Pictures in the winter sun

Sun in winter is special; it behoves one to make the most of every ray. Time for a long walk. 

Below: hints of New Mexico, Jeziorki. Ulica Baletowa looking towards W-wa Dawidy station and the S7 extension carried over the tunnel in the distance. Evergreens look good against blue skies any time of year.

Below: the reverse shot - the tunnel carrying the S7 (under construction) over ul. Baletowa. In the distance, through the tunnel, the level crossing by W-wa Dawidy station.

Below: classic Jeziorki winter, by the southern pond. Note the broken silver pines - toppled over by last week's strong winds.

A man strides onto the ice, without hesitation. In his hand, an axe. He squats down and starts hacking at the ice. Looks like he's making a fishing hole.

Two hours later, I'm walking back the same way and step out to look at the hole. Although it's not that cold (-2C), the water at the surface has frozen over. I go to get a stick; it takes several blows to break the ice that's formed during this short time. With the stick, I gauge that the pond is covered by a sheet of ice some 20cm (eight inches) thick. Plenty of footprints and ice-skate tracks suggest that the ice is absolutely safe.

Below: over the years since the ponds have been deepened and the park built around it, the reeds have grown back. I can now walk over the ice and see the far side of the pond - it's not good. What was open water is now so overgrown to be almost impenetrable.

Below: between rail and road - a southbound Koleje Mazowieckie double-decker train passing a northbound Inter City Dart train on its way from Kraków to Olsztyn via Warsaw.

Below: there's still ten metres of concrete and asphalt needed to connect the end of the S79 (where I stand to take this photo) to the beginning of the S7 extension that will run down to Tarczyn and Grójec.

Below: under the railway lines, over the expressway. Above me to the left, the electrified Warsaw-Radom main line; above to the right is the un-electrified coal train line from Okęcie sidings to Siekierki power station. Underneath passes the S2 as it crosses southern Warsaw.

Below: the interstices, where few wander. Some lines of W.B. Yeats' verse sprayed onto the concrete underneath the railway bridge. Quite unexpected!

Below: it's winter, so the coal train runs more often than in summer. Siekierki is not just a power station - it's a heating plant, the hot water generated gets pumped around as district heating for local housing estates.

Left: not a householder keeping warm by burning crap - this is steam, not smoke - and it's coming out of the chimney stack at Siekierki power station, 10km to the north-east. In the foreground, the railway line.

Below: A LOT Polish Airlines Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 coming into land. It's so low as it crosses the S79 that I can catch this shot with the kit zoom lens on my Nikon D5600 extended to 55mm.

Below: bonus shot from town - a Nysa 522 minibus, used for nostalgia-themed tourist trips around Warsaw. It stands, minus registration plate, outside the Palace of Culture. Only contemporary posters give a clue as to the date of this photo.

(Happy birthday, Mon!)

This time last year:
Magic sky

This time two years ago:

Too good to skip over

This time four years ago:
The Hunt for Tony Blair
[Apologies to UK readers - the YouTube link is geo-blocked there]

This time six years ago:
Lux Selene

This time nine years ago:
David Cameron, Conservatism and Europe

This time 10 years ago:
Citizen Action Against Rat Runners

This time 11 years ago:
Moni at 18 (and 18 months)

This time 12 years ago:
Building the S79 - Sasanki-Węzeł Lotnisko, midwinter