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Saturday, 13 February 2021

Winter continues, and I must say I'm rather glad

The past week's temperatures have oscillated between -12C and -4C, a good sharp frost which eased a bit today, falling back below zero this evening. More snow is on the way for tomorrow night and Monday, double-digit frosts again on Tuesday. Good - this is how winters should be (even if we have to turn up the gas to stay comfortable).

The ponds are all frozen solid; there's evidence of motorised vehicles on the ice, while fresh footprints suggest ever-braver excursions into the wilderness.

Below: look carefully along the path towards the houses on the horizon, and you'll see a hare. At first, I thought it was a dog running towards me - then it stopped; I identified it as a hare, ears erect. With a wide-angle lens, I couldn't do it justice; in a flash, the hare had leapt over the row of withered tansy and darted off at right angles to the path. Its speed was amazing.

Snow allows you to see where people and where animals wander. New tracks appear, opening up new possibilities for walking. Below: looking across abandoned land towards ul. Nawłocka.

Below: the way home from the footpath leading to the ponds. The house is on the horizon; the snowfield reminds me of skiing.

Below: back in the garden; the sun is setting, its rays breaking through the trees to light up the snow in the foreground.


Is this the last such winter, or will such winters return, albeit more rarely than in our past?

This time last year:

This time two years ago:
[Warsaw's] Morskie Oko in black & white

This time three years ago:
Preparations for Lent

This time five years ago:
Religion and Spiritual Growth

This time seven years ago:
When trams break down

This time nine years ago: 
Who are the thickies of Europe?

This time ten years ago:
Oldschool Photochallenge: Response No. 2

This time 11 years ago:
Oligocene water from Jeziorki 

4 comments:

  1. We will witness several such winters in Warsaw, but they will be less frequents. Albeit I would expect more extreme events, similar to the snowstorm which hit Madrid in January.

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  2. There is a reason bears hibernate. I hate winter.

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  3. @student SGH

    I think you're absolutely right.

    @ Andrzej K

    For me, it's lack of sunlight that's the killer. Give me -10C, strong sun, sharp frost, blue sky, sparkling white on the ground rather than +1C deszcz ze śniegiem - niech to cholera bierze.

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  4. For me bright sun and minus five is fine. At minus ten even with skiing gloves my fingers start hurting.

    ReplyDelete