The Sights of Summer

 "And the sights that I take in are quite terrific/I'm west Texas bound"

I find myself singing Louis Jordan's Texas and Pacific whenever my train is getting near to Chynów; the sense that I'm on holiday while on the działka is still with me - hence my lack of any real desire to go off on a summer holiday. A deepening sense of connectedness with the land, metaphysical, atavistic, visceral. As I crouch down to collect wild strawberries or sorrel, soil under my fingernails, thorn scratches, nettle stings, buzzing midges, I become as one with our planet home, away from the traffic and pavements of city life.

Walking is health, it is medicine, it is good for body, brain and soul. Got to get out there. Below: between Sułkowice and Ławki, on the west bank of the Czarna river.

Below: oczko wodne (lit. 'little eye of water') catching run-off rain from the orchard behind. Good planning - Poland needs reservoirs large and small to cope with extreme weather events - droughts and floods.

Clouds gather, a light drizzle at first. Below: the first spots of rain on my lens as I pass through the forest, Machcin II.

The road between Jakubowizna and Machcin has received (at long last!) a new asphalt coat. This stretch was quite unpleasant to ride a motorbike along in its previous potholed state. It's Sunday, and quiet. Only two cars pass me as I walk along this bit of road, a kilometre or more.

Below: a storm is brewing. Will I get home and avoid a drenching? Springs in Mazovia are tending to be dry; from late April into early June there are many sunny days. Summers are wetter.

Below: chicken wire. A front garden in Grobice, the householder keeps chickens, and this cock is keeping an eye on passers-by.

Shortly after getting home, the heavens open - intense rain - the clouds soon pass, the sun returns to dry the land. I pop out for some sorrel to go with tomorrow's lunch. Below: my back garden from the upstairs terrace

This time last year:
Warka Miasto

(Hello new station, goodbye old train)

This time two years ago:
Elegy for a lost exurbia

This time three years ago:
Farewell to Papuś

This four years ago:

Classic cars, Ealing

This time five years ago
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics reviewed

This time six years ago:
Now it belongs to the ages - on Great Works of Art

This time seven years ago:
More Brictorian Liverpool

This time eight years ago:
Łódź - city of tenements

This time nine years ago:
Liverpool reborn

This time ten years ago:
What goes round comes around: retro is cool - again.

This time 11 years ago:
Warsaw's southern bypass by this time next year?

This time 12 years ago:
Stand Easy! - a short story

This time 15 years ago:
God Save The Queen - I mean it, Ma'am