Hilde Blaschek - Storm Clouds Gathering
It
is, very often, that the small mercies of life that turn out
to be gestures of deep saving graces. And, what happened to
Hilde Blaschek and her best friend Monika helped them in more than
one way!
It
was late August in 1962. The two young Austrian girls were on a
hiking holiday in the south of Ireland and heading for the small town
of Cork. And, being the last but one day of their holiday their
feelings were jumping between wanting to stay and wanting to go. The
weather had been kind to them, the Irish had been kind to them, and
many memories for life had been made and were ready and packed to
take home. But then came the cloud!
It
started as a speck on the horizon and grew bigger and bigger
and bigger. And then, all of a sudden, their circles of
horizons were firmly connected by one incredibly large dark
menacing mass of imminent storm. And then the rain started with
force. And the youth hostel was still over an hour in the distance.
And,
when Hilde and Monika arrived at the hostel they could hardly
contain their feelings of joy. What better than two evening meals and
two comfortable beds? But then came the shock. The hostel was full!
Everyone it seemed had wanted a bed for the night. What was going to
happen to them?
They
were dripping wet and cold! But, the warden was a man
with a heart. His hostel was full, but, if they were prepared to
sleep on the table then there would be no problem at all. And, so it
was, that after a wonderful meal of Irish roast chicken and
vegetables the table was cleared and made ready for the night. And
it was no normal night. It was the most uncomfortable night that
Hilde had ever experienced. When she woke up in the morning she was
freezing. The blankets, having all fallen off in the night, were all
in a heap on the floor. But then came the breakfast.
And
it was great and it was Irish. Bacon and eggs, black pudding, toast
and strong tea. Peter Dunn (Hilde still remembers his name) did
everything possible to make sure that his two Austrian guests enjoyed
a good finish to their holiday in Ireland. And they did! And, on
their way home on the ferry to France they thought of the people they
had met. And they were happy. And, after all these years when they
think back to their holiday in Ireland, it is still Peter who comes
first to their minds!
Every
dark cloud has a silver lining. And, Peter was much brighter than
silver!
all
of a sudden - ganz plötzlich
black
pudding – Blutwurst
circles
of horizons – Horizonten
dark
menacing mass of imminent storm – dunkel bedröhende Masse von nahe
bevor stehende Storm
dripping
wet – total nass
saving
graces - rettenden Gnaden
small
mercies of life – kleine Gnaden
des Lebens
speck
on the horizon – kleine Fleck am Horizont
warden
– Aufseher
