Surviving the gloom

My first all-darkness long walk (12,750 paces) as Poland slips from the fifth season of the year to the sixth, namely from golden autumn to gloomy autumn. In case you're asking, the remaining four are deep winter, przednówek (after the frost and snow has gone, but before the rebirth of spring), spring itself, and high summer.

The sun has not shone since 5 November and the sun set today at 3:45pm; another 20 minutes of daylight will disappear from the evenings between now and the winter solstice. But my habit of going to bed early and ignoring the time change has kept my spirits up. As has my resolution not to watch or listen or read any news or engage in any political social media between now and January 2029. The mental-health hygiene equivalent of not fingering faecal matter before touching food.

Anyway, the changes of seasons is when the anomalous qualia memory flashbacks I get are most frequent and most intense. I felt several on my walk today; each gives me a little tingle of elation, a sense of continuity, a sense that there's more to the subjective conscious experience than what's bound by our biological lifespan. The silence of the fog-shrouded forest; the row of street lights reflected off the wet tarmac of a long, straight road;  the station in the distance, a commuter train rushing past (below)...

That great feeling, intuitive, powerful, genuine and restorative, of knowing that the soul – consciousness – lives on. The process of dying might not be pleasant physically or mentally, but death itself scares me not. 

Another summer gone, another winter on the way. A different way of living, coping with the darkness and cold, icy pavements, and above all, those short days. I have to make more of making the most of them.

Below: the Punctual Arrival at Chynów of the 19:12 Service to Warka.

Time and tide, everything moves on, nothing is permanent. There is progress, there is decay. On the progress side, a new pavement is being built alongside ulica Wolska, one day soon pedestrians will be able to walk safely from the railway line all the way from the far end of Widok. Below: level crossing, ulica Wolska, Chynów.

This time last year:
Edwardów, south of Chynów, at dusk

This time two years ago:
In which I realise I'm living in old Michałowizna

This time three years ago:
Dealing with the Hammer of Darkness
(Go to bed an hour earlier – ignore the time change)

This time seven years ago:
Poland's dream of a superconnector hub

This time eight years ago:
The magic of superzoom

This time 12 years ago:
Welcome to Lemmingrad

This time 14 years ago:
Dream highway

This time 15 years ago:
The Days are Marching

This time 17 years ago:
First snow, 2007
(It's 5.1°C outside right now)