BROWN LEAVES AND SMALL VILLAGES

I spent some time on the road back then, in the last days of the last year.

All the photographs in this post were taken on the 19th of December 2021.

I was just driving around and enjoying the sunny day ...

... in the inland area in between two small towns, Zminj and Svetvinchenat ...

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... about 40 - 60 kilometers from where I live.

I was exploring the web of narrow country lanes that connect small villages in the southern - central part of Istra.

My first stop was by this interesting little building in the corner of an olive orchard. It's called kazun and was traditionally used for storing the tools and as a shelter from the storm.

Some oak trees had still plenty of leaves on them.

Others had less.

But all that foliage was dead and brown anyway.

At one point, an airplane passed above the scenery.

Here you can see the interesting gall wasp creations on the twigs of an oak tree.

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The next stop was in a small settlement a couple of kilometers further. I don't know the name. Can't remember it. You can see a large tree in the central part of this photograph. In the following shot ...

... I brought the tree closer with the zoom of my camera. The combinations of barren branches and the lush foliage of the ivy looked pretty cool. Two magpie nests were visible among the twigs on the top.

Here you can see yet another detail from that lovely tree.

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I parked in front of a small house, or more like some kind of garage, with a bunch of chickens in the yard.

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This is the last shot I took there before continuing my little journey.

About 10 or 15 kilometers further ...

... I found this isolated house surrounded by fields and woods.

A lovely old van was parked in the backyard.

In this vertical shot, you can see the vehicle and the nearby tree. They look kinda cool together.

I photographed these mushrooms before entering my car.

Didn't notice them when I was getting out of the car.

They were well camouflaged among the fallen leaves.

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I took one last look at trees in this area and drove away.

The next stop was about 5 kilometers further.

I just stopped by the narrow, uphill road ...

... and shot a lovely white airplane ...

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... high in the deep blue sky.

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This photograph was taken when I stopped in another small settlement ...

... 5 or 6 kilometers further.

I don't remember the name of the place.

I have only a vague recollection about something that starts with the letter B.

Long stretches of the roadside terrain on the outskirts of the village were covered with clusters of fluffy seed that looked a bit like snow from a distance.

These are the seeds of the Clematis vitalba plant.

Half an hour later ...

... I was trapped inside a traffic mirror on the crossroad at the edge of another small village.

When I got out of the mirror, it was time to time a walk ...

... and explore this unnamed village.

I mean, the village surely has a name ...

... but I don't know what that name is.

This photograph was taken a bit later, about 2 kilometers from the village.

There was a relatively big black hole in the vegetation across the road. It looked like some mysterious wormhole. A tunnel to Narnia. Something like that. Inviting and scary at the same time. Didn't enter, so I can't tell you what's on the other side.

When, after some more driving, I stopped again ...

... about 10 kilometers further ...

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... I was in the village called Orihi.

I know that now only because I photographed this roadsign at the entrance.

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I found some amazing things at the edge of this village. Some beautiful trees ...

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... some two-dimensional wildlife ...

... and the strange dark snow. After this shot, I was driving home.

After quite a few kilometers through the winter landscape, along the road surrounded by barren branches and brown leaves, I entered a surreally green area.

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Just joking. What you see in the previous photograph it's only a rotated detail of this tall cypress tree ...

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... near the church in the village called Marchana, about 20 kilometers from where I live. After this short stop, I drove directly to my hometown.

AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.