Being Myopic Can Be Fun – in Hindsight

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Why a blurry photo of a butterfly to illustrate the word “myopic”? There is a story.

I’ve been shortsighted as far back as I remember. It is worse when the light is fading. I never leave the house without my glasses but around the house I often take them off.

When our cat was still little she often brought insects in the house to play with them, and this being in South Africa the insects were often quite large. One evening I heard a commotion in the hallway and saw Socks fighting with a large, dark butterfly. When I came closer the cat ran off and what I thought was a large, dark butterfly was clinging to the wall. Being shortsighted I had to get close to see if the butterfly was beyond rescue or if I could do something for it. I bent down and –

found myself face to face with a snarling, spitting bat.

If I had worn my glasses, I wouldn’t have made that mistake!

The Ragtag Daily Prompt: Myopic

Long, Tall Louis

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This monument of Grand Duke Ludewig of Hesse and by Rhine stands in the central square of Darmstadt. The plinth, the column and the 5 metre tall Ludewig measure a total of just under 40 metres. The Darmstadt people love the tall structure and only call it “Langer Lui” (or “Tall Ludwig”).

Not odd as such but odd because I could’ve sworn the one word today would be “tall”. So I leave this post as an example of the oddity of my brain.

One Word Sunday

Getting a Basket

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Debbie had an odd square today about what it means if your potential in-laws present you with a pumpkin. It reminded me of an expression we use in Germany: giving someone a basket or, on the receiving end, getting a basket. It’s the equivalent of getting told “Thanks, but no thanks” in the dating world. Usually it’s the man who gets the basket, i.e. he is rejected.

What makes this photo odd? A bright pink shopping basket in the middle of the woods? What’s not odd about it?

Henry, on the other hand, is quite partial to getting a basket even if he has to claim the wastepaper one.

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Getting a Basket

In case you were wondering, it’s called “einen Korb kriegen” in German.

Odd Squares #5

A Few Wise Words

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and some not so much.

“If you are a narcissist loving yourself you have at least the advantage of not having many rivals in your love.”

One of the many very witty and occasionally sharp aphorisms of Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, a physicist and satirist who was one of the foremost European thinkers of the 18th century.

This wall stands in the middle of a little square, next to the Lichtenbergstraße in Darmstadt. I don’t know if it was purposely designed to invite others to add their thoughts or if sprayers just gravitate naturally to it. The slogans are mainly political (if crude) and their topicality suggest that the wall is at least occasionally scrubbed. I have no idea where the stag beetle comes in.

Photographing Public Art Challenge #34