When we first came to Poland we were distressed by the freeze/thaw, free/thaw cycle that we tended to have throughout the winter. It drove my husband crazy, who at the time was used to more of the Alaska cycle of freezing til spring.

However, we’ve been here long enough now to expect this cycle. In fact, the last few years we’ve had relatively mild winters, so we’ve not really experienced it lately.

However, this year in our part of Poland we’ve had snow since the first of the year. It’s now approaching the end of February, so getting close to 2 months of snow.

However today, Sunday, we are having rain on top of the snow we’ve had. In fact, we’ve had quite cold weather in the last month - a real winter. We are actually grateful for it, as it helps kill the bugs that run rampant when there isn’t enough freezing cold weather.

However, the thaw is here…and I wanted to share a few pictures with you. I think I can tell you about it til I’m hoarse, but the pictures show it best.

We all like fresh, clean snow because it is so pretty. Melting is difficult on the psyche, so we are hoping what we are getting right now will just rain a lot and get it over with.

The snow in our yard in late January, 2026.

This is what our parking lot at the church looks like. It is a very dangerous time of the year for those who are walking on the ice covered with water. It is when we just hope for warmer weather and get that frozen ground thawed so the water can go into the ground. When it is frozen, the melting snow (water) just sits on top of the ground, creating a real mess.

Then, the road going home looked like this:

I know those of you who are in the north already know all this. However, those of you who live where the ground never really freezes may not quite realize this.

In a couple of days, hopefully, the ground will thaw out completely and the water will just disappear as it will go down into our sandy soil.

Thanks so much for coming along with me on this journey.

Have a great day wherever you are reading this.

Be sure to check out what my sis has for you in the store here!

Feel free to browse the site.

Cultural: A true Spring Breakup - in Winter here in Poland