Blues and greens of early June

Sunday 5 June - meteorologically, a perfect day. Cloudless, hot - but not too hot (24C in Chynów).

Thirty seven kilometres in a straight line between where I'm standing (the Jakubowizna exit from Chynów station) and the distant skyscrapers of Warsaw's new central business district. A mere 37km, but a long way from town. My 70-300mm Nikkor telephoto zoom lens draws nearer the horizon; rays of light skipping over Sułkowice, Czachówek, Piaseczno, Jeziorki, Okęcie, ulica Filtrowa (where my father lived before the war) and W-wa Główna station.

Below: a thousand paces and just around the corner from home - good to be here at this time of year, when the greens are pure, not yet burnt by the sun. And the sky is Kodachrome blue.

Left: I am particularly fond of this view, looking up from the dip in the road, where the drainage culvert runs under it and the railway track to the left. And to the right, an orchard, the same one that can be seen on the extreme left-hand edge of the photo above. 

Short shadows from the west - late afternoon as the year approaches its zenith. An aesthetic zenith too. The spirit of place is strong - late spring, early summer feels optimal.

Below: ulica Spokojna (lit. 'calm street' or 'peaceful street') heads out of Chynów. Photo totally unretouched .jpg file, straight out of the box, as it were. Polarising filter, duplicating the effect of sunglasses, the only artifice here.

Further along ul. Spokojna, although now in Węszełówka; in the distance the new level-crossing barriers are down, and a Koleje Mazowieckie train heads north for Warsaw. Sublime smells - hot sun on pine trees - bring back memories of holidays in Stella-Plage, northern France.

Left: a large bird of prey over the railway line between Chynów and Krężel; I'm not good at identifying anything bigger than the marsh harriers and kestrels that I see (more rarely than once, it must be said) over Jeziorki. Anyone know what this is? Quite a large enlargement, even at maximum zoom.

Below: one of the XII Canonical Views of Jakubowizna, looking immaculate here. Note the tiny white speck in the sky - an airliner turning in for final approach to Warsaw Okęcie airport's Runway 33.

This time three years ago:
This land is my land

This time six years ago:
Preening stork

This time nine years ago:
Preserving meadowland - UK and Poland 

This time ten years ago:

Poland's transport infrastructure progress

This time 11 years ago:
Cara al Sol - a short story

This time 12 years ago:
Pumping out the floodwater

This time 13 years ago:
To Góra Kalwaria and beyond

This time 14 years ago:
Developments in Warsaw's exurbs