Tag Archives: fire

Events

An evening party

These are photographs taken at a recent evening party held by Christian Rummel at his place in Reichesdorf (Richis) here in Transilvania. Christian worked his way up from apprentice to craftsman and journeyman and is now a master carpenter working out of Reichesdorf. He is in demand all over Southern Transilvania.

He was one of the instructors who led the recent restoration workshop at our Kirchenburg (fortified castle-church) in Magarei (Pelișor), which we are restoring through our non-profit NGO, Asociatia P.A.T.R.U. This particular workshop focused on the reconstruction of the staircase to the clock tower using medieval methods and tools. I’ll have photos from that workshop posted to our NGO’s website in a few days.

In one of the photos, you’ll be able to see an old Saxon who is the guide and caretaker of the Kirchenburg in Richis, and whom we met 10 years ago, when we first visited that church. I’ll let you compare the photos from the two posts and discover him among the people by the fire.

  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
  • At an evening party in Richis at Christian Rummel’s house
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Thoughts

Something wonderful happened last night

I want to share something with you, something wonderful that happened last night. Read on, it’s worth it.

Around 4 pm, the water company turned off the water for the entire city due to emergency repairs. Late at night, they turned it back on but it was full of silt and mud, so we let the faucets run to clear the pipes. I went back to my work and Ligia took Sophie to bed.

About an hour later, I got up from my desk and went to see if the water was clear enough to take a shower. To my surprise, the entire kitchen was flooded with about 1-2 cm of water. The kitchen sink had run over. There I was at 11:15 at night, faced with having to mop up all that water when all I wanted to do was to take a shower and hit the sack.

I got the mop and the bucket and got to work, grumbling to myself about the water company and the sink and the pipes and the dirty water and my luck.

A few minutes later, Sasha (one of our cats) came into the kitchen, stepped right onto the wet floor (you know cats, they avoid water) and started looking at me. She even drank some of it.

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As I looked at her, I was suddenly reminded of one of my favorite cartoons featuring Tom and Jerry, entitled “Mice Follies”, released in 1954. In it, Jerry and Nibbles (his nephew) flooded the kitchen and froze it with the aid of the refrigerator in order to create a skating rink. Tom naturally pursued them, leading to lots of pratfalls, pranks and laughter.

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That wonderful memory of a wonderful cartoon was enough to wipe the slate clean for me. All of a sudden, a late-night disaster was an opportunity to enjoy the moment. My attitude toward it changed completely and I began to enjoy mopping up all that water. I half expected Jerry and Nibbles to tiptoe into the kitchen holding a couple of refrigerator wires in hand, ready to freeze it.

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It took about 45 minutes to get all the water mopped up. All of the cats joined me by the end, entranced by the circular movements of the mop through the water. I even started a roaring fire in the kitchen stove to keep me company. I had a blast and went to bed with a smile on my face.

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Isn’t it amazing how differently we can perceive the same event if our attitude toward it changes? We can complain and grumble or we can smile and enjoy ourselves thoroughly doing the very same thing. And of course it helps if we also love Tom and Jerry cartoons!

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Thoughts

The evening fire

On chilly spring nights, few things top a nice, warm fire in the open air. Join me for one such occasion, won’t you? Set this video to play in full screen, tilt your chair back, grab a glass of your favorite drink and relax with me.

Enjoy!

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Video Log

Burning embers in our fireplace

We have a wood-burning stove in the room where I do my work, and on cold or rainy days, I’ll light a fire and turn around to watch it from time to time. It’s calming, and those of us who sit in front of the computer all day long need to take some time every now and then and focus on other things.

I thought it’d be fun to show it to you, so I made a video of burning embers (the glowing, red remains of the burnt wood) as they slowly disintegrate.

Tell me, after watching it, don’t you feel more relaxed?

I thought so.

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