June 28th 2026年6月28日
💨 It started innocently enough.
I was to drive down to Karlsruhe….
…..to hear a song recital. Family business. I picked up the my car at Langen station, put some of those deadful hydrocarbons into the tank and set off.
💨 I was relaxed, cruising at 100km/hour 🚘… Nearing Zwingenberg on the Bergstrasse A5 motorway I stopped briefly to have a swig of tea. Then off I went again. But my gentle cruising was to get a rude interruption……
💨 What’s this? a series of very loud clanks 😕 and alarming breaking noises 💥from under the bonnet (hood in American English). I just managed to steer the car into the Seitenstreifen (the hard shoulder). Had I lost a wheel? I managed to get out via the passenger door. A merciless sun beat down, making thinking hard work. All 4 wheels were still there. The outside temperature was a grilling 35°c.
The air conditioning had stopped.
💨 I had to act calmly. As lorries thundered by, I groped into my wallet for the ADAC* emergency service. That insurance service that I have so diligently paid every year to help me in exactly such a situation. I gave my location, the make of car etc…..all the while sweating buckets in the torrid heat 💦 (35°c…I repeat). In this picturesque scene you can just make out my car parked on the side of the motorway…..
*ADAC = Allgemeine Deutsch Automobile Club e.V. (Amen)
The ADAC man on the phone was charming.
“What? you have left a trail of oil behind you? I cannot help you until you ring the Police and the Fire Service. Then I am allowed to pick you up!!!!” You know , this is German Gesetz (law). It is your Pflicht (duty) to ring the police!!!!!”
(Hello, I am sitting in a field next to a busy motorway with a broken – down car. The ground is hard and uncomfortable. There are insects crawling over my legs and sweat is pouring down my face. The noise is incredible. It is now 38°c. For what have I paid for in all these past years?…and do I need a lecture on German law at this moment? )
💨 I realized with distaste that I had one of them on the end of the phone. The petty, unimaginative little people who pedantically follow rules and almost any leader. He was treating me like an ignorant Ausländer (foreigner). I could feel the bile of anger rising in my throat. Unfortunately you meet this mindset in most cultures. And the three cultures I write about in this blog are no exception……….
💨 I got him off the phone as quickly as possible and rang the police 🚓 They drew up at the side of the motorway 15 mins later. Calm. Friendly. Air-conditioned.
“Qwatch” (rubbish) they said. “Tell the ADAC that Regional Officer Müller tells them to pick up this man’s car immediately! Have a nice day” 👋🏼
The man who actually came in his truck to pick up my car was sympathetic but worn out.
“I’ve been driving since 5am” he said.
Just leave me at the next station I said.
“Have a nice day”
💨 I mentioned air-conditioning. Apparently in France this is a hugely divisive issue. And in Germany? This is my living room. Never in my life have I experienced this heat indoors.
I, for one, thought that a mobile air-conditioning unit would be the answer. But when I tried it out, with all its tubes and ducts….and loud noise….
….I realised what my Japanese friends were all laughing about 😅
“What is this funny thing that you have bought, Nigel san?”
💨 In Japan, all those messy tubes and ducts are hidden away- built into every house from the word go. But in an old German house? No way! Wake up Europe! This will not be the last hot summer 🥵
I very soon returned this ridiculus contraption and bought a really fine ventilator instead. It is wonderful, and even has a quiet “sleep” mode to run during the night…..
…..and can send a nice breeze into the workshop…..
💨 Do you ever see these things on social media and think …oh..I must try that! Well I did try it, and its not bad, except the cardboard wilts under the condensation…..
💨 Wisdom I have gleaned from friends and family……
- Put your pillows in the freezer
- put frozen bottles in front of your fan
- hang a damp towel around your neck
- don’t get irritated by little people from the ADAC
- don’t even try working
- ring your neighbours doorbell to check she is still alive
- If you are learning Japanese, learn the vocab for heatwave (熱波- neppa)
- If you are talking to somebody in Japan, tell them they are lucky just to have a few typhoons and the occasional earthquake….
- Check out the cool spots in town. For me this includes…Bockenheimer Warte Metro station. Not only is it cool and spacious, but has nice pictures on the walls….
💨 Is it not art and culture that helps us in times like this 🎭? True, the `cellos are taking a rest from the heat at the moment….
💨 But ｗe are learning a new a Cappella programme in our choir. When I saw this song, though, I thought………now that would sound good on the `cello…..
..as indeed it does…..
…..and who can sing Poulenc’s “Un Soir du Neige” without dreaming of some nice cold snow ❄️ and how about those Flower Songs by Benjamin Britten?
Flowers indeed! Here is a random selection from Langen…..not exclusively flowers either……(swipe or click on the arrows)…….
Flowers emerge in other strange constellations…..Our house entrance has a weird example…….
……as does a tomb in Chichester Cathedral…..
…and not forgetting the rain – drenched perlargoniums at the Darmstadt Fischerhütte…..
💨 But let’s get up to date. Before bowing down to the holy German Rite of Sommerferien (Summer holidays), you might consider hearing some imaginative young musicians in Frankfurt. They call themselves the BaroqueLAB, and are flexible enough to play at some unusual venues whilst the rest of the Hessen is sitting in a Stau (traffic jam) on the Autobahn.
Take note and have fun.
As always, thank you for your interest, and if you know anyone who might be interested in this blog then do forward it on.
Wie immer vielen Dank für euer Interesse. Wenn ihr jemanden kennt, der an diesem Blog interessiert sein könnte, schickt ihn gerne weiter.
読んでくれてありがとう
See you…….. matane!
Nigel 🚢
nigelwruddock@gmail.com.
https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/
THE END
終わり🙋🏼♂️
The View from the Towers 塔からの眺め 