Sunset mysticism

Unless it's raining or heavily overcast, a sunset stroll is an obligation. Even if just to the end of the road and round the corner, the benefits of this daily ritual are clear - it offers direct contact with a far greater reality than mundane day-to-day human matters. Watching the sun descend below the horizon is a form of communion with the Cosmos - watching the earth spin backwards away from the sun - a Copernican moment. I realise that I'm standing on a planet in a solar system; once dusk has evaporated, the galactic context becomes clear - in a clear sky, away from the city's light pollution.

Below: ulica Miodowa (lit. 'Honey Street') winds its way into Chynów, the setting sun catching the bark of the willow trees on the left. This scene reminds me so much of the chemins-vicinaux around Stella-Plage, northern France, and childhood and teenage holidays.

Below: up the hill, past the orchards - a brief flashback, towards the brow, what sights await me?

Below: "as the Earth turns, at the edge of night" to quote Nick Lowe, the orchards are being sprayed with pesticides - a reminder to peel or wash carefully your supermarket apples before consumptions.

The moment of communion. The observer is stationary on a spinning planet orbiting its star.

Three minutes later, the sun has disappeared below the horizon as seen at ground level, but the clouds are still illuminated by its rays, giving a magnificent display, below.

No apologies for the repeated landscape below - one of the XII Canonical Views of Jakubowizna, perhaps my favourite, photographed at many different times of the day in different seasons of the year. The rapidly changing moods of the sky, bathed in the afterglow, makes sunset-catching so worthwhile.

"I am a Consciousness moving across the face of this planet..."

This time three years ago:
You've either got or you haven't got style

This time four years ago:
Total eclipse of the moon, Warsaw

This time six years ago:
'Others' vs. 'Our others'

This time seven year:
Reducing inequality in Polish society

This time nine years ago:
Llanbedrog beach

This time 11 years ago:
The Accursed Soldiers - a short story

This time 12 years ago:
Driving impressions of the Toyota Yaris

This time 14 years ago:
Poland's dry summer

This time 15 years ago:
The UK's wettest summer ever