From the train to Kraków, it looks like the end of winter; spring feels imminent, the snows are melting, the sun is out. But there's still a long time before the crocuses bloom. On January 16, two years ago, it was -23C during the day. The frost gods can yet return. Indeed, I'd be surprised if they didn't. Below: The Małopolska village of Przełaj from the train. Note the babcia in the bottom left corner of the picture.
More evidence that Warsaw is well prepared for winter. This morning, the roads were clear of snow and traffic moved smoothly (for the first Monday after the Christ's Mass/New Year's break) after yesterday afternoon's falls. Last winter, some wag observed that Polish drivers will not be satisfied until each one has his own snow-plough driving ahead of his car at a steady 80km/h. They'll moan like hell that the city's snow-clearing services are rubbish, but yesterday evening as I ferried the children here and there around Ursynów, I could see teams of snow-ploughs, gritters, shovellers, bus stop clearers all hard at it, ensuring that Monday morning's rush hour would be as smooth as it could be. Yes, the guys do get caught out, like the time a heavy snow fall coincided with the start of a rush hour, but generally, Warsaw is well prepared for winter.
A flat country with snowy winters is a recipe for transport chaos. Snow in fields adjoining railway lines can drift across the tracks, halting trains. An effective old-tech solution is to make simple wooden screens, strategically deposit them at trackside locations, and when snow is forecast, erect them alongside the railway so that the snow piles up there rather than on the line itself. Year in, year out these screens serve their purpose and somehow they have not as yet ended up as firewood. There are two stretches of track between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki that are particularly prone to drifting.
With the wind in the south-east, planes taking off from Okęcie fly over our house. Although they're much higher than when landing over Jeziorki, they are noisier, since their engines are on full power (rather than the 10% thrust used on approach).
The photo above is a multiple exposure of five consecutive departures from Runway 19. 
According to the weather station at the Warsaw Polytechnic's Physics Department, it's currently -12C, but wind chill makes it feel like -19C. I've noticed this phenomenon before; on really cold nights the barrel of the front door lock conducts cold into the house and moisture in the air freezes on it.
Positions of the sun at sunrise across the year, as seen from our house. At equinox it rises in the east; at summer solstice it rises in the north-east, while at winter solstice it rises in the south-east. By the spring equinox (22 March), the day will be 12 hours long, having gained four hours and 22 minutes - sunrise and sunset both at quarter to six (two hours earlier and two hours 22 minutes later respectively). A few days later, the clocks go forward, one feels spring in the air. But that all seems a long, long way off. It's still dark and cold.
[Anoraks' caption:] Polish Fablok-built diesel shunter SM42 321 hauling a single freight wagon southbound between W-wa Dawidy and W-wa Jeziorki. Most likely headed for the rampa na kruszywo, rather than for the coal siding at Konstancin-Jeziorna.
[Caption for the rest of my readers] Another light dusting of snow has fallen on Warsaw. This morning it was -5C. Past the end of ul. Trombity, where the railway line cuts ul. Kórnicka, an engine pulls a solitary wagon through a wintry landscape. The snow scene, trees and train puts me in mind of Jan Lenica's illustrations from Julian Tuwim's poem Lokomotywa - I shall make it a quest to replicate them.
2008 was ushered in by a veritable aerial bombardment of fireworks that maintained full-on intensity for over a quarter of an hour. We were surrounded by spectacular bursts, the best of which came from across the way. A light snowfall earlier in the evening added winter charm to the scene. As with the outdoor Xmas lights, New Year's fireworks are historically a bit of a novelty in Poland, but one that's caught on with amazing speed to become a nearly ubiquitous tradition. In terms of tonnes of gunpowder put up into the night sky, this certainly beats Guy Fawke's night.
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