First snow - not so shy this year!

Looking back over the five (soon to be six) Warsaw winters covered by this blog, snow has come as early as 14 October and as late as 4 May. Usually a first snowfall is a fleeting phenomenon, melting within hours. Hence the Polish saying that first snow is shy snow. Not so this year. Snow started falling on Saturday 27 October, greeting me when I returned from the UK on Sunday, and still on the ground, patchily, in Jeziorki, four days later.

Below: the view that greeted me from my bedroom window when I awoke on Monday 29 October. The clocks have just gone back, so sunrise is now back to half past six as it was a month ago.

The morning is so gorgeous, I decide to walk to W-wa Jeziorki station the longer, but prettier way. Below: ul. Trombity, looking across the wetlands.

Below: ul. Nawłocka, although this could be a village road deep inside Russia. Note the footprints of wildlife (mainly hares) in the snow.

Below: snow-shrouded goldenrod (nawłoć) on ul. Nawłocka. The road itself is icy and not pleasant to walk on, with frozen puddles filling the many potholes on the unpaved part. I get my socks wet for the first time this winter (and I dare say not the last).

Below: van with a snowy topping, ul. Achillesa. Note the autumnal colour of the trees in the background.

Below: ul. Kaczunkowska, most trees here still very much in leaf. The main road has been cleared of snow, with no new overnight falls, the rush hour traffic is flowing smoothly.

Below: W-wa Jeziorki station; the 08:46 Koleje Mazowieckie service to town is on time. Railway workers had two whole days to prepare for the first snowy weekday rush hour, so there was no commuter chaos this year. Having just renewed my quarterly karta miejska (urban travel pass), I noted that it will expire on 26 January; three months of likely snow, then another three months of possible snow after that.

As long as the sun shines, and the weather stays frosty, snow is welcome. There's nothing worse than deszcz ze śniegiem - that depressing sleety mixture of rain and snow and +1C to +3C temperature. But days like this are a Godsend.

This time last year:
Of cycles, economic and human

This time two years ago:
Why didn't I read this before: Grapes of Wrath

This time three years ago:
Małopolska from the train

This time four years ago:
Grading ul. Poloneza