Author: Peter Klopp

Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch5 Part 19

/ Peter Klopp / 10 Comments

The promise of a New Hat

Biene wrote this post.

It was on such a day in January 1953 that our lives changed forever. It had been clear and cold. Our tobogganing hill was slick and fast. Many of our friends were out, and we raced down the steep street again and again. One of my friends wore a new fur-trimmed hat which I liked very much. It was so much prettier than my hand-knit wool tuque. She had just received it in a belated Christmas parcel from her aunt in the West. She also shared some chewing gum with us, which we never had before and enjoyed tremendously for the first time in our life. What a wonderful place the West must be, I thought when I looked at my friend with the pretty hat trying to blow bubbles with her bubble gum.

Biene’s Home Province Thuringia – Photo by her late twin brother Walter 1982

It started to snow softly when suddenly I saw my mom approaching us. She never called us home before supper. Puzzled, we ran to her. Taking hold of my brother with one hand and me with the other, she told us that we had to go quickly to town with her before an important office closed. Despite our protests demanding to stay with our friends, she pulled us hurriedly along. I started whining, insisting that she at least buy me a new hat as pretty as the one my friend had received from the West. My mother pulled us relentlessly along without responding to my increasingly vocal demands.

Eventually, we reached the office. My mother signed and received some papers. It was pitch dark when we headed home. I was exhausted and hungry by then and had given up whining.  Suddenly I heard my mom whisper that I would soon get a new hat in the West. I was too drowsy to understand what her words meant.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 23 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Observations on the Way to the Hot Springs

Last week, my wife and I visited the Nakusp Hot Springs after a more than two years hiatus because of Covid-19. The snow indicates that we still experience winter conditions. But the sun shone brilliantly from a blue sky and the temperature was hovering pleasantly around the freezing mark. On this hour-long trip, we frequently stopped and took these pictures. We even caught a sunset photo on our way home. Enjoy!

Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch5 Part 18

/ Peter Klopp / 14 Comments

Hiking and Other Outdoor Activities

Biene wrote this post

My parents protected and shielded us from their increasing hardships and sorrows. We had many friends and were allowed to play in our quiet neighbourhood without restrictions. After the war, only a few people could afford cars. There was hardly any traffic. Most people travelled by bike, streetcar, train or horse buggy. Special forest trams would take us out into the beautiful surroundings for hiking or other outdoor activities. On weekends my mom prepared a simple picnic lunch, and we would either go by tram or on the back seat of my parents’ bikes out into the forests.

A few relaxing moments for the family and friends

It’s incredible how far we could hike at an early age. My dad would goad us on by promising a pop-like beverage if we made it to the next village or any other destination he wanted to reach. Picking berries or mushrooms would supplement our diet. However, at that time, I was not too fond of mushrooms.

Biene and Walter enjoying the great outdoors

Located close to our home was a public outdoor swimming pool in a beautiful forest setting. My father was a passionate swimmer, and he taught us to swim before we even entered school. I inherited my dad’s passion and went to the pool every day during the open season, no matter how cold the water was. Even before I was six years old, I was allowed to go there on my own without adult supervision,

In the winter, we would get lots of snow. Every day we would spend hours tobogganing with friends down a steep street in our neighbourhood. At suppertime, we would trudge home tired but with glowing cheeks looking forward to our big warm tile stove and my dad’s nightly stories about the great explorers and inventors of the world.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 22 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Of Rock and Wood Sculptures

Lots of sunshine has been brightening up the landscape lately. However, winter isn’t quite over yet, but the warmth from the sun makes you feel that spring is just around the corner, even in our northern latitudes. Enjoy.

The Great Pyramid of Fauquier, BC
The Megalithic Lion Gate at the Arrow Lake
Rough Waters of the Mighty Columbia
Phantoms of the Koots (West Kootenays)
Minor Pyramid and Serpent Keeping Guard

Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch 5 Part 17

/ Peter Klopp / 14 Comments

The Golden West

Biene contributed this post.

To share some of their newly acquired wealth, West German people would send precious items to relatives and friends. We received large gift packages from my mother’s relatives at Christmas time. There were delicious sweets, chocolates, beautiful toys, well-made, stylish clothes and shoes for us. Fragrant “real” coffee beans for my mom and aromatic cigars for my father were some of the desired luxury items you could not get in the East. My brother and I were fortunate that we always had comfortable and well-made shoes because of my mother’s relatives who owned big footwear companies in the West.

Biene and her Twin-brother Walter at School

Books and other printed materials were forbidden because they could contain “propaganda” against the political system. Letters and parcels often were confiscated if they looked “suspicious.” My mom tried to keep a good relationship with the mailman so her letters and packages would not get “lost.”
In my imagination, the Golden West was a fairytale land where all the houses had golden roofs like the castles and palaces I had seen in the movie theatre. My father’s friend owned the “White Wall” movie theatre close to our home. My dad took us on many a Sunday to watch Russian fairytale cartoons and other movies. Since I had no concept of the “Golden West,” I thought it was a beautiful place in fairyland where you lived “happily ever after.”

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 12 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

A thirty-minute video of clouds moving across Ingersoll Mountain has been compressed to give viewers the impression of actual movement. Ingersoll Mountain has a relatively low altitude of appr. 1200 m. It is highly visible from across the lake at the Fauquier Golf Course on a clear day. Enjoy!