Peaks and politics

The past week and a half has been rather busy and full of all sorts of emotions. Fred and I paid a visit to my parents, who live down in Lower Silesia. We also stopped in to see Fred’s aunt and her husband in the Opole Voivodeship, and caught up with a good friend of ours who's only recently moved to Waldenburg (we spent some valuable time with her and her three rats).

In the middle of it all, we had hoped to get a bit of hiking in – and we did! Last Tuesday, we managed to wander through the highest peak of the Table Mountains, Szczeliniec Wielki. It’s a marvellous spot, and we were lucky to catch a few hours of fairly decent weather.

The next day, we took a stroll through Waldenburg’s King John III Sobieski Park, and of course we climbed the observation tower, which is known for its panoramic views of the town. After saying goodbye to our Waldenburg friends, on the way back to my family home, we visited The Holy Trinity Church of Peace in Świdnica, the biggest wooden Baroque church in Europe.

By Saturday, we were heading back home to Dublin, keen to cast our votes in the presidential election (the flight itself was a bit rough).

Then Monday came, and brought bad news with it: the nationalists had won. It’s disheartening how many controversial politicians win on the back of aggressive, conservative rhetoric alone. Nawrocki, the new Polish president, seems cut from the same cloth as the Orange Man over in the States – a shady character, voted in mostly because religious talk still holds sway over people living in fear. Have nothing to be ashamed of anyway, I didn't vote for him, but still ...

Below, the first morning in my family home and my late grandma's flat window seen from the garden; a cat idling outside our favourite coffee shop; one of my parents' cats, blind Niunia; walks with my Mum and husband; me hiking through Szczeliniec; one of the Waldenburg's mosaics; the Waldenburg boys; friend's recommendation; the Holy Trinity Church of Peace in Świdnica; my pork pie, my folks.

In the middle

It's the second full day at my parents' house now, we've had two (and a half) days of lovely sunshine and warmth. The flight on the 2nd was quite smooth, though we had a bit of a bumpy landing. Surprisingly, once on the ground, there was almost no wind. 

All the pets are healthy, though little stinky Max is even stinkier than before. My parents aren't sure how old he is; he started living with them only five years ago, and he could have been around 5 at the time. For sure, he's definitely getting on in years, especially for a mix of Shih Tzu from a puppy farm. On the other hand, Gosia, Little Raspberry's sister, is living her dream. As her aggression has subsided with age, though deaf and partially blind, she's now happier than ever before, enjoying the sunshine in the open space instead of in a kennel.

As I love walking and there aren't many places to walk here (the lumberjacks are working in the forest, it's not too safe there at the moment), yesterday I took a leisurely stroll to the local cemetery and back with Dad. We lit candles on both graves – my grandparents' and my granddad's aunt; then we drove to another cemetery, the one in Hochkirch, where my dad's parents are buried. 

Today we went for a walk around the town. Still very warm, my olive coat is too much for this weather.

Of course, we had coffees at El Gato twice, again only Dad and I; Mum wasn't part of our adventures, as she's still working full-time and usually wraps up at 3 p.m. Quite unusual for someone her age (71), but I feel it keeps her going. She once told me she doesn't want to be considered a senior citizen.

I've been avoiding political subjects, no news, no talk shows. The first day Mum suggested I should take all my old diplomas with me, as people are talking about the war coming from Ukraine. It’s certainly not impossible (those pampered in the West rarely have any idea what's going on in the East, it's just the way it is; they live in alternate reality and vote for tv personalities instead of politicians), but I won't let it spoil my inner peace.  

Below, a short video made at the back garden.

Tuesday?

Some good happened in between. Today I got a call from one place, they invited me for a job interview. I'm not sure I have a chance there, but it won't hurt to go and chat with people (I'll try to treat this as a valuable experience; my last interview was a disaster mostly because I didn't bother to prepare for it). 

Also, I booked a ticket for a flight to visit my family home. Just a few days in the last week of February, before the group I'm tutoring returns from their work placement. I called my Dad in the morning, and Mum later, when we were driving back from shopping, just to confirm the dates and cheer up whoever finds my visits comforting (Mum sometimes tells me I should save money for more important things; this time she didn't use this standard phrase of her, and was obviously happy; good).

Yesterday I finished reading Tokarczuk's House of day, House of night. In Polish, but I see that the book was already translated by fantastic Antonia Lloyd-Jones, and I'm sure at some point I will catch up with this version as well (I enjoyed her translation of Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead).

And music: The Cure's album Songs of a Lost World is simply amazing! I was swinging to the tune most of the day.

Below: a picture taken good three weeks later and posted here one rainy morning, because that's what I wanted to do ;)