01 September
On 31 August I returned from Magdeburg in time to watch the end of day one of a huge crane being assembled on a building site across the street. Some of the below photos are from that day, and the rest from this day.
I was completely fascinated and forgot all the plans I had had for this first day of my favourite month of the year :-).
Whatever those people earn, it is not enough. And at the end of the day, I found it even more peculiar that they won’t install some kind of lift system for the crane operator, because now that I have seen – from the comfort of my own home on the sixth floor – what this dangerous, intricate and precarious task involves, I know they can do it, so it must be just a matter of will. Why do crane operators have to perform this gruelling, steep climb (last photo) on a daily basis?
2 September
Despite the lovely Indian Summer kind of weather, I did not get my act together to go any further than my local LPG Supermarket via my local cemetery.
There were many Great Tits, and since they are so common, I usually don’t even think about photographing them, but they ARE cute when you stop to look at them. I also saw the Spotted Flycatcher/Grauschnäpper again (though high up this time) – actually an elegant-looking bird.
In between everything else, I decided to practise the macro extension ring on something other than flowers and insects (as part of the current assignment in the Blende2-Hamburg webinar):
5 September Walkabout and Bode-Museum
To see this exhibition, which turned out to be marginally interesting. Coffee on the way in this very nice café – The Greens, slightly tucked away, but I think that is about to change as the area around Molkenmarkt is renovated and becomes more accessible.
6 September
Golden hour in Landschaftspark Rudow-Altglienicke, with internations.org photography group, organised by Carolina.
7 September not a good photo but proof that the Red-backed Shrike/Neuntöter/tornskade are still on Tempelhofer Feld
8 September back to Tempelhofer Feld
This was an unplanned visit in order to digest some – for me – unfortunate news – that my amazing GP for as long as I have lived in Berlin (since January 2016), Thomas Heil, and my equally wonderful gynecologist, Ursina Heil, both especially supportive above and beyond when I needed it most, always seemingly with loads of time, and apart from everything else – I really like them, are retiring. I had selfishly hoped they would continue for as long as I walk the surface of the earth, but of course everybody deserves to retire, and I wish them the best.
Anyway, I therefore did not have my best birding lens with me, which was especially annoying since the Wheatear/Steinschmätzer/stenpikker were posing so nicely and at length, so despite the bad quality, here are some photos before they embark on that amazing journey to Sub-Saharan Africa for the winter.
9 September
A visit to the annual exhibition in Wilhelmhallen – Halle 07 – always interesting and always coinciding with Berlin Art Week. Afterwards, I briefly checked out Kienhorstpark where I saw some birds, very high up, which neither of my apps are able to identify with any kind of certainty (presumably due to the appalling quality of the photos, since I again was unprepared, lens-wise).
First, a couple of photos taken on the way from Wilhelmhallen to Kienhorstpark (and at the end, from S Bhf Alt-Reinickendorf).
10 September preview of Positions Art Fair, and a walk back across Tempelhofer Feld
11 September I visited the by now large number of galleries in my own neighbourhood.
12 September Tempelhofer Feld
I wanted to take a look at the 18th Forum for the future of Tempelhofer Feld. I left none the wiser but will take a look at their website.
Before that, I spent a couple of hours ambling around trying to avoid the crowds arriving for the annual giant kite festival.
13 September a tiny spider at work on my balcony
Monday 14 September
The weather forecast promised mist in the morning, so I went out before sunrise – and found that it was not misty at all. Still, it was an enjoyable morning, and I tried out a – for me – new breakfast place – La Maison – on Landwehrkanal. Mostly an outdoor place with good breakfast and brunch food, great coffee, and very friendly service. I’ll be back.
15 September – Wuhleteich – finally
I don’t know why it has taken me so long to visit Wuhleteich and Kienbergpark. It is relatively easy for to get to on the U5. I did visit Gärten der Welt a long time ago – don’t ask me why – not my thing, obviously (I like NATURE …..), but never the adjacent park.
Lots of birds,, and even a couple of toilets :-). I will be back.
16 September X-berg Duck in Orania with a friend.
17 September back to Wuhleteich and Kienberg
A lovely September morning starting with mist rising, a lot of dew everywhere, a sighting of the pheasant, swarms of long-tailed tits and many other birds.
19 to 24 September
This and that – trying to get rid of stuff at home – looking for photos for a specific webinar assignment – and a very pleasant café visit (3 Schwestern) with internations.org.
25 September
Guided tour of rbb in Masurenallee, with, and organised by, AIACE-DE Berlin. Or that was the plan, which I have now cancelled. Can’t face that arrogant, pompous and self-important crowd (why am I still a member – that is a very good question – to be pondered) and have instead booked my own guided tour for later this year.
(For the record, at around 16.00 hrs on 24 September, I cancelled my attendance to the event to both the e-mail address from which the invitation and reminder had been sent, and by whatsapp to a phone number we had been given “just in case”. Now, almost 24 hours later, neither e-mail nor whatsapp message have been read.)
The latest incident with AIACE-DE: I was starting a group on Teams to be used by Berlin-based former European Union employees to organise gettogethers of all kinds – from exhibition visits to concerts to coffee mornings – and had asked the then keeper of the e-mail list, and organiser of regular cafe visits and excursions, whether I might use that list to inform the Berlin-based AIACE-DE members of the existence of that group, and had been told that of course I would be welcome to do that.
By the time I actually got around to it, there was a new “regime” – this time a threesome, younger (obviously) but somehow much more formal, but they had not decreed a ban on others using the e-mail list. However, the fall-out when I did that was indescribable. I got such a scolding – from them and from several other members, and a talking to as if I were a naughty four-year-old. I am tempted to say typically German, but that would be stereotyping. It is more likely to be typically full-of-themselves-because-they-used-to-work-for-the-European-Union, and can’t get over themselves.
They certainly seem to have difficulty accepting that they are no longer relevant to the EU in their new status as pensioners. For example, they seem to think that the institutions, such as the German EU information office in Berlin, still want, or even need, their thoughts and opinions, as if they do not trust the younger generations to carry the torch forward. The reality is, most of us have been kept out of various work-place loops for months prior to retiring, and are forgotten the day after we are out the door. Live with it.
Of course, there are some who were and are really brilliant, and justifiably belong on the various lecturer circuits and websites, or whose experience and even expertise can be made good use of in various volunteering capacities, but let’s face it: most of us are better off enjoying retirement, finding new hobbies, doing what we never had time for before, voluteering in totally non-related settings, etc.
For me, retiring was a tremendous relief. In fact, had I not been able to retire two years before I had to, I might have had to go on extended sick leave, but I only realised that years later. For me, the last fouor or five years in Denmark had gone from dowright nightmareish to just utterly bleak. I later realised that I probably suffered from major burnout. I felt exhausted and foggy-brained.
Looking back, I should probably have spent a month or two staring at the sea somewhere, instead of spending the last few months selling my flat in Copenhagen, flat-hunting in Berlin and trying to pack for the removal (luckily, the removal was paid for, since the much-needed clearing out of the stuff that accumulates when you live in the same place for thirty years seemed an insurmountable task for me, so I just let them pack everything as they found it and recolved to worry about all that once I was in Berlin).
Instead, I officially retired on 1 January 2016, and the removal van arrived, and I flew to Berlin on a one-way ticket on 8 January, and never looked back or gave my former workplace (which was not a very good one anyway) a second thought. The flat I had bought had to be renovated through and through, and although a very capable contractor was overseeing that, there were still lots to do and decide. I also threw mysself into voluteering – in Tierpark and UNICEF – and got involved in refugee support.
Now that I am realising that I am only starting to shake the old chronic stress now, ten years later, I am wondering whether I should have done things differently, but I desperately needed a change of scene, and living in Berlin was long-held dream (and still no regrets there). And the fact that there are so many options for things to do in Berlin was probably a double-edged sword.
Of course, the two big Cs (Corona and Cancer) did not help – and having to rehome and say goodbye to an eight-year-old dog – very sweet, but a problem dog which I knew I would have difficulty handling at least for a while after my cancer diagnosis and I had no idea what the future held or if I even had any future.
Oh, and back to where I started – AIACE-DE (my “union”). When I was diagnosed with cancer, with impending major surgery, not knowing what would happen afterwards, and worries about the dog, I was so stressed and brainfogged that I was totally unable to navigate the bureacracy needed for example vis-a-vis health insurance, hospital billing etc. Did they step up to help? DOn’t be silly. That is apparently not what they are there for. A couple of former colleagues in the European Environment Agency and the Chair of the Danish section of AIACE (of which I am not a member) were invaluable in helping me get things done so that I could have the surgery).
Wow, that was a digression if ever I saw one, hahahahaha. I must have needed to get some things off my chest. Now back to today.
In the morning, I went for brunch at By Schicksals down the street, one of my regular haunts (Berlin’s best spinach omelet), followed by a walk along Landwehrkanal to Admiralbrücke and back. The weather was grey but dry.
In the afternoon, Landwehrkanal and Urbanhafen, where currently, three different species of geese could be seen, along with the usual suspects.
26 September
Birdwatching on Tempelhofer Feld with Benedikt Jackowski – one of the best! – for Freilandlabor Britz. The kind of event I always look forward to, and the weather forecast is great.
Or that was the plan. On the way there, I stumbled and fell and broke my eye socket. Who knew that was even a thing? I was taken to Unfallkrankenhaus in Marzahn and examined very thoroughly. The fracture has to heal by itself. The incident made me take a couple of selfies. A rare occasion.
Selfies to come
28 September
After a checkup with my GP, I went to Britzer Garten to look for photos for a webinar assigment with Blende2-Hamburg (not shown here).
30 September
Landwehrkanal and Urbanhafen – again. Unfortunately, the area on the hospital side will be renovated (“for two years” – which is probably Berlinerisch for “for ten years”).
