Recently the weather in Vienna is not very nice. It rains a lot, not strong but persistently. In Japan there is a saying that in Autumn it rains persisently. Maybe over time I noticed that here in Vienna this could be true as well. But even on such dark, cold and wet days joy can be found. For example waterdrops on plants . I love looking at them a lot. Also leaves in puddles of water… When it gets darker, lights are vaguely reflected from the water surface in beautiful gradations… Every day I would like to feel life as much as possible.
Today the weather was beautiful but in the afternoon dark clouds started arriving. From tomorrow it will be cooler and rainy. The first picture was taken about 16:30. About 30 minutes later I took the second picture. Already dark clouds were arriving and rain could be felt in the air.
Often on TV I watch the British series “Poirot”. I noticed the existence of this series during the Austrian Corona lockdown in March. Poirot is a famous main character of Agatha Christie’s literature (for example “Murder on the Orient Express”). I feel ashamed that I myself have not read any of that literature but I have heard about it often as well as having seen some of the movie or TV productions. The British TV series which can be seen in Austria now features David Suchet as the famous private investigator Hercule Poirot. When I started watching this series it seemed that it had been aired for a long time and each episode had quite a long duration like in the cinema. This is an expensive series of high quality because one appears to truly be close to the time of the setting. Costumes, vehicles, props, architecture, landscapes, etc. seem from that era and can be felt close. Also the camera is well and effectively used and I often could sense that the camera did project the psyche of the characters.
I had not been aware of the character of Poirot before and it seemed a bit ridiculous to me. Maybe Mr. Suchet is portraying this excentric genius with self-confidence, but elegance and charm very well. Over time Suchet’s portrayal of Poirot won my sympathy. Therefore when he died in the series it was a shock to me and I had to cry. The death of Poirot totally changed my mind about Agatha Christie’s work. All the time in the series there is a sense of depth but when I saw the last episode, I think I understood what that depth might be. All of it was not a personal problem of some upper class but rather deeply rooted problems relating to all of humanity. This wonderful genius investigator, having solved so many cases, himself commits a murder like self-righteous justice. He knew he was going to die due to illness and as his last work he committed a murder like a lynching and killed the perpetrator. Surely, the perpetrator insulting him also became one piece of his decision commit such an act. In any case, he could not end his life with a heroic reputation. Like his first name Hercule (Maybe his name comes from the Greek mythological hero Hercules) who because of greed died in fire, Poirot also died because of the swamp of human greed.
After the final episode of Poirot’s death, the series is being shown again from the beginning. It is obvious how young and fresh this actor seems. I see that he played Poirot for a very long time, which I find quite precious. Having already seen the end of the series, I watch it with pain and sadness, feeling as though I am some kind of prophet knowing who is going to die. Now I understand why the theme music sounds so sad.
In front of Westbahnhof station 西駅を背にFlowers in a flower bed 花壇の花
Yesterday was a stormy and rainy night. Today was totally different, beautiful weather! Blue sky and fresh air, a lovely Sunday for taking a walk. City view and also flowers in their beds, one can feel the atmosphere of Autumn.
Starting today, because of the coronavirus, in Vienna there is now a compulsory registration for all customers of gastronomy. This does not apply to take out items. Name, telephone number and/or email address has to be registered by the establishment on a paper form. A friend of mine told me that such a system is already in place in Germany and many people provided false names. She told me that she will not provide her email address because she wishes not to receive any future advertisements. My husband does not want to register and therefore he says we should always do take out. Today we went to get some coffee and sweets from Starbucks as take out. Even though it had rained a little before, we sat outside somewhere on a bench on a street nearby eating and drinking. I would like to value and protect my private information.
Hiding and surprising the prey is cats’ favourite strategy 物陰に潜んで獲物を仕留めるのは猫の得意な戦略
In Summer when my husband and I took care of seven cats, we tried to at least once daily play with them. Not all of them participate all of the time and there are also days when they are more and then they are less playful.
But a grey tiger cat, the biggest one there and apparently the boss, always played. His way of playing was quite dramatic, he ran, jumped, climbed and used all sorts of strategies to catch the prey. That was very loud and energetic and he was quite good at it.
Another one, also with a grey tiger pattern, sometimes played. His way of playing was more fragile like his body build. Standing on two legs and turning with ease trying to catch the prey. How elegant!
Yet another one, a slightly bigger black and white cat, also enjoyed playing but his style of playing was not always the same intensity. It took a long time for him to get serious. Maybe he was the type to need some “warm-up time”.
But the second most successful catcher of prey after the grey tiger was the youngest cat of all seven, whom we named “Scar-chan”! Even though he is always clumsy, when playing he was quite good! He could move quickly and he did not miss the target. Other cats however, except the number one tiger, did not enjoy it too much. If others next to Scar-chan were too slow and he caught the prey right before their noses, then they got angry and suddenly attacked his face! How unjust! Scar-chan got punished by others because of his marvelous talent. Every time after such an attack he did not want to play any more. I thought that I had to take some action. I started thinking that maybe I should play with Scar-chan separately…
One day when I was wearing a dress with some rope hanging down, one of the cats played with it. That surprised me because that cat never played with us. Apparently he has a preference for playing with a rope. I got the idea to have a rope in one hand and play with him and in the other hand to have a ribbon and play with Scar-chan at the same time. And my husband used the toy to play with other cats in the meantime. That was so effective, all cats were playing joyfully! But my husband and I were very tired afterwards.
In Summer my husband and I took care of seven cats. The family came back from their vacation and we do not really have to take care of them anymore. One day before yesterday we passed by their window. One cat was there. He is the youngest of the seven cats and is often bullied by older cats. Often he has some scratchmarks on his nose and so we named him “Scar-chan”. He actually has quite a beautiful name given by his owner but the name “Scar” comes to us more naturally. During summer always when we opened the door of their apartment, he came running toward us to greet us. One day before yesterday when he saw us at the window, he surely thought we would come in and so he ran inside towards the door. We called after him “We are not coming inside! Stay here!”. It was too late and he did not come back. Later we therefore felt remorse and had to think of him often. How long did he wait for us at the door? When did he notice we would not come in? We thought from our heart “Sorry, Scar-chan!”.
Since sometimes there is no one at home during the day, the owner gave us permission to visit the cats then on such a day. Therefore we came today to see them! When we opened the door, the cats came to us slowly. Maybe they did not think someone would come at this hour. “Scar-chan” also came to greet us but not running as usual. Obviously he did have some thoughts in his heart, behaved a little in a reserved manner. We apologized to him and pet him a lot. Also we gave some snack treats to all of them. Afterwards we wanted to spend some time with them sitting on the sofa. “Scar-chan” jumped on my lap and eventually started sleeping there. He must have forgiven us…. We will be back soon. We love you all!
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