general | matching tracksuits

Wood

Monday 18 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Today the Boy and I set out to tackle a basic but important project: sorting and storing all the wood Babcia had delivered in April. It's largely to serve as kindling for coal-fed fires in the winter months, but during the short time that it's not necessary to heat the whole house, the word heats the water.

Our job was to move and store the wood. And make a friend along the way:

We had an enormous pile with no before picture for comparison. All we have are pictures of all the various little corners we stored the wood.

And what with my little helper?

Orawskie Lato

Sunday 17 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Today was an annual festival here in Jablonka -- the thirtieth year in a row. That means they began having the festival just a few years before I first arrived. When we're in Poland, we usually get at least to drop in on this festival.

This year, I saw several former students from those early days. Except for one, I didn't recognize any of them immediately. I had to ask their name. When a bearded man in his mid-thirties approaches you, you'll be forgiven if you don't recognize him as the former student you last saw at age eighteen.

Goralski Wedding

Saturday 16 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Bridge

Friday 15 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Final Full Day

Thursday 14 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Today was the last full day K and L will be here. Tomorrow afternoon we head to K's brother's house for a grill and a short nap before taking the girls to the airport at the ungodly hour of 4:00 am.

Today, we went to Spytkowice to visit with a few people we hadn't seen at all or had seen only shortly.

And of course, there was the lovely drive home.

But the highlight of the day came at the start of the day, so to speak -- before taking Babcia out for a final lunch, we had a short photo session.

The Boy took a picture.

I took a picture of the three generations of ladies.

But the picture of the day, in some ways the picture of the whole trip thus far, was a quick, informal portrait session with Babcia.

Babia Gora

Wednesday 13 July 2022 | 0 Comments

I lived at the base of Babia Gora for seven years and only once tried to reach the summit. Shortly after that, I injured my knee while hiking in the Tatra Mountains. Some time after that, when my knee had healed, I injured the other knee. And so I never made it to the top of Babia. Until today.

Here's some video showing just how windy it was at the top.

Krakow 2022, Day 2

Tuesday 12 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Krakow 2022, Day 1

Monday 11 July 2022 | 0 Comments

Reunion

Sunday 10 July 2022 | 0 Comments

And of course, there was music.

Pyzowka

Saturday 09 July 2022 | 0 Comments

I keep repeating myself: X is always a highlight of our time in Polska. When you come here only every few years, I guess everything becomes a highlight. Still, going to Pyzowka to visit K’s dearest friend D and her family has to count as a highlight no matter how you define it.

D is the type of friend you have that, no matter how much time has passed since your last visit, the years disappear in an instant and except for the topics of conversation, your relationship feels little different than it did when you were in high school together. These days, you might talk about the cost of your child applying to college versus the cost of your child going to college if you lived in the states. You might talk about friends that only one of you has seen in the last twenty years and how they’ve changed or not changed. You might talk about the cost of heating your house this year as opposed to last year. These are discussions your parents would have had years ago, but now you have them.

Before you know it, your children will be having them as well. But for now, your children are happy jumping on the trampoline and playing with a puppy. The cost of heating is as distant to them as it was to you when you were their age. They hear your discussions, but they don’t pay much attention to them.