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Walter Panknin (1898-1977) and His Family Ch6 Part7

/ Peter Klopp / 8 Comments

This Old House

Biene wrote this post.

The driver jumped out of the cab, opened the truck ramp, and started unloading the luggage and helping us jump out.   Dazed and bewildered, numb from the cold and very hungry, we all stood speechless for a moment.  “Take your belongings and follow me,” the driver told us.

When the Panknin family had moved into this dingy, rundown place in 1954, the single ‘THIS OLE HOUSE” had just been released in the US and became very popular in Germany with the version in German. The song provided some joy despite the depressing living quarters.

He led us around the extremely long building to a courtyard with a row of several outhouses.  “You can go there in a minute,” he told us, “but let me show you your quarters first. This old building used to be a pub and a bowling alley,” he continued,  “now it has been converted into an emergency shelter for people like you.  I’ll introduce you to the manager of this establishment.” He laughed and pointed to a man who had just stepped out of the entrance to receive us.

THIS OLE HOUSE IN GERMAN – Papa Panknin liked this song as it gave a fitting description of the refugee camp they now had to live in until they had found an apartment.

We were the first ones to be led to our room.  We had to go through a long hall with several big sinks, laundry tubs and a wash line with a few rags drying.  There were brooms, mops, pails, garbage cans and other equipment stored along the walls.  The evening light coming in through oversized windows could hardly soften the drabness of this dingy hall.

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 18 Comments

Wednesday’s Photo

The Birdbath

Recently we added a solar-powered fountain to the birdbath in our yard. The soothing sound and the clean water are great attractions for our feathered friends. In this video, I captured five having a jolly good time frolicking around the and around miniature pool. My wife and I like to watch them while we are having coffee and cake in the mild afternoon air. Enjoy!

This coming Friday, I will have surgery at the Vernon Hospital. My posts are programmed to upload automatically. But I will not be able to give likes and comments for the next couple of days. Sorry!

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 18 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Murmuring Brook

Last week I posted five images that I had taken of ice-free Heart Creek, which I interpreted as a sure sign of spring for our northern latitude. I experimented with long and short exposure times to show the different effects by creating the impression of flowing and ‘frozen’ water. These photos were generally well received by my blogging friends. Linda wrote in her comment that whenever she sees water in motion, she likes to hear the relaxing sound that goes together with a murmuring brook. I felt the same and so I went back to Heart Creek and shot the following video. Enjoy!

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!

Natural Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 14 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Experimental Video of a Fall Picture

Adding motion to a still picture is an effective way to add interest to your slide show. This is known as the Ken Burns effect and can be accomplished by using the crop and zoom tool in a video editor. Recently, I learned a more advanced technique that is making use of the so-called keyframes. They allow you to gain more precise control over the motion within a given time. In addition, the keyframes also let you change the opacity and quite a few other interesting functions, such as colour, rotation, scale etc. Ideally, you start out with a high resolution image. The above photo I used for this experiment lacks the clarity, which is very noticeable after I more than doubled its magnification in the process. Playing the short video will give a good idea of what I was trying to accomplish.

Splendour of the Arrow Lakes

/ Peter Klopp / 9 Comments

Wednesday’s Photos

Two Birds Feasting on Sunflowers

Today I was going to publish a few more pictures from our recent walk to the Fauquier boat dock. Some snow had fallen and stayed to create a wintery scene. But in the meantime, I caught two chickadees feasting on the sunflower seeds they had picked up at our bird feeders. So here is the video I created with some cheerful dinner music. Enjoy.