March 11th 2026年3月11日
✔️ A small collection
Over 40 years ago………It was with a sort of relief, when, on a cold Sussex morning in 1971, I looked at the coloured flyer which had arrived in my parents letter box. Apparently we were changing to decimal currency. It was time to think in tens, so much easier than twelves. But what to do with all this old money, the Farthing; the Half-penny; the Penny, and the Half Crown? I decided there and then that this was a BIG moment, so I put some aside…….
…and then, as the years went by, my collection gathered…..a Deutchmark here, a French Franc there….even a Reichspfennig which fell out of an old violin case… a weird collection, supplemented by usable Danish Kroner or Japanese Yen.
✔️ A good job done
A lot of my time is spent repairing violins which people bring to me. However, sometimes these innocent looking instruments carry a heavy history with them. Here’s a snapshot of a violin which arrived in my workshop last week
It has a beautifully cut F-hole, but not a beautiful corner. This is because this violin wasn’t built by one individual Meister in his workshop, but in an instrument factory. It would have been made by several skilled craftsmen, working on a sort of early production line. In fact the factory in question mainly produced brass instruments. But it is where this factory was located which brings the heavy history. Frankfurt. But not Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt an der Oder. Here’s the label inside….
And when the elderly lady came to pick up her instrument she wanted to tell me the story. The flight to the west in front of the Red Army, the camps, the hunger……the childhood violin teacher who had the wrong religion at the wrong place and time….. I realise that I did not really want to know. The February days are gloomy enough already I thought. I want to enjoy life now, not be reminded of this. But it’s history staring at you in the face.
Now that I have completely overhauled the instrument and given it a new case and a new bow, things are looking up. My customer will play it in a retirement home orchestra in Frankfurt…….am Main.
✔️ The bright lights…..
I always thought that the UK was the awkward one in Europe, driving on the “wrong” side, refusing to join the Euro etc. etc. But really, I’m glad that I have never had to drive in Japan 🚗. It’s those traffic lights. Red for stop, yes? Amber for wait, and Green for go, right?
Actually no. The green can take on a distinctly blue hue in many cases. Why’s that? Well, since the 1930s, when traffic lights were first introduced into Japan, people described the “go” signal as “ao” (あお )- a colour spectrum which covers green and blue.
And when the Vienna Convention in the 1960s tried to standardize the colours, Japan didn’t sign up did they. So now? At some point the government decided that they should use the bluest shade of green possible for the lights. How’s that for a fun fact 🔵😊🟢
But just to add to the fun…..In Japan you drive on the left….like all the countries coloured blue in this map….
✔️ Spontaneous design...
When drivers discover too late that my road is blocked by a building site, they do a 3-point turn. However, I can’t quite work out how cars made this pattern……..🤔
✔️ The end of winter…………….
The horses are out being exercised…
Although the countryside is still rather bare there is a new light…here near Idstein
And the Fachwerkhäuser are intact after the long winter
The Viburnam (thank you Adrian for the identification) is flowering in a neighbour’s garden…
….and the moon is full as we move into March….
…with its sharp light……
and strong shadows…..
✔️ Good food and friendly service…
Elementary my dear Watson. Order a plate of Sushi at Higematsu in Frankfurt. The best Izakaya this side of the Sea of Japan🗾 . I would have photographed the Gyozas, but my daughter and myself gobbled them up so quickly there was no time for photography…😄
✔️ A good laugh…..
You gotta have a laugh……….😄……Friendly service at Higematsu, yes….but here on Langen station?
…….and whilst we are talking about a good laugh, I had one in Aldi this morning. The automatic checkout would not accept my Gherkin (Gurke). I called over to the lady at the human check out, waving my Gurke in the air. She laughed.😄 ” Das ist kein Gurke” she said, “das ist ein Zucchini!”…….
Yes, ok, its a Zucchini.
Actually the thought crossed my mind that it could be some sort of Snozzcumber.….that vegetable immortalized by Roald Dahl in his story The Big Friendly Giant…..
……
✔️ Pastime with good company
They may look insignificant, lost in the sweeping fields near Gross Umstadt – but this is the merry group of hikers I joined at the weekend……
Even more lively after a bottle of Tequila, which our Mexican friend Laura opened to celebrate her move to North Germany…..
Gross Umstadt has its own vineyards….🍇 hence not a drop of beer to be seen at our apres-hike….
✔️ Simple pleasures
…a pilot enjoys the wind-free blue * over Egelsbach…..(* あお!)
✔️ A good read…..
“I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time.”
Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s gothic mystery, set in a post civil war Barcelona, is rich in characters and plot twists. It is a superb novel…and our book group is repeat- reading it this month…
✔️ Music
Is much more than a simple pleasure….The fools of this world are wary of it and prefer to start wars instead.
Handel knew this language well. In 1711, he wrote an opera called Rinaldo. In it, there is a heartfelt plea for liberty…”Lascia chi’o pianga” (“Let me weep”)…………..which has been a hit ever since….
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 