24 - 30 June 2013

Every five years in Maria Kirchental, Lofer, Jesus and his disciples can be found enjoying a few beers before the performance of the Loferer Passion, re-worked 30 years ago by local composer Cesar Bresgen from the remaining pages of a 250 year old manuscript. In typical historic passion play tradition, it takes place every five years, and in typical small Austrian village tradition, most of the cast have been playing the same parts for 30 years.

17 - 23 June 2013

News of the 'Atlantic multi-decadal oscillation' has put England under a cloud which is expected to last another 10 years. This cycle of wet Summers started in 2007, the very year that we came to Austria. If any smugness is detected then rest assured that Maria Alm has its very own bad weather cycle. No matter how glorious the Summer is, it will almost certainly rain shoemakers' apprentices on Midsummers Eve and snuff out all the Bergfeuer (mountain fires) lit to celebrate the Solstice.

10 - 16 June 2013

When someone has died in Maria Alm it is the Mesner (Simon's) job to ring the Todesglocke (death-bell) and inform everyone of the death. Not so long ago the death-bell wasn't rung, just the almost-dead-bell (Ziehglocke). I can't imagine that that was a terribly encouraging thing to hear as you were lying in your sick bed. 'Never send to know for whom the bell tolls...'.

3 - 9 June 2013

Over the last couple of years the Gemeinde at Maria Alm has spent millions improving flood defence systems, lowering the river bed to protect against the kind of flooding that we saw last year. So when the usual June heavy rain arrived it sloshed down the river through Maria Alm and flooded Saalfelden instead. The prayer of St. Florian is called to mind; "O heiliger Sankt Florian, verschon' mein Haus, zünd' and're an", which translates as "O holy Saint Florian, spare my house, kindle others".

27 May - 2 June 2013

It's raining hard here. In the German language it's raining string (es regnet Bindfäden), throughout the world it would be raining boats and casks, wheelbarrows, shoemakers' apprentices, frogs, nails, chairlegs, fire and brimstone, cobblers' knives, earth and sand, female trolls, toads' beards, tractors, husbands, old ladies, sticks, knives and forks, and in China it would be raining dog poo. The cats and dogs that have been raining here for the last week are flushing the moles and mice out of their holes so it looks as if it's raining rodents.