Be informed

I’ve had quite a busy year. Many of us have. I am, at the time of writing this, in a short period of wind down and reflection. Only in these times is it possible to see things that one does not usually notice. First of all, wonderful interventions that humans make for other creatures that make a huge difference to them but requires just a bit of broad thinking when it comes to design. The picture on the left is a swallow looking after its young – it is mid-August, so I assume it is the second brood. But if you look carefully, this is a human-made thing. And what is more, it is in an underpass that carries a cycle- and foot-path underneath one of the busiest stretches of railway in Munich. Somebody consciously put it there.

Next, graffiti. In Germany there is a lot of official graffiti in underpasses and the like. This is not official (right), but it is on the side of a school. And what a school it must be when whoever sprayed it thinks that unless you read James Joyce’s Ulysses then one has not lived their own life (or a better translation than that). The point remains, how wonderfully bizarre, even if it is ironic. The School, incidentally, is the Bertolt Brecht Gymnasium in Pasing, Munich. That might have something to do with it?

Then there’s toilets. I was cycling along, actually looking for one. And here it is (left). It has an electric door opening to a spotless pissoir that is cleaned each time on leaves. Not good on water consumption, but jolly welcome.

In Munich, I have a favourite park, Nymphenburg Schloss Park. It is a castle with just the most amazing grounds. The trees are wonderful – basically, a collection of the former Kaiser. But that aside, this is real sanctuary. But where there are trees, there is an abundance of other flora and fauna. Dragon flies are just extraordinary and easy to find in the park. This one has large fans at the tips of its wings. Look more closely and one can see that this one is having a meal. Even more extraordinary, the camera on my mobile can capture this.