Winter, at last, in all its glory

FOR MY BROTHER MAREK, ON THE OCCASION OF HIS BIRTHDAY

Two years waiting, at at long last - proper winter. Yesterday, 13 January, it arrived - time to catch it. Briefly, the sun appeared - but to the north, more snow clouds gather. The snows will help raise the water level of the ponds - barely visible to the left of the photo.

Across the tracks, looking at Jeziorki with my back to where the new S7 extension is cutting through the fields between Jeziorki and Dawidy Bankowe. Dead goldenrod and tansy dominates in this fallow field.

Below: an abandoned orchard on ulica Kórnicka - the inaccessible part of the street, cut off by the railway line at one end and the S7 extension at the other. I dare say fruit-growing won't return here.

Today's walk was at twilight; I set off half an hour before sunset. Below: the northern end of ul. Kórnicka, where it meets ul. Baletowa. I am reminded of a Christmas cake decoration as a child - a dark-green fir tree sprayed with white, sitting in a red wooden pot, about two inches high. Every year, my mother would place it in the white icing on top of the marzipan coating the rich fruitcake. 

Below: Is this rural Buckinghamshire? No - this is ul. Sporna, less than 11km (6.8 miles) from the centre of Warsaw, looking north-west

Ul. Sporna, like ul. Kórnicka, is also cut in half by the railway line; no longer is there a level crossing even for pedestrians. On the other side of the tracks, Sporna continues to Dawidy via Dawidy Zwyczajne (the bit of Dawidy that's within Warsaw's borders). Below: a train towards town has just departed from W-wa Dawidy station.

Below: back on ul. Trombity, winterously gorgeous as night falls.

Winter will stay with Warsaw and Mazowsze for a few more days, with heaps of new snow and a night-time low of -17C forecast for Saturday night, followed by a daytime high of -12C on Sunday.

This time seven years ago:
The simple beauty of gov.uk

This time eight years ago:
My brother at 50 - and as a child

This time nine years ago:
First snow in the Old Town

This time ten years ago:
Blood on the tracks, again

This time 11 years ago:
Views from Książęca footbridge - winter and summer

This time 12 years ago:
The Most Poniatowskiego