Warsaw Winter Walks…January 2013

January in Warsaw was filled with snow…so much more snow this year than our first winter last year.  The whiteness of the snow is brilliant….

….and though we rarely had blue skies or sunshine on these snowy days….the white snow is simply picturesque!

On the 3rd weekend in January our date was to walk through the park across the street from our neighborhood. Originally we planned to go to a museum, but it was snowing all day and sometimes it just feels good to stay close to home.

So we bundled up in layers, and though snowing….

….left our home and walked toward the park.

As we turn left out of our gate, this is the scene we see.  

To get to the park we walk to the end of this street, turn left and then right, and cross a street.  Usually we can walk there in 5 minutes…but when snow covers the streets and sidewalks, it's a longer trip.

We brought my nordic walking poles and we each used them at different times on our walk.

In the beginning there was no one in the park but Mark, me, and….a paddle of ducks on the edge of a mostly-frozen pond.  (That's right - a paddle of ducks.)

Some of the ducks were swimming in the small portion of the pond that had not frozen yet.

Occasionally a duck sits in the snow by itself. 

It makes us wonder…does it stay warm in the snow….when it is sitting by itself?

I have often observed that the cold does not keep people from venturing outside and walking…

….but this was a snowy morning and the snow had been falling for quite a while.  So there were few people walking on this Saturday morning.  

The snow had covered the benches in the park.

Further into the park we began to see other people.  

Our first glimpse of another person was an odd sight....

….someone bicycling in the snow!

A jogger….

….and a cross-country skier.

Mostly, it was just Mark and me walking for 45 minutes in this beautiful, cold wintry park!

Someone once told us, "There is no such thing as bad weather…only improper clothing"!  So we bundle up, walk, travel and enjoy (usually) winter in Warsaw.

It's easy to get used to seeing only white and brown during the winter.  So it's surprising and fun to occasionally see splashes of color….

….such as the red berries in these bushes.

I have often read or heard about something being "whiter than the driven snow", and I think….

 ….this snow is so white and beautiful…how could something be whiter than this?

My daring Mark…not satisfied to walk on the path.  He could tell the pond in the center of the park was frozen and that others had walked on it.  So he asked himself, "Why not walk on it myself?"

Standing on the edge of the pond...

…a little further out…

….but still closer to the bank than the center of the pond.

As we circled the park and the pond, we noticed a women bundled, but feeding bread to the ducks.  People here love, love feeding bread to the birds!

We also noticed a neighbor whose house is directly across the road from the park…shoveling and dumping his snow in the park.

We never saw a wheelbarrow used like this in Houston!

I was ready to come inside our warm home…

…. to change into dry, warm clothes….and to walk in my stocking feet on our heated kitchen floor.

Much snow had fallen on this Saturday morning….and it was only getting deeper.

So although we have a gardener who shovels the snow in the winter, Mark stayed outside for the next hour, shoveling the snow from the porch, steps, and front walkways.

He enjoyed the exercise, the results of the work….and even met some of our neighbors in the process.

Our Saturday date was simple and fun…walking in Park Arkadia….bundled up, snow falling, and being together!