Our rubies grow on bushes and every day of the week when they are ripe.
Tag Archives: RDP Tuesday
RDP Tuesday: Explain
In the times of corona virus we had a lockdown for a month or two, cannot remember how long exactly. Our restaurant mile was no longer a restaurant mile. It was a ghost mile: no tables, no seats and no umbrellas, but now lockdown is over due to sinking numbers of victims. No, wait a minute, last week-end we had a so-called Superspreader in the Flamenco Club in Zürich, whatever that is. He managed to infect five people who were in the club with him in the evening, and 100 people all had to be isolated and tested. It seems we will never learn, despite the continuous explanations on the media.
And so life gets back to normal, or perhaps abnormal. There are people again siting on our restaurant mile. This was mid afternoon today. I dread to think how it would look in the evening and hope that there will be no superspreaders enjoying a drink with friends outside. As I was travelling by wheelchair in the middle and did not stop for a drink anywhere, I kept my 1-2 meter distance.
RDP Tuesday: Rescue
When Mr. Swiss left the garage on his new scooter I was ready with the camera, waiting in my wheelchair and, of course, prepared for any accidents, being a qualified first aid helper. However, it was not necessary, he had everything under control.
RDP Tuesday: Distinction
I was in town this afternoon for a few odds and ends and as I approached the market place I could hear music. This street musician was playing his guitar and singing along and keeping the beat with his peddle machine.
RDP Tuesday: Curfew
Meet Daniel Koch, the man responsible for the Swiss interpretation of the Corona virus. He has at last got his deserved pension after staying longer to guide the Swiss through the trials of the Corona. He was the spokesman telling us to keep a distance, make sure everyone knows where you are and hold onto the rules and regulations. He held daily conferences as advisor with the Swiss government. He did a good job. We had no curfew, no large demonstrations and now we are not quite corona free, but just a few new cases reported this week (2-3). He is speaking in our national Swiss dialect, but the gist is what I said above.
And now he is finished with his job, but is still known as the man that kept a clear head and gave us the right instructions. Of course some might not agree, but no-one had to go into a curfew and our police were more busy handing out fines for people who did not keep to the rules.
And now he is telling us that the River Aare (which flows through our village) is still clean enough for a swim and demonstrates by taking a dive in. Not bad for a 65 year old. By the way he had a neopren dress on beneath the suit and tie, but advises that not everyone should try it.
RDP Tuesday: Bloom
I have been living since 20 years in our little village in Switzerland. I remember the apartment block(s) being built 22 years ago. Mr. Swiss and I were then quite active and young and would often take a walk in the area wondering how the building site would eventually develop where it was originally fields with some cows grazing.
One day we decided to buy something of our own, and after a few looks in the area we decided to move to our village. It is the next village to the town where we had been living, out in the green and was quite interesting from the local income tax point of view, having some people such as layers and doctors living there.
One wonderful advantage in Switzerland is that planning permission must be given before building anything, so you were sure not to buy something where later a factory would be built next to it.
Spaces had to be left in between the apartment blocks and small gardens were allowed on the ground floor apartments, such as ours. A wonderful idea was that the spaces in between were not left to stretches of lawn, but it was decided to have a natural meadow. The seeds were sown and we were surrounded by dandelions, some poppies, various grasses and reeds with some attractive flowering bushes and trees planted in between as the plants grew.
I have my little garden with some herbs and flowers, including even some roses that I planted and an apple tree, but the beauty of the bordering meadow during the summer surpasses it all. Daises and clover grow side by side until the second week of June. Then they have finished with blooms and the seeds have been scattered and the mowing machine arrives to remove it all, which is afterwards dried and used as hay to feed the animals during the Winter months. For a while we are left with stalk remains, but the were still roots resting in the earth. When the end of August arrives the ground is again covered with growth promising that the wild flowers will return again, and indeed they do. In Spring of the following year the wild meadow has again claimed its ground. I love my meadow and to watch it develop and grow every year and watch the blooms unfold.
RDP Tuesday: Call
Today I felt the call of the supermarket, but not my usual store which is a drive away in another village. I am still practicing for life without a car. This store is just along the road from me, about five minutes by wheelchair and just perfect. It opened last year in November. Our national supermarkets in Switzerland have the name of Migros, although we also have Co-op and various other smaller stores, but Migros is my favourite. Their advertisements on the TV tell us constantly that the Migros belong to everyone. Perhaps not exactly, but I feel comfortable there.
And so today on my way home from a wheelie in town enjoying the sunny weather, I dropped in on this Migros which will probably become my local. Migros come in various sizes and this is a so-called “M”. There is also the next larger version, the “MM” which is in our local town, just a little further along the road, and has a butchers department. The “M” just has packed meat and groceries. And then there is the “MMM” with a bit of everything including clothes, which is the one I have been visiting up to now.
I decided to enter in my wheelchair, found that it was not overcrowded (keep your distance due to corona virus) and I could move around quite comfortably. I bought a couple of items I needed. I discovered an extra wide entrance to a cash desk which suited me perfectly with my wheelchair and the guy was very helpful when I paid for the goods and told me to ask if I had any problems. Afterwards I moved on to their pick up station, for assistance in bringing goods home. I wanted to get information how it functioned. It was next to the till and all I have to do is pack my goods in a bag or two and bring them to the pick up desk. I pay for the pick up and afterwards they contact the company that bring the goods home by bicycle with carrying attachment. I also learned that I can pay an annual subscription which simplifies the process as I do not have to fill out a form each time, but just show my card. As this supermarket it so near I would no longer have to divide my shopping to three times a week, but could just pop along when necessary.
They also have the mineral water and pepsi 6-bottle packs and If I need one they would organise it in the store to add to my shopping. I would only be allowed one 6-bottle pack at a time, but that is no problem. I rarely buy both together and if I need two I can get the second pack the next day.
I think I am going to enjoy life without a car when I go shopping. And if I really want a little more, I just wheel a little further into town and see what they have on the butchers counter.
RDP Tuesday: Tease
These guys are the expert teasers. No matter what time of the day, they are there. Already in the morning they are buzzing around when I am eating breakfast. I always have a fly swatter near, but they seem to have a built in radar and at the last minute before the swatter swats, they fly off to a place where they can look down on you as if to say “I am quicker that you”. I do not see them all through the colder months of the year. I am sure they are invaders from another planet and arrive in a spaceship from their own planet. They swarm out of their ship and they are here. At the end of Autumn when Winter is approaching the chief fly captain stands at the entrance of the space ship and calls them all to embark for the journey home.
They have no respect for privacy: even my computer keyboard is used as a landing place. I like to have my windows open in Summer to let the fresh air in, but the flies use the opportunity for an invitation. And if you are cooking, they are buzzing around everywhere.
I am kind to insects if they happen to enter my home and put them outside again taking care not to hurt them, but flies I am sure are born to be killed, but for every dead fly there seems to be another 10 to replace it.
RDP Tuesday: Coyote
Coyote? The only coyote you might find in Switzerland would be in a zoo and even then I am not sure if we actually have a coyote in a zoo. I once saw this hound in town, standing on the steps to our cathedral. He has the looks of a coyote, perhaps not the yellow colouring of a coyote and I am sure it has a normal bark. There would be nothing howling about this dog, but it is the best I can do.
On a closer view it could be a coyote: at least its ears look big enough and it has that sly look in its eyes.
RDP Tuesday: Bravado
There was a noise from the fridge
And then she broke out
My Easter bunny had enough
It was then I heard a shout
I refuse to be eaten
I want to keep my ears
Humans are so brutal
For my body I have fears
It happens at the Easter
This time I will survive
And so I have escaped
I am going for a drive
Across field and grass
Just like all bunnies do
And then I saw a cow
And she began to moo
Mrs. Human to the rescue
She saved my life I’m glad
And now I’m in the fridge
It really is not bad
There is just a small problem
If I could I would shed some tears
Mrs. Human did not mean well
Because she ate my ears
