Yesterday, a meteorologist on TV said that this year, October in this country had 76 % less sunshine than the average October, that average being based on weather data from 1981 to 2020. I wondered at that statement, because there were so many beautiful golden days last month, as you know if you have seen my pictures. And I have not even showed you all of them! We went on the most beautiful autumn walk Sunday a week ago, which will of course be the subject of its own post.
For now, let me just briefly show you some miscellaneous pictures taken during the month, beginning with - how boring, you may think - my office.
It is actually not "my" office, but the office space provided for me and my colleagues at our most regular client's. We have been working for them for almost 10 years now, and been moved around in their building a few times. The last such move was at the end of September. I took these pictures on the 30th of September, not knowing that it was going to be the first and last time there for I don't know how long.
I only started going back to working on-site in July, one day per week. At the beginning of October, in relation to the corona pandemic, things started to look worse every day, and most companies shut their doors again, sending everyone home who is able to work from home.
Some more pictures; fog on the morning of the 14th of October, as seen from my kitchen window:
I "met" the squirrel on an after-work walk on the 13th. It was so busy eating - and is probably so used to seeing people walking by - that it did not run away.
The palace grounds are always beautiful, no matter the time of year. On Saturday, the 17th, O.K. and I walked through and enjoyed the autumn colours:
Now the gates to the park are closed again, as they were in spring. I am so glad we went there any time we could!
On Sunday, the 18th, a pre-lunch walk saw us out on the fields about 15 minutes from my house. As you can see, it was blue sky and sunshine.
As is often the case, the colours in reality were even more beautiful and intense than what I was able to capture on camera. All things considered, October was a good month for me.
A RED squirrel? Lucky you.
ReplyDeleteMy, my, my, Meike, what a tidy desk you have (adapted from Rotkaeppchen - Brothers Grimm).
Are you left handed?
Ignoring that it's now November, golden greetings,
U
All the better to blog you with.
DeleteUrusla, we have only our native red squirrels here, no grey ones. And it must have been a good year for them, as I see many around; one lives on or near the cherry tree in front of my kitchen window.
DeleteI like my surroundings clean and tidy; helps me being focused, and focused I have to be.
At a computer, I use the mouse with my right hand, and I (mostly, but not only) write with it, too. But somehow, reaching for my coffee mug or water, as well as a few other things, come more natural with my left hand.
Kant said that the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe wisdom also comes on a foggy day. Especially when there are lucky red squirrels as Ursula pointed out.
German domestic architecture is always aesthetic. I wish British housing estates had that German genius and flair.
A tree at your study window is a blessing. What is it like to be working at home without boundaries? Walking away from the office at the end of the working day is liberating.
One of my sisters works in her small Pimlico flat in London. She moved from Save the Children to another Third World NGO.
I know she rises early and works till about 7 p.m. After that she reads or watches Netflix; she walks in her time off, Pimlico not being far from the Thames and Westminster Abbey, near which there are beautiful quiet little streets. I saw a bronze plaque that said T.E. Lawrence once lived here. He wrote The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, very Kantian!
What you say about German domestic architecture vs. British housing estates is funny - I actually quite like the looks of, say, the typical rows of terraced brick houses or stone cottages in England. There are some houses around here that I find really beautiful, the majority are rather non-descript.
DeleteYour sister's working day sounds not that much different from mine, only that I rarely work as late as 7:00 pm. My eyes wouldn't be very happy with that. Also, rarely a day passes where I do not have one or other appointment in the real life, such as seeing my parents for lunch, having my sister over for a cup of tea, or going for a run with my friend.
English brick terraces look good if they are well maintained, like those in York. Stone cottages are handsome. In the old days towns in West Yorkshire tended to be predominantly brick or stone. Stan Barstow explored the towns in West Riding, looking for the locale of his first novel (A Kind of Loving) and settled on a stone-built town.
DeleteSo much English and Scottish domestic architecture was dreary, though it is better now. German houses in the Odenwald region looked like places I wanted to live in: Gabled detached houses with red-tiled roofs. Even the blocks of flats in the Odenwald towns were far superior to what we were building in Scotland in the 1970s.
I wrote *bronze* when I meant to write *blue*.
ReplyDeleteEnglish Heritage has its own blog, Blue Plaques.
There is a post on T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935) describing him as an author and intelligence officer. He lived ay 14 Barton Street, Westminster, S.W. London.
There is even a street map.
I am wondering, Meike. Is there a plaque system in Germany, showing where famous women and men once lived?
Details are fascinating. Bernard Shaw gave Lawrence a motorcycle as a gift, the vehicle on which Lawrence crashed and died. The David Lean film opens with that fatal accident.
There are plaques in this country, too, to indicate places related to famous people or otherwise important buildings. As far as I know, they vary from town to town. Ludwigsburg has silver-grey oval plaques.
DeleteIf I survive the Covid crisis (I have no underlying health issues but I regard each day as a bonus) I should like to see those oval plaques in Ludwigsburg.
DeleteAnd seeing the places where Herman Hesse lived would be thrilling.
I finished The Glass Bead Game and found it enchanting, though I can't yet decide if it is hollow at its centre. It was Hesse's vision of a world without war.
A man has invented a Glass Bead board game which children love playing. It comes with its own App so children can play with their smartphones beside them.
Maybe the Chinese will reinvent Go with smartphone apps.
Gosh, I don't even have a mobile phone, but have been talking about getting one for years.
I seem to remember that we have been talking about Hermann Hesse before, and I must have mentioned that I went to Librarian School in his birth town, Calw. The museum there is very good. Calw is about 45 minutes by car from where I live.
DeleteGo with smartphone apps? I am certain it already exists.
The Librarian School at Calw sounds like a mislaid chapter from The Glass Bead Game.
DeleteOne can picture Joseph Knecht studying there, consulting the Egyptian Book of the Dead or something deep.
Even the name of Hesse's birthplace resonates with me: Calw is Cawl or Caul, scrambled.
Downloading apps on my laptop I haven't yet tried. My former school pupils chat with one another on their blog, but I don't have the app, alas.
The view from your home office far surpasses the one from the client's office space. I have a neat desk also. I tend to be more productive when I am organized.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Jill!
DeleteFrom my home office window, I can not see very far, but it is a domestic view of trees and gardens and houses instead of the office blocks and hotel I see from the client's place.
There are no red squirrels up here (no squirrels at all in fact) so I'm envious because they are beautiful creatures. I've yet to sort out in my mind why parks etc should be shut because people need exercise and they are fairly safe places to do that. Fortunately we are able to walk anywhere.
ReplyDeletePublic parks where people can just walk in without having to pass a gate and paying for admission are all open, but "pay" parks are shut. They usually attract larger crowds, and in some parts people can't or won't keep the minimum required distance.
DeleteI like seeing where you work and yes, you do have a very organized desk both at home and at your client's office. The morning fog from your kitchen is a good picture. I don't know why, but I always like pictures of fog. We have many squirrels here but no red ones such as you have there. He is a cute little fellow! I hope you will still be able to enjoy your walks with the lock down in your area.
ReplyDeleteI like fog, too, Bonnie.
DeleteRight now, what makes walking difficult is the fact that it is dark by the time I finsih work, and my lunch break is simply not long enough for a proper walk - also, I need that break to have something to eat.
Your October looks lovely and sometimes when the sun is very bright, it makes it hard to show the colors as your eyes see them. Stay safe and keep wearing your mask! I saw that Germany is going into a "light lockdown", whatever that means. It means I am thinking about you and hope you are safe! x
ReplyDeleteThat "light lockdown" means all schools and most businesses are open, while restaurants, bars, places for culture and sports etc. are closed. We can move freely but discouraged from travelling. Hotels are not allowed to admit tourists, only business travellers.
DeleteIt is supposed to be a temporary measure to last all this month, and the situation will be evaluated in about two weeks to decide whether or not these rules will be in place also in December.
What a well organized office. When I worked, many years ago, my desk was always messy, yet I made my boss's desk spotless. In fact he always complained that when I cleaned it up he couldn't find anything ....Yes, I thought you would like the joggers. They are warm and comfortable, just right for this season. It's hot in the sun, cold in the shade, you don't know what to wear.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to work properly at a messy desk - the wilderness in my mind is already enough to deal with :-D
DeleteAs for other people's desks, I do not touch them; they can keep as much stuff on them as they like.
The Ludwigsburg palace gardeners must work and plan so hard. It is quite a feat to keep the gardens looking nice at this time of year but they have obviously managed it. How lovely to see a red squirrel - here, the grey ones have all but taken over, and even though they are charming and funny and graceful, I know that they are not good for English wildlife.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then, the head of the palace gardens appears on (regional) TV or in our local newspaper. I have also met him personally, and he is a nice, hard-working man with a passion for his work. His ideas may not always be to everyone's taste, but it is amazing what he can do with a relatively small number of full-time gardeners and a few extra helping hands in the spring.
DeleteI agree about the grey squirrels in England. It is not their fault they have become a problem - they just act as their instincts tell them. As usual, man has upset the balance by introducing them to where they don't belong.