A spell of sunny days, cloudless skies; sublime. My brain works better. More vivid, memorable dreams. More flashbacks, exomnesia moments of recognition of that previous time and place. More insights into the nature of reality. In the sharp light, all is clear; ambiguities are dispersed.
Do clouds soak up some fundamental particle that interacts with my consciousness?
On a day like today there's no other activity that can compete with a long walk to bask in those autumnal rays and let them work their miracles. Out, then, into the sun. Below: forest to the left, orchards to the right – the track from Machcin II to Grobice.
My walk today was to stroll through villages that I had only hitherto motorcycled through; Wincentów and Linin. But the first village beyond my usual strolling range was Staniszewicze (below). From here I turned north towards Wincentów...
One thing I wanted to see was the airfield in Wincentów, which serves light aviation. Below: RWY 01 – a grass strip, the hangar and clubhouse in the distance. [Runway 01 = ten degrees off due north. The analogous runway number at the other end is 19, ten degrees off due south. Runway numbers use the 360° circle dropping the final digit, for example a runway ending due west, or 270°, is RWY27.]
Face towards the sun. Below: the wind moves through a field, backlit by the sun; I see grass sparkle, analogous to J.B. Priestley's "sea sparkle". It's the second half of October and yet greenery predominates, despite the dry summer. Mazovia is blessed. It is here I picnic, just outside of Linin; an orchard to the left of me, an orchard behind me. I sit down to enjoy some kiełbasa with bread rolls, and apple (not from these orchards!) and some feldalkohol – a 500ml can of nicely chilled Becks lager (4.20 złotys/81p from the local shop. Just looked up the UK price. Horrific).
Below: Lininek, south of Linin. Deep in orchard country. In the distance, that characteristic 'thud' of apples being dropped into pails. You can hear the pickers, but you can't see them in between the dense rows of apple trees. It's sunny, but no longer hot. Top temperature today around 16°c; two-layers weather.
Below: the wood on the way home. Familiar and benign, my local forest holds no terrors for me, even at the dead of night. I have become from here.
My walk today totalled over 15 kilometres (22,000 paces), taking in Machcin, Staniszewice, Wincentów, Linin, Lininek, then back to Staniszewice, Grabina and home. Every ounce of sunshine in the darker half of the year needs to be extracted and benefited from.
Below: back on the działka, the afternoon sun lights up the golden leaves of a silver birch in the neighbouring forest.
And a thought. Qualia moments are best experienced on one's own, with no distracting conversation to drown them out – no matter how fascinating the topic, no matter how compelling the discussion. Company is all well and good, but experiencing moments such as these is a solitary pursuit. For some reason, Mott the Hoople's All the Way from Memphis popped into my head. Looking it up once home, I noted that the song received its maximum UK radio airplay in September and October 1973; perhaps I had experienced similar meteorological conditions back in the Old Country one autumn day 51 years ago, a memory which returned the song.
This time last year:
Flashbacks multiply as autumn sun wanes
This time two years ago:
I dream of telepathy
This time four years ago:
S7 update, around what's now Węzeł Zamienie
This time five years ago:
Marchin' again
This time nine years ago:
The autumn sublime in Jeziorki
This time 11 years ago:
Enduring Ealing – Victorian and Edwardian klimats
This time 12 years ago:
Krokowa, Poland's former northern borderlands
This time 17 years ago:
Aerial photograph of Central London
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