Three Wildflowers
Wednesday’s Photos Without Words
Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes
Author: Peter Klopp
Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch6 Part 14
Field Trip to Cologne
Biene wrote this post.
To my relief, the school year came to an end about two weeks later. Our new teacher in grade 5 quickly restored my faith and trust in teachers. Although he was very strict, he never lost his temper or control. I loved his exciting lessons, fairness, warm smile, and sense of humour.
This teacher decided to take us on a field trip to meet Vater Rhein or Father Rhine, as it is fondly called the longest and mightiest German river. On a beautiful sunny spring day, we went by train to Cologne. Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, situated on the Rhine river. We visited the awe-inspiring cathedral, which towers majestically at the river shore. We went down to the banks and immersed our hands in the water to greet Father Rhine. He was starting to get polluted. When revisiting the Rhine river, my friends prevented me from putting my hands in the water because of the dangerous pollution levels. Now Father Rhine is clean and safe again.
Towards the end of our excursion, we walked through the Altstadt, the picturesque historic part of the city. We did window shopping and were allowed to buy some small souvenirs in the romantic boutiques. I remember the fun we had reading the ornate and artistically designed shop and pub signs hanging on beautifully crafted cast iron brackets. We laughed at the often funny and clever names. A butcher shop was called The Jolly Fat Pig; A wine pub was named The Bottomless Barrel. In the Busy Bee Bakery, we bought some honey-sweetened pastries.
Back at school, we had to write about our excursion. Our teacher told us that the best report would be published in our class journal. We all had to read out what we had written and then voted on which one we liked best. I was the proud and happy winner because I described all the humorous signs and other fun impressions of our exciting trip.
Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes
Wednesday’s Photos
Wildflowers in our Huckleberry Patch
On Monday, I invited my wife to look for huckleberries (wild blueberries) in a place at 900 m, where we used to find lots of these delicious berries in the past. Because of the wet and cold spring, we found only a few, barely covering the bottom of our pails. So our focus shifted to photographing the wildflowers that grew in great profusion. Daisies, Indian paintbrushes, tiger lilies, and many others dotted the unusually lush landscape for this time of the year. I captured my wife pointing the camera at some nearby paintbrushes.
Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch6 Part 13
Injustice and Humiliation at School
Biene wrote this post.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was happy to have regular school again and looked forward to classes every day.
Two days after my mom had enrolled us at the Elementary School Am Baum (at The Tree), I woke up with a sore throat. I was prone to severe allergies, especially during the pollen season in the spring. My mother suggested I stay home, sending my brother off at the usual time. I did not want to miss school and pleaded with my mother to let me go until she relented.
I ran as fast as I could not be late, but classes had just started when I arrived. Out of breath, I reached the classroom door where my teacher received me. As I already indicated earlier, he seldom smiled and was very strict. He looked earnest this morning, “Why are you late?”. he asked in a stern voice; still out of breath, I stammered, “I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Don’t lie to me!” he shouted and, without warning, slapped me across the face.
Never before had I been physically punished by my parents or other adults. For a moment, I felt frozen in time. I was so stunned and shocked that I did not know what was happening. Eventually, like a sleepwalker, I made it to my desk and sat there dazed until dismissal time. I felt humiliated by this unjust punishment and very sad. Until then, I had idolized and adored teachers. In my mind, they embodied the highest human qualities like wisdom, knowledge, fairness, justice and kindness. This undeserved slap in my face shattered that illusion.
Only when I got home did I cry. It wasn’t the physical pain of the slap in my face that hurt but the emotional pain of undeserved punishment and the betrayal of trust by an abusive person in authority.
Most people did not own phones when I grew up, so my mother talked in person to the teacher the next day, but the damage was done.
Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes
Wednesday’s Photos
The Pleasures of Colour, Shape, and Taste
Look what I have picked from our raised garden beds. The strawberries plants were shipped to BC from Prince Edward Island two years ago. Now they are at the peak of their production. A bowl a day provides a healthy collection of jam, cake topping, or just the pleasure of eating them
Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch6 Part 12
Long Walks with Papa
Biene wrote this post.
Located near Essen is the beautiful lake Baldeney, a dammed reservoir of the Ruhr River. It was the destination of one of our first family excursions on a sunny spring day. It would become our favourite recreation spot. Lake Baldeney has personal significance for me because it changed my life forever. But I won’t get ahead of myself.
My dad, who loved nature and, above all, water sports, was delighted to have this jewel of a lake in our vicinity. It would still take some effort to travel there by bus, but these outings were recreational highlights and brightened our otherwise drab existence in the Old House.
My dad and I walked approximately 16 km distance through forests and fields a few times. I felt very proud to keep up with my dad on these long hikes. My brother, who was not fond of swimming in cold water and hated exertion, seldom accompanied us.
My dad and I would often daydream about the future on those hikes. We envision a beautiful home built on a hill surrounded by forests and overlooking a big lake. Far, in the end, this dream would come true for me at the Arrow Lakes in Canada. On his last visit to Canada before his death, my father experienced the fulfilment of our vision for a short time with us.
The first time we walked barefoot at the shore of Lake Baldeney, we were puzzled that our feet were sooty black even after a swim in the clear water. At that time, the coal industry was still in total production, and there was heavy pollution around Essen. As seen in these pictures, blue skies were rare in my childhood, but I appreciated it when we had them.
The Peter and Gertrud Klopp Family 