June 12, 1997 - Focusing on Nature 'Over There'AA - The Suffolk. Times - June 12, 1997
Focusina on Nature `Over There'
How similar and yet how different the
world is. Barbara and I have just returned
from a 16 -day trip to Germany, Russia
and the Scandinavian countries, and
wound up for three days in London,
England. We had a chance to see the
poverty of Russia and yet the splendor of
the past in build-
ings there like the Focus
Hermitage and the
winter and summer on
palaces of the
czars. Even today, Nature
with the birth of
democracy in by Paul
Russia, there is still Stoutenburgb
a sickening feeling
of hopelessness among the masses and
like in the past this could easily lead to the
return of Communism, but we were there
to see and absorb all we could of this
largest of all countries in Europe.
I especially wanted to see some of the
wildlife but I am afraid we were so in-
volved in the history and sights that birds
and flowers had little chance to show their
wonder. We did see in the gardens of the
Hermitage a pair of black woodpeckers
the size of small crows and in the ponds
and gardens that surrounded many of the
buildings were the trim black - headed
gulls that we would see in every port.
Whether it was in the parks or the coun-
trywise, this bird would be the most
prominent of all.
Of course, we saw the native starling
throughout our travels. No wonder it has
taken such a foothold in this country of
ours, for it is as aggressive there as it is
here. We were so far north in St. Peters-
burg, Russia, that the sun set at 10:30 at
night as the countryside was just coming
into spring. How the people of these
northern latitudes look forward to the sun
after those long and dreary days of winter
when there are only four to five hours of
daylight. That would dampen anyone's
outlook on life.
Germany, on the other hand, seemed to
us to have a much brighter future. In
Berlin, where most of the city was leveled
during World War 11, it was bristling with
huge building cranes on their spidery legs.
From one spot we could count 50 or more
of these giant gaudily painted structures
that were lifting and swinging the building
blocks they hoped would once again bring
them back into the world of prominence.
Gardens Enjoyed By AI[
Small gardens are cherished by those
who can find the space. Outside the
cities every bit of land seemed to be dot-
ted by these gardens. Familiar crops of
rhubarb, chard, onions, beets, potatoes,
etc., could be seen starting up. Some of
the more elaborate plots had little "huts"
on them where people would go for the
weekend to shed the bleakness of their
city apartments. Beyond the city there
were beautiful farms and homes we saw
as we traveled by train to and from our
ship that docked in Warnemunde. We
who live in such earthly luxury often
forget how lucky we are to have open
space, trees and farmland about us.
We saw the fami-
liar roadside plants
such as dandelions,
daisies, Queen An-
ne's lace and other
plants that originat-
ed in Europe and
have now spread
over our country-
side. The most con-
spicuous flowering
shrubs were the
purple and white
lilacs throughout all
the countries we
visited except Eng-
land, where roses
were most conspic-
uous in people's
front yards. The one
distracting thing we
found in Europe
was the graffiti that
seemed to be on
everything, but then
in the city and other
places there's not
much young people can do to express
themselves and so they take to their street
art of graffiti, some, by the way, quite well
done. I'm sure there were many colorful
words that we missed for most of it was in
their native language. Yet once in a while
we'd see a "familiar word" in English.
sparkling waters, neatly painted homes
and busy waterfronts were such a contrast
to the Russian bleakness. But they, too,
are finding difficulties in this changing
world. High taxes and unemployment
seem to be plaguing everyone. Like in
Russia and Germany, we were near the
waterfront and familiar water birds like
mallards, mute swans and Canada geese
could be found, along with the ever -pre-
sent black- headed gull and herring gull.
They also have a g -eat black- backed gull
amazed to see below the neat little farms,
each with its hedgerow clearly defining it
borders. Many fields were brilliant yellow
with rape seed they grow for canola oil.
Some were sprinkled with sheep and dairy
cows. All made up a patchwork quilt of
their rolling farmland. Being an island,
England has had to make itself as self -suf-
ficient as possible and the farmland we
saw surely told us that. Later we drove
through this farmland and saw many
rooks, birds similar to our crows. They
seemed to always
be in sight, whether
they were flying or
perched on a fence
post nearby. I
would. think with
their numbers they
would play havoc
with any bird life.
As I said in the
beginning, this was
a trip to absorb his-
tory. A chance to
see firsthand things
we'd heard or read
about in our life-
time and it was in
London, England,
where we spent
three days, that we
found history liter-
ally dripping every-
where we went. No
matter where we
turned, colossal
buildings of stone
and marble greeted
us. If you shut out the crowds and turmoil
of the city of London you would find a
place of parks, statues, churches, govem-
ment buildings and palaces on almost
every street.
We ended our trip in this pomp -and-
ceremonious country by splurging on an
evening cruise with dinner and dancing
on the famous Thames River. This river,
by the way, was once one of the worst
polluted but through strong rules and
regulations it has cleansed itself and to-
day fish are once again being taken. We
watched and listened to
"Big Ben" strike 6 o'clock
as we boarded the new
Millenium riverboat re-
cently christened by
Queen Elizabeth as a new
crescent moon shone
above the glittering lights
of the Tower Bridge as we
passed beneath.
Our tour guide rolled off
history that brought back
memories of Florence
Nightingale, Lord Nelson, Henry the
VIII and his wives and others right up to
the present -day marriage and divorce of
Prince Charles and Diana. It was a per-
fect ending to a glimpse of our neighbors
across the sea and all I could wish for as
this world grows smaller by travel time
is that more of you can enjoy some of
the sights this wonderful world of ours
has to offer.
Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
COMMON DAISY —This joyous wayside flower that is blossoming now is not
a native to America, but rather a stowaway brought over here among other
more important seeds. Wherever you go in Europe you will find the daisy.
Remnants of War
In East Germany we touched the Berlin
Wall, saw Checkpoint Charlie, the
Brandenburg Gate and pondered over the
past, myself having difficulty with all that
had gone on here. We rode the railways in
pleasant clean coaches in contrast to those
that transported the Nazi war machines
and carried millions of innocent people to
their death. It was a sweet -sour experience
for me and I had difficulty shaking the
past from our trip for there was so much
good in Germany.
We traveled by ship from port to port,
which gave us time to relax and recoup
our strength for our next visit. The
Scandinavian countries with their
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General Admission:
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like ours plus a lesser black- backed gull,
but they were fewer in numbers.
In the Scandinavian countries we saw
many people sunning themselves not on
beaches, but on anyone's lawn or open
space they could find. Again because of
their short summer and long winter most
people, particularly the young, take
advantage of every opportunity to bare
themselves to the sun. In the Scandinavian
countries of Sweden, Denmark, Finland
and Norway people enjoy nature in every
aspect of their life. It seemed that they,
more than any others,
delight in the outdoors
whether on foot, bikes
(which we saw every-
where), cars or boats, they
know how to live close to
nature.
It is interesting to note
that everywhere we went
there seemed to be some
problem of pollution, par-
ticularly —the most easily spring.'
recognized by us — air
and noise pollution, and what problems
they were. Yet few of us throughout the
world want to give up or modify our pol-
lution- making devices. This, along with
the dwindling resources that everyone
wants a part of, creates a challenge that is
mind - boggling and one we'll have to
leave for now, for we're off to England.
We flew in and out of London's
Heathrow Airport and each time I was
`We were so far
north that the
sun set at 10:30
at night as the
countryside was
just coming into
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