Out of the blue, or perhaps out of the gray, we suddenly have blue skies. Within a few hours of sunrise, it’s possible to be comfortable outside without a jacket. By late morning, it’s possible to put on shorts. With the rich blue in the sky, I decide I might try for another picture of Babia Gora. During our walk yesterday, I’d discovered a spot where only a field of dandelions and Babia were visible. Gone were the houses, the power lines, everything that makes modern Jablonka modern Jablonka. I take a few pictures, but none of them measure up to what I see in my mind’s eye.

The afternoon promises more interesting adventures, though. More touristy, to be sure, but nothing’s wrong with that. We’re tourists now. We walk around the small centrum in Jablonka and recognize no one. K tells me that even at church she sees almost no one she knows. We are strangers when we’re here, tourists, so why not act it?

We head to a new park at the base of Babia Gora that includes a line park, several playgrounds, and those enormous inflatable balls that kids get in and look like they’re shrink-wrapped until the attendant inflates the thick plastic ball. L takes an hour to go through the line park. The Boy rolls about in a net of plastic balls. And K and I? We sit and scheme how we might get back alone so we can run the adult line park.

A touristy day in K’s home village. Who would have thought it?