Care - Elizabeth Haidler - Fighting on the Front of Sorrow!

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 Elisabeth Haidler - by Nigel A JAMES

 Fighting on the Front of Sorrow

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Looking to far away places to offer our help is simple and easy. But, recognizing the need that's always in front of our eyes is often impossible. Mostly, it's hidden behind masks that smilingly tell of problem free living. And, this almost invisible penury only breaks cover when things are almost too late! And, when this happens it is help that is needed and fast! And so, where does one go with one's sorrow when times become too hard to handle? To people who care is the answer – and one such very caring person is Elisabeth Haidler.

It was the 7^th of November, 2011. It was a cold windy night that looked like the coming of winter and Elisabeth was on her way home and she was cold, and, she was thinking. In her mind were the growing number of people she was meeting on a regular basis who were finding it hard to get by. Not far away – but right here in one of the most well-off cities on earth! Something had to be done!

Being a socialist city, Vienna was well equipped in dealing with personal shortages. And, amongst organizations involved was the more than excellent Volkshilfe (People's Help) - a wonderful socialist volunteer organization attached to the socialist party. But, in those days, it was not active in all districts and parts of Vienna, and one of the gaps was Elisabeth's district. And, gaps – when encountered - are there to be filled!

And, so it was, that after recognizing the need and seeing the solution Elisabeth went into action. To begin with, she rounded up a group of close associates, and then with just a small core of active supporters came the gathering of funds and the action that was needed. And, within just a very short space of time Elisabeth and company were able to open the Volkshilfe 14^th district of Vienna's branch. And, so it still is.

And, just like then, the Volkshilfe is supported by fund raising events and personal membership fees, and everything that comes in goes to the helping of people. Sometimes there are utility bills that can't be met, and sometimes there's simply not the cash for the shopping or even new shoes for the kids! But, whatever the help that is needed, Elisabeth is there with assistance. And, thanks to her, and all others involved, the lights are still burning where before there would have been darkness!

The battle against sorrow will never be won, but, thanks to those like Elisabeth, the fronts of encounter need not be so drastic as they were years ago!

Vocabulary

battle – Kampf

break cover (to break cover/broke cover/broken cover) – sich zeigen

core – Kern

encountered (to encounter/encountered/encountered) – begegnet

gathering - Sammeln

get by (to get by/ got by/ got by – (gotten by - (US)) – auskommen

hidden – (to hide/hid/hidden) – verstecken

penury – Armut

recognize – erkennen

something - etwas

sorrow – Leid

well-off - wohlhabend

Easy Text - William Shire - An American in Europe

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Easy Reading with Vocabulary – William L. Shire – An American in Europe

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William L. Shire was an American war correspondent who worked in Europe from 1934 until 1940.

Working as a radio journalist for CBS, he covered the growing NAZI power and the beginning of the second world war.

He became famous for his live coverage of the signing of the German armistice with France on the 22^nd of June, 1940.

William L. Shire and his Austrian wife Tess left Europe in December 1940 after they discovered that the Germans were planning to murder him!

As well as being the first radio journalist in the world, Shire was also an historian. His most famous books were the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and Berlin Diary.

William L Shire died in America in 1993 after a long and exciting life!

Vocabulary

armistice – Waffenstillstand

as well as – so wie auch ...

covered (to cover/covered/covered) – berichtet

coverage – Berichterstattung

died (to die/died/died) – starb

discover (to discover/discovered/discovered) – entdecken

exciting – aufregend

famous – berühmt

France - Frankreich

German – Deutsche

Germany – Deutschland

growing – wachsenden

left – (to leave/left/left) – verlassen

signing (the) – die Unterzeichnung

war correspondent – Kriegs Berichterstatter

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Letters - From My English Country Garden by Builder Michael

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From My English Country Garden

By Builder Michael

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There are often times in life, it can be said, when the gift of inspiration tends to leave one high and dry and breaking one’s head for ideas! This is a common complaint amongst part-time writers of small and unimportant local newspapers. And, one such contributor to such irrelevant rags is a friend of mine’s wife from South Wales.

Writing articles for Welsh newspapers isn’t an easy thing to do. First of all, one needs something to say, secondly, it has to be interesting, thirdly, it has to be relevant to local-affairs, fourthly, it has to be simple so as to be understood by the people who read it, and, lastly but not leastly, one has to be able to write! And, it was concerning this very last point that my friend’s wife phoned me last week.

I told her that there is one very important thing about writing, and, that is, one has to be able to describe the same event from at least 4 different angles at once. This, of course, as anyone who knows the slightest bit about basic journalism will tell you, is to arouse and stimulate the interest of every type of reader that exists; and, for my friend’s wife this shouldn’t be a problem at all, in fact it should be an extremely simple matter!

My friend’s wife writes exclusively about christenings and weddings - and, in each case the dynamics are more or less the same. At every wedding there are two major players and, at christenings, too! The only difference being, that a christening involves a third party who is too young to know anything at all about what’s going on, and in the case of the wedding, he or she (the baby) was probably, in all probability, the cause of the whole thing in the first place.

From the point of view of the bride, a wedding is the happiest day of her life (which doesn’t say much about the rest of it!), whilst, for the groom, it is a very proud occasion, and, according to the status of the guests it can be anything from the loss of a daughter to the gaining of a son, or an excuse for a party, and, most importantly an event for meeting all of one’s relatives who, in the course of normal life, one normally never sees, and so-on, and so-on.

So, how does one combine all of these things in one simple sentence?

To begin with, like all good journalists, one has to decide what to miss out and what to invent, and this is achieved by the simple asking of simple questions. The important thing is what comes out in black and white in Saturday’s paper. And the most effective way of going about this is say everything about everything without saying anything at all. Such a brief report could be as follows,-

Last Saturday afternoon, Roger X led Mary Y down the aisle of St. James’s church in Bodmyn. It was a beautiful afternoon with one or two clouds, and the mood of the guests was likewise. Mary’s dress was long and white, and, in his speech Roger not only thanked all those present, but also said that both he and Mary were very much looking forward to their new life and the forth-coming changes.

There you have it, a perfect account of a perfect wedding without even mentioning the word “wedding”, but, at the same time, revealing all about the circumstances - and the feelings of the guests. What’s true and what’s invented – and who can prove it, anyway?

See you next month – BM.

Language Notes

Builder Michael's English is full of puzzles and word games and unusual expressions, and, therefore needs some “thinking about”! The following words and notes are meant as a simple guide! Good luck!

… tends to leave one high and dry … - finding oneself in the position of not having any idea of what to write about.

.….irrelevant rag … an unimportant local newspaper. Have you seen the local rag? - Have you seen the local newspaper?

breaking one’s head for ideas – thinking very hard

arouse and stimulate - to awaken and stimulate interest 

Short Thoughts - What the Dickens! An Unknown Destination

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  What the Dickens!

An Unknown Destination – A Dickensian Tale!

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I discovered the following anecdote whilst reading Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, and it impressed me.

Nicholas Nickleby whilst on his way from London to Yorkshire was involved in an accident. The coach upon which he was travelling overturned and Nicholas Nickleby, being an outside passenger, was thrown into a snow drift. He and all the other passengers survived to tell the tale, and, whilst waiting in an inn for a new coach to arrive told each other stories. And, one of the passengers told the following tale.

Once upon-a-time, there was a German Baron, Baron Koeldwethout and he was a very happy man. He spent most of his time hunting, getting drunk, and generally having lots of good fun. But, one day, he started getting fed up with, which was, in reality, a very boring existence. And so, to cut a long story short, he got married.

But, 12 years later with a miserable never happy domineering wife and almost 13 noisy uncontrollable little barons and baronesses to keep and to feed, he discovered that he was sorely missing his former life of revelry and drunkenness.

Things were bad, and, to add to it all, his money was spent. And, the only way out, he believed, was the bringing about of a premature end to his life! And so, there he was with a final pipe and a final bottle of wine, and his knife to kill himself with. But, he was not alone. For, there in the corner- waiting for him - was the genius of suicide!

It turned out, that the genius of suicide was a somewhat miserable apparition in a hurry. There were, after-all, many others waiting for him, too, and the next on the list was a young man who had too much money! Upon hearing this, the Baron burst into laughter. How could someone kill himself because of too much money? Totally absurd! And then the baron started thinking!

Was - where he was about to be going better than where he was now? The genius of suicide was, without any doubt at all, not a very happy being. And, if he wasn't happy, what was everyone else like? The Baron changed his mind, and, after getting his life back in order and becoming happy once again died many years later.

And, what about Nicholas Nickleby? He resumed his journey and became an assistant at the school which belonged to the notorious alcoholic and child hater Mr Newman Noggs. And, Nicholas Nickleby did not live happily ever after! But, to find out why, you will have to read the book! Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens.

Vocabulary and Phrases -

after-all – nach dem

boring – langweilig

bringing about – verwirklichen

coach – Kutsche

genius – Geist

get fed up – genügt davon haben

miserable apparition – erbärmliche Geist

Once upon a time - es war einmal

premature – vorzeitig

revelry - Feiern

snow drift – Schneewirrung

sorely – sehr stark

suicide – Selbstmord

whilst/while – während

it turned out – it happened (es hat sich so herausgestellt)

outside passenger - a passenger travelling on the outside of a coach – usually next to the driver. It was cheap and very cold in winter and Nicholas Nickleby was very poor!

Survived to tell the tale – lived to talk about it. (survive - überleben)

without any doubt – without question (ohne Zweifel) 

People - Art - Vanessa Ferry

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Vanessa Ferry by Nigel A JAMES

Invisible Treasures

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There are three sisters, and, the one who lives in Devon in England is a patchwork artist, and, the beauty of her pictures lie in their simplicity.

To begin with, Vanessa chooses a piece of flowery material and cuts it up into lots of different sized patches - and then - so as to make a patchwork picture, she sews them all back together again! And the result – as you can imagine - looks amazingly like the original piece did before she cut it up – which of course poses the question: why bother?

But bother she does because it is art – and art – as we all know - has to be seen to be admired, and to be seen it has to be framed - and this is the job of her husband Mick. And, sometimes, his frames look even better than the pictures do themselves! And that's life! But of course, the moment that everyone loves is the hanging.

When everyone's present, the picture is carried in from the garage where Mick has just finished its framing. And then, amidst a great feeling of excitement it is proudly hung on the living room wall. And everyone claps, and everyone's happy. And then something very unusual starts happening. The picture starts vanishing away into nothing. And, this is the magic of the moment!

It seems that the wall - with its almost identical flowery patterned wallpaper - has swallowed the picture alive, and, all that is left is yet another empty frame on the wall! Another invisible artistic treasure on the wall of invisible treasures! Vannessa's living room – the flowery Bermuda triangle of Devon. But, there's good news, too! Once every summer, this picture eating trap gives up one or two of its victims for an afternoon out at the vicarage! And, this afternoon-out is a story that's different!

We'll be saying hello to Vanessa again!

Vocabulary

amidst – begleitet von (dichterisch) – sonst – unter/zwischen

another – noch ein

admire – bewundern

amazingly – erstaunlicherweise

bother – die Mühe machen

frame – (Verb) - frame/framed/framed – einrahmen

frame – (noun) – Rahmen

gem - Schatz

good cheer – gute Laune

gives up – hergibt

hung - (from hang) – hang/hung/hung – aufgehängt

material - Stoff

patchwork artist -

patch – Fleck

pattern – Muster

pose the question – pose/posed/posed – stell die Frage

proudly – mit Stolz

result – Ergebnis

sew – sew/sewed/sewed – nähen

that's life – so ist das Leben

trap – Falle

vanish – vanish/vanished/vanished - verschwinden

vicarage – Pfarrheim

victim – Opfer

For Sunshine and Rain

Shades - By Nigel A JAMES

POETRY - Smiling

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Smiling!

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Smiling is contagious,

You catch it like the ‘flu.

When someone smiled at me today,

I started smiling, too.

I passed around the corner,

And someone saw my grin,

And when he smiled I realized

I’d passed it on to him!

I thought about that smile,

Then realized its worth;

A simple smile – just like mine

Could travel round the earth!

So, if you feel a smile begin,

Don’t leave it undetected,

Let’s start an epidemic quick

And get the world infected.

anon!

Margarete Mizera - A Night in the Hay!

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Margarete Mizera by Nigel A James

A Night in the Hay!

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When travelling back in our thoughts to long, long ago, it is, more-often-than-not, that the nice people of then are the ones who come right to the front of our minds! And, once upon a time, there was a friendly policeman who deeply impressed a very young lady. And, 50 years later, Margarete Mizera – for she was that very same person – still remembers him well!

The day was coming to a close, and Margaret and her husband had just completed a strenuous 7 hour climbing tour. They were not only exhausted, but tired and hungry as well. And, of course, they were looking for a bed for the night. But it was summer and very high season, and, in the beautiful Austrian mountains of Styria where they had gone for a week there wasn't a bed to be found. They had tried everything. They had knocked on every door, and they had even considered sleeping under the bridge, but, with a storm coming up they were desperate. A night in the mountainous open with no shelter at all was not such a very good thing!

But then, through the darkness of desperate thinking came shining a light. In front of them, and not far away, was the village police station. And, why not?

And the policeman was an angel. Although his police station cell was full, he knew of a way! And then, before they knew what was happening, Margarete and her husband were in the back of a police car, a very small VW Beetle, and being taken to a farm on the side of a mountain. And their luck was still in.

The farmer was their second angel of the day, he had no rooms, all were taken, but, what he had to offer was not only a night in his barn, but also a delicious evening meal! And they needed it, and they were thankful.

And, as Margaret and her husband lay wearily down to sleep in the hay, they could hear from outside the rain and the storm in all its great fury. They were warm and they were safe, and, as they peacefully dreamt the morning gradually came, and with it another surprise.

The farmer and his wife had prepared an unimaginably fantastic breakfast – the best they could offer! And, so it was, that the next mountain was climbed with not only a very full feeling, but, also a heart full of thanks! The policeman and his friend will never be forgotten!

Vocabulary and Phrases

Angel – Engel

barn – Scheune

coming up – bald heir sein

desperate thinking – verzweifelte Denken

fury – Wut

gradually – almählich

impressed – beeindruckt

luck still in – Glück hält

long, long ago – lang, lang her!

once-upon-a-time - es war einmal

shelter – Obdach

wearily – erschöpft