Month: July 2021

Catching some rays

It was a very hot day when I visited the Japanese Gardens in Woodward Park, Fresno. Not sure why anything would purposely stay out in the sun but this turtle seemed very content to catch some rays.

Es war ein sehr heißer Tag, als ich die Japanischen Gärten in Woodward Park, Fresno, besuchte. Ich bin mir nicht sicher, warum etwas absichtlich in der Sonne bleiben sollte, aber diese Schildkröte schien sehr zufrieden zu sein, einige Strahlen einzufangen.

In transition III

Currently under demolition: The Schiller Opera House. The round steel skeleton building was originally built between 1889 and 1891 for the Circus Busch. It was opened in 1891 with a gala performance and held over a thousand visitors in its auditorium. The annexes housed artists’ apartments, a prop store and elephant stables, among other things. The circus moved from there to a new permanent circus building on Zirkusweg near the Reeperbahn as early as 1899. Later it became a well-known theater. After 1960, inheritance disputes initiated the decline, after changing use, the building stood empty since 2006 and it was increasingly left to decay.

Windmühle

Diese Bockwindmühle steht heute im Museumsdorf Diesdorf/Altmark und stammt aus dem Jahr um 1810. Dieser Mühlentyp gehört zu den ältesten Mühlentypen und war früher weit verbreitet. Das Besondere daran ist, dass die gesamte Mühle drehbar auf einem Drehgestell, dem sogenannten “Bock”, gelagert ist, so dass man mit dem Hebelbalken am hinteren Teil der Mühle die gesamte Konstruktion in den Wind drehen konnte. Dazu benutzte man Flaschenzüge, die an den Pfosten (der “Zaun”) rings um die Mühle und dem Hebelbalken gespannt waren.

This trestle windmill stands today in the museum village Diesdorf/Altmark and dates from around 1810. This type of mill is one of the oldest types of mills and was once widespread. The special thing about it is that the entire mill is rotatably mounted on a bogie, the so-called “trestle”, so that one could turn the entire construction into the wind with the lever beam at the rear part of the mill. For this purpose, pulleys were used, which were stretched on the posts (the “fence”) around the mill and the lever beam.

Dorfschule

Das Schülerleben im 19. Jahrhundert war schon hart wie dieser Blick in ein Klassenzimmer einer Dorfschule zeigt. Im Museumsdorf Diesdorf/Altmark sieht man neben den Schulsachen auch, wie ein ungehorsames oder “dummes” Kind bestraft wurde: Knien auf Erbsen, Schläge mit dem Rohrstock, Eselsohren…

School life in the 19th century was already hard as this view into a classroom of a village school shows. In the museum village Diesdorf/Altmark one sees beside the school things also, how a disobedient or “stupid” child was punished: Kneeling on peas, beatings with the cane, donkey ears….

Trees in rocky places

I saw Wolfgang’s post of a while ago of trees in rocky places. It is astonishing how a tree can make a living in an environment where nothing seems to sustain life. I had to think of a trip I made a time ago to Oman. The Musandam peninsula is a part of Oman. 2000 m mountain ranges drop down into deep fjords. In my view it is one of the most spectacular landscapes on earth. I wonder whether there would be more of these acacia trees if humans would not have permanently interfered and cut them away for building material and fire wood.

Just to give an impression of dimensions, another picture of the entire valley