Summer is drawing to a close, so on a warm, rainless Sunday we set off to see the heaths – a symbol of autumn. After all, September (in Polish” wrzosy – wrzesień) took its name from these little shrubs. In earlier times, this month was called spider enthusiast because of the threads of “Indian summer”.
“Polish belongs to the small group of languages in which the names of the months are organically linked to nature.” None of those Latin januaries, augusts or septembers!
Years ago, I admired countless hectares of heather in Scotland. This time we travelled to the area around Cedynia (West Pomerania), 90 kilometres south of Szczecin, to admire our own nature.
“The Cedyńskie Heathlands are a nature reserve located in the Cedynia Foothills, in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. The reserve, established on 11 April 1985, covers an area of 72.02 hectares and protects hills covered with heath as well as xerothermic plants. These are heat-loving species that grow in dry, strongly sunlit and rapidly warming habitats.”
“Our” heathlands have not yet reached their full splendour, but they are impressive nonetheless.
We drove through Chojna, where you can find St Mary’s Church – a monumental structure, one of the largest Gothic churches in Poland – as well as the Świecko Gate.
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Along the way we saw vast fields of unharvested sunflowers. We worried that it was a sign of poor management. But it was only our lack of agricultural knowledge! Sunflowers are harvested only in October, and these particular plants are grown for fodder. And birds feed on the seeds…
Had we gone a day earlier, on Saturday in the beautiful weather, we would have stopped in Rynica – a small village in the Widuchowa commune – for the local harvest festival. We admired the roadside decorations inviting people to the event.
Local creativity certainly has its own charm.
It says: "A lady in a skirt invites you to Rynica."
I’ve taken the liberty of attaching a few photos from the festival, published on Facebook.
"We gather together, we celebrate together."
On the way back, the yellow plums tempted with their beauty and abundance.
