Saturday 29 October 2016

Autumn in Jeziorki

Autumn in Jeziorki; as I've previously observed, the English language has the concepts of midsummer and midwinter, but not of midautumn (nor indeed of midsping). This is midautumn - trees turning to gold about to shed their leaves in leaf-fall month - listopad.

Below the cabbage harvest is underway, ul. Karczunkowska. Zasmażana or kiszona, the cabbage is a staple of the traditional Polish diet. Looks like a bumper crop this year!


Below: quiet autumn afternoon, ul. Dumki. I'm glad to see that the steady rainfall of the past three weeks has raised the water levels in all the ponds


Left: the drainage ditch that feeds water into the main pond from the east, as it passes under ul. Dumki. Despite the recent rain, it remains totally dry.

This ditch also passes under ul. Sarabandy, continues parallel to the footpath and ends near ul. Klarnecistów, collecting water off the fields there.

The Google Earth image from April 2015 shows this ditch full of water. Since the ponds have been deepened, the system of drainage ditches is being kept clear regularly, to prevent the blockages that led to severe flooding in June 2010.

Below: pumpkin field, between ul. Dumki and ul. Baletowa. The growing of pumpkins is a relative novelty around these parts, but pumpkin soup is on the menu everywhere, and very good it is too, especially with some chilli or curry powder to give it some oomph.


Below: ul. Kórnicka, looking towards the railway line. I'm still saddened by the loss of the three large and three smaller trees by the pedestrian crossing (which looks like it won't be reinstated when the modernisation is completed).


Work on the 'down' line is continuing apace, and my ballast mountain is being carved away from the side as a new base is being laid for the modernised track. But the summit is still there, Mount Jeziorkimanjaro. For how long, I don't know; for certain I'll not be up here next summer watching the sun set over Dawidy while supping back an ale.


Below: view from the summit, looking south towards W-wa Jeziorki station, just out of frame to the left. The track in the middle awaits the second layer of ballast before the new tracks are laid; the very same ballast that I've been standing on to get this shot.


Below: Birch grove, Jeziorki, across ul. Karczunkowska between the tennis centre and the Falbruk depot. This is abandoned agricultural land, left fallow; the trees have taken root here naturally.


Below: a dark sky threatens from the north, blown in by a cold wind. Strong sunlight lights up the trees between Biedronka ul. Karczunkowska, in the centre of the frame the temporary bus loop.


The hail came down hard and cold - but to my surprise, it was not wet; little frozen balls of water. Within just a few minutes, the ground was white, but  I had not far to go. It's been a rainy October, far rainier than most; the land needed it.


This time last year:
A driving ban for developers and architects

This time two years ago:
Do you keep coming back, or do you seek the new?

This time three years ago:
In praise of Retro design

This time four years ago:
First snowfall in Warsaw

This time five years ago:
Of cycles, economic and human

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

This time seven years ago:
Małopolska from the train

This time eight years ago:
Grading ul. Poloneza


1 comment:

Ian said...

Hi,
I noticed a grey box with Thales written on the side at Nowa Iwiczna and a similar one at Dawidy. I looked up Thales level crossings and they do barriered and non barriered crossings so looks like you were right and there will be some form of control at both points.