Quick, build an ark!

As our trip to Switzerland was winding down, the rain was intensifying.  I remember lying in the tent our last night and listening to it beat down with ever-increasing strength.  It was so loud!  Just when I thought it was raining really hard, it would start raining even harder.

By morning the ground had become completely saturated and was running down the little street in rivulets.  Once out of the tent, all the children became completely soaked.  As if the rain weren't enough, suddenly water started pouring out of the ground in our old backyard/garden.

Remember when we first moved in and I blogged a picture of the back garden?  And then I mused about the drain in that picture?  Well, now we know what the drain was for...

It's too bad it didn't work!

Farther back in the garden is some kind of manhole cover.  It wasn't there when we first moved in-- or else it was only grown-over with grass.  Sometime during our first year it suddenly appeared, and we wondered over the purpose of that too, just like the drain.

On our last morning visiting, with the rain still coming down and the cow field squishy beneath my boots, suddenly the manhole started pouring out water at an amazing rate.  One minute I was standing at the gate to my old garden talking with the postman, and the next minute water was gushing everywhere.

It ran down the small incline and flooded our old back porch and the entire ground floor of the house.  The water piled up and everyone had to think very quickly what to do.  Boards were pulled from the porch walls, buckets and brooms were used to move the water into the street, and finally a dam was built to divert water from the house.

It was incredible how quickly everything happened, and heart-warming how everyone quickly came together to help in a crisis.

By lunchtime the rain had subsided a bit and the flood had been successfully diverted.  We managed to dry all of our children off and pack up our very wet and muddy tent.  After a hearty lunch, all our neighbors and friends gathered together in the street to wish us farewell.  The sight of them standing all together waving madly as we drove off really touched my heart.  It wasn't the tearful goodbye we had shared a year earlier, but a joyful one.  I was reminded of the words from a circle song we used to sing with a Waldorf group in Texas before Kitty Bill was born and when the girls were still very small:

Merry meet, and merry part.  And merry meet again.

Unfortunately, as we made our way down the road we saw that our little farm wasn't the only place that had succumbed to flooding.  The fields and allotment gardens were a terrible sight!

 Can you imagine?!  So much water...

Although it doesn't even begin to compare to the devastating floods seen in other countries this year, my heart broke for the families who work these allotments.  It's confounding to think of the damage that just a few days of hard rain can do.  And to think that we camped in that rain... and somehow we didn't float away.  It's just crazy!

Camping in Switzerland

We made it home after an exciting week away, and the children immediately started coming down with some kind of virus.  One lone sneeze led to another and now all three children are at various stages of sickness--- coughing, sneezing, fevers.  As usual it's the price we pay for taking them out into the world.  It was worth it though, because it was a really fantastic trip.

Our time in Switzerland was jam-packed with so many activities, there was hardly time to catch our breath.  It was so wonderful to see our neighbors and friends again, and they all gave us such a warm reception.  It was truly like coming home.

Everything was just as we left it-- the farms, the fields, the horses, the cows...

The weather wasn't nearly as cold as predicted, but the relentless rain made up for it.  As each day progressed the cow field became soggier and soggier.  Aside from the fact that we were sleeping outside, it wasn't much different than living in England.  However, that didn't stop our neighbors from worrying about us.

We brought plenty of gear (or kit, as they say in England) and were fully prepared to cook all our meals, but between friends and neighbors we hardly had to cook anything at all.  We were treated to so many lovely meals-- homemade bread, Indian food, salads, pumpkin soup, pumpkin spaghetti, apple pies, and snacks of all kinds.  We felt so loved and well-taken care of.

Oddly enough, we spent quite a bit of time at our old house.  The new tenant was the first person I met upon arriving, and he immediately invited us over for coffee and to have a peek around inside.  It's such a strange feeling to walk through your old house filled with someone else's belongings!  But it was comforting to know that a nice family had moved in after us.  He has turned our old porch into a workshop where he makes the most exquisite wooden bows and arrows.  He talked us through the process, and all of us were so impressed.  Kitty Bill was especially taken with him and kept asking for permission to go have a chat and offer his help.

Sunburst was absolutely thrilled to be back.  She spent our entire last year in Switzerland volunteering at a horse stable every morning and afternoon.  She was so determined that she would set her alarm and wake in the early hours and be out of the house even before Einstein and I had risen from bed.  She mucked stables, swept, fed, and ran to watch every time the farrier or vet came to call.  Aside from helping in the stable, she also helped with the cows-- mending fences, corralling cows, attending births, and finally helping to nurse an abandoned baby cow.

So once again Sunburst set her alarm and rose in the early hours to help in the stable.  This time she took Moonshine with her, and they were up and gone at first light.  The smile on Sunburst's face every morning said it all-- this is where I belong!

 

In between stall cleanings, horse riding, and visiting, I had a walk through the Goetheanum bookstore and took the kids for a day trip into the big city-- Basel.  We hit all our favorite spots, and the kids were so happy to see that the Heisse Marroni (hot chestnut) vendors had already set up near the Rhine.  We also managed to attend the Jugend Zirkus (youth circus) one night.  One of our homeschooling friends had joined last summer, and it was so fun to see her transformation into a circus performer.  She gave us a little behind the scenes tour of all the circus wagons.  It was so fascinating!

Twenty children participate in this circus and travel around from town to town, not only performing but setting up and taking down their circus tent.  They have a team of wagons pulled by tractors, and the kids live together in the wagons during circus weeks.  They even have a kitchen wagon and a bathroom wagon.  The whole idea was so interesting, and of course so foreign to anything I grew up with in the states.  Of course Sunburst immediately wanted to move back to Switzerland so she could join up.

And if that wasn't enough excitement, on our very last day we awoke to a hard rain and flooding.  Nothing says camping vacation like flooding!!!  No wonder the kids are all sick...

It's time for me to make more tea and wipe more noses, but I'll be back tomorrow to regale you with pictures of the flood.  For today, I'll leave you with pictures of the new angel sculptures outside the Goetheanum.  Aren't they lovely?!

Rheinfelden

The prolific and inspiring blogger CCETSI asked me in the comments about the Swiss museum we went to that had the section on the Black Death.  I had to have a look through my pictures to remind myself which town it was in, and I was instantly carried back in time.  It was such a wonderful day.

Rheinfelden is a small city in northern Switzerland.  As you have probably already guessed, it's along the River Rhine, and it's a wonderful medieval city-- just stunning!  We had only been in Switzerland for two months before visiting, so we were still fresh enough off the boat that we walked around gaping at the lovely details.  The children were so tiny then!

One of the things I love about old cities is the architecture.  I've always been fascinated by buildings and the shape and feel of a place.  Whenever I see old churches and tiny alleyways, I have to walk through them.  I just can't help myself.  This day was no exception because there was a lot to explore.

The main street of the city looks very much like other Swiss towns-- colorful, clean, historic, and lovely.  It has definitely kept its medieval feel.  You can see my crew strolling along ahead of me, taking it all in.

 

 

Besides being known for its beer, Rheinfelden has an amazing church-- St. Martin's.  You really wouldn't guess from the outside, but as you walk inside, you can't help but gasp.  It is an absolute masterpiece.

We also found an amusing and charming clock tower:

This one has tailor sitting above and a goat that passes along the wall at certain times of the day.   According to a lovely woman we befriended on the train, the story goes that a very long time ago the city was besieged, perhaps by the Spanish.  The walls were so heavily fortified that they couldn't get through, so they decided to wait and starve the inhabitants out.

Quite a few months passed this way, until not only were the inhabitants in the city starving, but so were the troops laying siege.  Rather than surrender, the inhabitants of Rheinfelden came up with a plan.  A tailor sewed up the skins and head of a goat into a costume of sorts, and then this "goat" walked at leisurely pace along the city wall, as if it didn't have a care in the world.

The troops laying siege assumed that if a goat was walking leisurely along, then the city must still be flourishing.  The starving troops abandoned their plan, and the inhabitants of the city were safe.

If you would like to see the goat, I found a video online. The picture quality isn't very good, but you you can get the general idea.

We also spent quite a bit of time in the Fricktaler Museum.  There were some lovely items from many different time periods.  Since I know others are studying the medieval era right now, here are a few from that time period.

A stunning example of an illuminated manuscript:

Sharp things:

And here are the pictures from the Black Death exhibit.  I've had to brighten them a little because the room was quite dark and very ominous.  As you can see, the costume is a bit foreboding, especially that eye peeking out from behind the glass goggles.  It gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

 

The following pictures are two of my favorites from that day.  One is a mermaid fountain I walked into by accident.  It was hiding behind a building across the bridge that crosses the Rhine.  So it's actually in Germany.

The craftsmanship is exquisite.  I'm not quite sure what's going on here, but I love that it makes me wonder.

This one just touches me.  I love the historic feel to it... even the old man.  It's like stepping back in time.  The motorcycles and the signage give it an absurd quality.  That's Switzerland in a nutshell.  Time changes and stands still all in the same moment.