1st April / April Fools' Day

 

My calendar photo for the month of April - from 11th April, 2025. 

Caroli Church (Caroli kyrka) in Borås is a parish church belonging to the Church of Sweden, and the oldest preserved building in our city, dated from the 13th-century. It was rebuilt and repaired after fires in 1681 (when the tower was also added), 1727 and 1822; and went through some further renovations in 1914-1915 and 1938-1940. If I go to a church service during the major holidays like Christmas and Easter, this is usually where I go. 

1st April today, and "April Fools' Day" - which I understand is quite an international tradition. For me it's been Laundry Day, meaning I have not been out; and as far as I know, I don't think I've come across any fake news - although I kind of wished that one of the things announced on national TV this evening would turn out to be... (It's election year, and political parties are as usual conspiring to try and make new deals to convince voters that they'll be able to form a "stable " government...)

 

The probably most famous Apil Fools' joke from Swedish television goes way back to 1962, when they claimed that if you pulled a nylon stocking over your black and white TV, you'd be able to watch colour TV! And it's said that some people actually tried... (I remember it, but I don't think my parents fell for it!) 

 

  

The actual introduction of official, regular colour TV in Sweden started on 1 april 1970. No joke this time, but only six hours per week to begin with!

 

The first time I watched colour TV was at my maternal grandfather's house when there was an ice hockey world championship going on - I think it must have been 1971. I was not really all that impressed, because when the players were skating fast over the ice, they kind of left the colours of their costumes behind them on the screen! 

 

Daylight "Saving" (?) Time

 

A brief interlude from the "here and now", before I return to processing the last part or two of my time travels to Germany in 1983. (The past couple of weeks have offered a good time to get on with that project, as spring outdoors has not been making much progress.)

 

Two days ago, like in the rest of Europe, it was time to set the clock(s) forward one hour again. I've never been in favour of the idea, and keep hoping that one day we'll all agree to stop that nonsense - but until that happens, there's not much one can do but try and adjust (oneself, as well as the timepieces one happens to possess). I am one of those who still own a number of clocks/watches that need to be tended to manually - and more often than not, I manage to forget at least one...

 

This time, I thought I had managed to remember them all - until Sunday evening, when I suddenly realised that the clock on the wall in my study (above my computer) was still on winter time. Which meant I had been "working" past my intended bedtime... 

 

Not that it usually matters all that much these days (when I go to bed or when I get up) - it was just that this time I had meant to try to make a serious effort to adjust, as all winter I've been very lazy in my morning habits anyway...

 

Well, I had Monday to try to make amends (hm) before today, when I had a dentist appointment in town at 11:20 - which I know can't really be called early, but with my body clock still on winter time, and having to leave home about 9:30 "real time", it still felt early... Setting various alarms and reminders, I somehow managed it, though. ;)

 

Thankfully the last few wet and windy days had given way to more sunny weather, so once I got out there, it wasn't too bad. (Photo above taken on my walk into town.)

 

The dentist appointment was "just" an annual check-up, including x-rays - and luckily, not even those revealed anything that needed fixing. Afterwards, I visited the pharmacy to stock up on some various "dental health" related items - and, as a bonus, also my favourite tea shop. Besides stocking up on three of my usual favourites, I bought their special Easter blend: black tea with bergamot and passion fruit flavour.

 

Glad Påsk - Happy Easter!

 

Back home, after lunch, I lay down on my bed to rest for a while, listening to a radio podcast...  And woke up again around 5:30 p.m. (summer time)... 

 

So much for my efforts to "adjust", so far!! 😁

 

 Barbie and Skipper are yawning, too, after having helped me decorate for Easter.

 

Time Travel / Germany 1983 / Part 4 - Kloster Arnstein

 

 

Already in my first post in this series did I mention Kloster Arnstein, an old monastery situated high up on the mountain above the village Obernhof an der Lahn. There was a narrow road leading up there from Klostermühle down below (where I was staying); and I went all the way up there at least once, to have a look at the church, which was open for visitors. 

I'm starting with a couple of postcards from my album at the top, which have kept the colours better than most of my own photos. (A bit yellowed with age, but not all that much.)

Going through my photo album as well as the slides I recently had digitised, I have come to the conclusion that I must have used two cameras on this journey: One for slides, and one with negative film for prints. But I also had prints made from some of the slides. 

The prints vs the slides have "aged" rather differently. Most prints have turned almost sepia with age, with very little colour left - and difficult to "bring back" in editing. My slides on the other hand have acquired a distinctly blue-ish tint - but a little bit easier to adjust in editing. (All editing done in Picasa3 because that's what I'm used to using...)

 ▲Just to show you what I'm "up against" with editing old printed photos from my album...

 

The road leading UP

Looking DOWN

I probably didn't go up alone, as someone must have taken this photo of me!

 

Some monks/priests up in the gardens at Kloster Arnstein

 

 

  

 

Cropped from the above photo

Among my dominantly "blueish" slides, I was surprised to find some from Kloster Arnstein that had turned all red instead! And no attempts to colour-correct those were successful. I've been scratching my head about those until today - when it occured to me take out the original slides to have a look. Turns out I did not take those myself, but bought them. Probably one was not allowed to take photos inside the church. So those I bought must have been taken with a different kind of film, aging differently... 

 

Here are the bought slides - you can compare them to the postcards at the top: 

 

By the way, exactly the same thing (turning red) also happened to slides I bought at the Basilika in Trier. (I'll show those when we get there.)

There is a Wikipedia article in English about Kloster Arnstein here. 

 

Time Travel / Germany 1983 / Part 3 - Obernhof an der Lahn & Klostermühle

 

This is the village Obernhof an der Lahn, where I spent a week back in August 1983, attending a summer holiday course at the bible school/holiday centre Klostermühle. On the hills behind there were vineyards. The school was/is across the river from the village centre, below the Kloster Arnstein up on the mountain. 

I think this man was one of the teachers, but I have to confess that my memories of individual staff members and most of my fellow visitors that week have faded even more than my photos over the years. After all it was just one week, and quite a few people...

 

The two photos are from the chapel where we met for lessons and other gatherings.

This man was one of the teachers - but what was he teaching? I had to crop the image further + apply several layers of editing to be able to read the text on the screen...

OK. A bit clearer. This is about the division of the books in the Old Testament, with some Hebrew terminology involved. The Thora perhaps better known to most of us as the Law, or the Five Books of Moses; and the Nebiim (or Nevi'im) = the Prophets. Probably shown as introduction to give "context" to some text then presented in more detail.

The gatherings during the week were not all about lectures, though. There were also more informal get-togethers involving for example games and dancing. (Knowing myself, I was probably happy to step aside from some of the latter with the excuse of taking photos...)

 

 

One thing I never got used to during that week was that no water or other drinks were offered with lunch/dinner. As you can see in the photo, no glasses on the table. I can no longer remember how I handled that. I do seem to recall at least at one time going into the kitchen and asking for water. But whether I made a habit of that, or after the first experience perhaps took to bringing my own, or if I actually learned to get through a meal without it, I can no longer remember. I'm still not sure if this is/was customary in Germany - or other countries. As far as I can recall, no one else seemed to have a problem with it, so I suspect I probably hesitated to ask! Can someone enlighten me, 40+ years later? Because neither in Sweden nor in England did I ever find myself in a situation where I was served food, but offered nothing to drink...

In the afternoons, they had a kiosk open where you could buy warm or cold drinks of your choice, though. The sign says tea, coffe or chocolate; but I recall they also sold soft drinks and bottled water. (And I could not help thinking that not serving water with the main meal must have increased the sales...)

I think in the afternoons we were free to do whatever we wanted; and if one did not feel like socialising, the surroundings offered lots of opportunities to go off on solitary walks if one preferred. Into the village, along the river, into the woods behind the school - or if one wanted more exercise, up the steep hill/mountain behind, to Kloster Arnstein. (I did go up there at least once to see the church, but I'll save that for another post.)

 

 

Something I remember, even though not connected with a special photo, is sitting and reading Goethe's novel Die Leiden des Jungen Werthers (The Sorrows of Young Werther) (on my reading list for the upcoming term at the university back home) while looking out over the river Lahn - which meant probably having very similar views to what Goethe had in mind when writing it. When he wrote the novel in 1774, he was drawing on memories of a summer in Wezlar by the Lahn - another town along the same river. 

Unlike the fictional young Werther, no suicidal thoughts on my mind, though... But I later copied this quote into my photo album:

"Ich bin allein und freue mich meines Lebens in dieser Gegend, die für solche seelen geschaffen ist wie die meine." - I am alone and I am happy about my life in this area, which is made for souls like mine. 

 

 Linking to Sepia Saturday 819 

Time Travel / Germany 1983 / Part 2 - Bad Ems

 

Bad Ems (postcard)

I had left Sweden on a Friday, by night train, and travelled down from Hamburg via Koblenz to Obernhof an der Lahn on Saturday - not sure when exactly I arrived at Klostermühle (see my previous post), but probably late afternoon. 

The next day being a Sunday, I assume there was probably some kind of morning worship service between breakfast and lunch. In the afternoon it seems we were free to do whatever we wanted, as my photo album tells me that I ended up visiting Bad Ems (an old spa town located on both banks of the River Lahn, between Obernhof and Koblenz), with a couple who kindly invited me to come along with them. 

And on Monday afternoon I went to Bad Ems again; this time with a whole group of girls. As I rememer it, people were generous all week to include me - the foreign visitor... I think one of my biggest "problems" was actually to get people to talk to me in German, rather than practising their own English! ;)  (And I also recall finding it strangely difficult myself to switch quickly between the two different foreign languages.)

The couple who invited me to come along with them to Bad Ems on Sunday. 
 

 

There was an old Roman spa well preserved, from which you could still drink the water.
Possibly healthy (with lots of minerals in it) - but not really "to my taste"... 

The gang of girls I was hanging out with in Bad Ems on Monday afternoon. Looks like a good day to enjoy an ice cream at a street café... :)