Thursday 5 August 2021

Between the August rains

It rained for much of the day, I'm stuck indoors on the działka, but the forecast showed that the clouds would thin out by the late afternoon and the evening would stay dry. So off I go! Below: looking from my drive out onto the road. Which way should I go - left (east) or right (west)? I head east.

I follow the path through the wood, and head towards Machcin II. The orchards are now visibly fruitful - apples are ripening quickly, though it will still be some six weeks before they are all ready to be picked. The last of the unpicked cherries are rotting on the trees, plums are now ripe and ready to eat (I have had some from my garden already). Apple-picking will go on into early November.

Below: the road from Jakubowizna to Machcin in the low evening sun. A mellow, pleasing landscape.


Left: this is becoming one of my 'canonical views' of the manor - the unasphalted farm track leading up the hill from Grobice toward the small cluster of houses that is Adamów Rososki. Quiet, solitude, and fecund, fruit-bearing trees all around. On the horizon, the sun illuminates cloud banks as they roll away north-eastwards.

Below: the farm track rounds a corner and heads south; the low sun lights the foliage from the side. From time to time, there's the sound of a tractor spraying fruit trees with pesticide. The dispersed nature of orchards, with the more successful growers buying up ever more hectares, means the farm tracks remain important byways, allowing farmers to get their equipment from one orchard to the other, and ultimately, the fruit to market.

Below: up to the end of this track, turn right, then about 1,500 paces back to the działka. The evening stayed dry, the walk totalled 11,500 paces


This time two years ago:
Changes

This time six years ago:
Summer in the city

This time seven years ago:
The architecture of the Birkenhead Tunnel

This time nine years ago:
Behold and See - short story, part II

This time ten years ago:
Signs of progress along the S2 - Lotnisko to Puławska

This time 12 years ago:
Warsaw's walls bear witness 

2 comments:

Liam Nolan said...

Michael,
I recently discovered your blog via Twitter and am really enjoying reading your posts, and great photography. It's a rich archive on Warsaw and Polish life (and much more). I lived in Warsaw from 2011 to 2014 and used to explore that beautiful part of southern Warsaw's borders and beyond by bike. Keep up the great writing.

Yours,
Liam

Michael Dembinski said...

@Liam,

Many thanks for your kind words - it's comments like this that keep me going.

My best regards,

Michał