years ago:
Still here, the early snow

This time 12 years ago:
Another point of view