vailian

Hay Fever. It is so hard to appreciate all the advantages that spring brings (more daylight hours, squeaking birds in the morning, and --as here-- the emerging leaves on the apple trees trying so hard to thrive in miniature pots on my roof terrace) when all my faculties are crippled by pesky pollens. Riding a bike is agony (the pollen is forced with special vehemence up my nose) and besides, the bike lanes are overcrowded with all those fair-weather Fahrrad fans, who ride much too slowly and have the nerve to stop at every red light.
The church across the street-- a large Catholic establishment with space for 400 supplicants, fairly handsome except for the fact that the top of the steeple was lopped off during the last war-- has a local congregation of about 15 elderly residents. Still, the German system ensures that the church remains perfectly maintained and Masses take place at all the prescribed times. But a new life has been found here: starting about a year ago, they started doing a service in Polish, and it seems now to have become the biggest Polish church in town and it is often quite full. Yesterday some sort of ceremony was held in the courtyard-- the priest said a few things and then they marched off down the street, proceeded by someone carrying some sort of staff. All very mysterious.