Off to Pole Mokotowskie again for my early-ish morning stroll. And guess what? It is in no way repetitive of my last stroll in Mokotów Field. I walk by a different route to start with, past a prison with rolls of barbed wire on high walls; a mural of bird people; apricot colonnades warmer than the sun; a collection of Polish eagles, looking justifiably cranky; and my first close up encounter with a lime tree flower. On the way into the park, I read the information board, and establish one immutable goal: the Statue of the Happy Dog. I wouldn’t say no to the fountain either (although as it happens it says no to me.)
I share the path with a balding man about my age roller-blading, a banana in one hand and a plastic bag for the peel in the other. He laps me a few times, and then I spot him on a wider pavement executing circular turns backwards. There’re two gollolopy dogs, one black, one latte, each holding a bright yellow tennis ball in their jaws approach me hopefully. In a great grassy space, a couple of men lie on their bedding, with a small bright red charcoal barbecue waiting to cook breakfast. Birds sing, joggers pad, bikes and rollerblades whoosh and the air is full of the slightly sweaty smell of elderberries.
I move off the cement paths as often as I can onto slightly muddy tracks through unkempt grasses and patches of forest, once a white trunk gleaming in a slant of sun against dark green foliage. A snail wanders across in front of me, travelling at about the same pace as I am. There are chunky statues, fungi, flowers and grasses, and look! there! – the life-size happy dog.
Today I was daring. The photos in this post were all taken with my iPhone. The only way I could insure the fulfilment of intention was to leave my camera at home. Thank you, Gilly, for inspiring me to take the plunge!
Cranky eagles! I love it! 🙂 He’s very handsome! I have the double pleasure of listening to Paula’s wonderful music this morning and reading your luscious prose (I nearly said lucid- sorry Gilly 🙂 ). We have a statue on the green in Greatham with runaway hair a bit like that.
I can take photos with my phone but the downloading/sizing confounds me sometimes. Well done you! 🙂
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And a Polish eagle has a lot to be cranky about, given Poland’s history. “Luscious prose” is a critique that gives me pleasure. Maybe we should start a “statues with runaway hair” challenge!!!
Having to get iPhone photos to my iPad makes me ruthless in culling. I found a lot of post-processing stuff on the iPhone I hadn’t noticed on iPad, so it was a productive exercise.
Hugs across the miles.
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The iPhone/Instagram stuff is one of those ‘on my list’ things. Maybe in the Algarve, when my son’s around for ‘assist’ but then I won’t have WiFi. Will I need it? My high tech brain is dead 🙂 The sun came out and surprised me and we went to the Rose Garden this afternoon. Not many roses yet, but lovely.
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Surely however you usually upload photos in the Algarve you can with your phone?
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I never upload photos in the Algarve, Gilly. I upload to my laptop when I get home. I have a problem with sizings when I upload from my phone to laptop. Don’t ask me why- I’m an idiot! 😦
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You’re not at all! Do you have anything like photoshop elements to resize your images?
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I am too! I just ‘accidentally’ switched to Windows 10 🙂 🙂 The photo editing process is different and I’m just getting used to it. It may prove better in the long run. Thanks, Gilly 🙂
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How can you accidently switch to windows 10? I chose to do it last year as soon as it came out. My G-baby Layla used be get called Lalabonks which has no evolved to just Bonkers. If I start believing that you’re a bit like her, I may have to call you Jojobonks x 🙂 x
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Every time it offered I politely declined but one day I wasn’t quick enough. Chug, chug, chug… installed. Caramba! I think I like it 🙂 🙂
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Rose garden trumps high tech every time. I used to resize with an app called Reduce which let me do it in bulk on iPad and iPhone. A search “reduce photo size online” gave some reasonable looking options for laptop.
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Thanks hon. Sharing irises from said rose garden this morning. 🙂
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I’ve seen runaway hair like that too – in the mirror 🙂 🙂 🙂
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🙂 🙂
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Great iPhone shots! And thanks for more statues. I have to say – that photo with the car, I could have sworn it was upside down at first glance. Such an intriguing shot!
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I thought of you when I stumbled across this mural. Thanks for supporting my maiden serious voyage with iPhone.
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It’s such a cool shot!
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Amazing photos with a phone!
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The photos turned out great, and I really enjoyed reading your post this morning, Meg. Your words brought me along on your walk – quite a gift you have! I hope the rest of your day has gone as well as it started.
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I enjoyed your company. Thanks for walking with me. I love swapping New York and Warsaw experiences.
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Me too! 🙂
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That trompe l’oeil mural is exquisite! Shame about the scribbling underneath it. You say that it belongs to a prison? How quaint!
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Not the prison: it’s decorated with rolls of barbed wire and a watch tower. This is in the same street on the other side of the road. What if it were prison decoration? Not a bad idea. I had an artist friend in Broken Hill who taught at the gaol, but the visible creativity there was a very nice vegetable garden, not a mural!
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I misunderstood and was thinking “look, jailbirds” 😀
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That made me laugh! Actually it’s also thought-provoking. I had to go back and check and make sure I’d been clear, or at least clearish. I’ve been a bit out of it on occasion in the last few days.
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Lovely photos. The murals are quite impressive. Love all the flower photos.
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Well I’m chuffed if I’ve inspired you, they do say that the best camera is the one you have with you, and haven’t we always got our phones? I think the very first photo of the mural, which I absolutely love, is testament to the quality of images that can be achieved don’t you? It’s only in low light that i struggle. I also adore the dog x 🙂 x
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I saw the capacity of an iPhone to take good shots at home. A local petrol station has huge photos of the area on boards and he took the initial photos with iPhone. Not a pixel in sight!
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Contrary to what Gilly said, I DON’T always carry my phone! But then until recently I only had a phone that could be used for calls and texts. However, fortunately yesterday I was carrying it, which was lucky as my camera memory card became full – that will teach me not to upload the photos. Getting back to your post – i adore that mural shot. Fantabulous with the car – you are becoming a very creative photographer Meg. I like it.
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Thank you for the compliment. However, the car was just there, and I confess to wishing it would go away. Once I saw the photo I was pleased with its presence and thought it was perfectly placed.
I’ll be carrying my iPhone in future I think. My camera malfunctioned yesterday and I missed a unique shot, which, on the other hand, is fixed in my head.
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Indeed. Can’t take away those images we haven’t managed to capture. Today I watched two magpies bathing in my ‘bird bath’. They only have an inch or so of water, but how they made the most of it! Taking turns to splash around then flirting with one another, before retreating to the fence to dry those pretty wings. No camera, but oh, how I enjoyed it.
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