As 2020 continues to surprise us, many things remain the same. The reeds at the lake are indifferent to our suffering whether self-inflicted or not. They stand proud, each day, come rain or shine. They sway in the breeze, shelter the ducks from prying eyes, act as launchpads for insects, look good in a photo.
Lockdown has been different in every country, so no doubt you all have your own experiences. It’ll be a year to remember, I think we can agree on that.
The long evenings of summer have returned, and the increase in daylight hours permits more after work activities. It’s good to enjoy the little things.
The Hochburg ("high castle") is a castle ruin situated between the city of Emmendingen and the village of Sexau in the region of Baden, located in the southwest of Germany. It was presumably built in the 11th century and was originally known as castle Hachberg. The line of nobles known as the Margraves of Baden-Hachberg most likely derive their name from this castle and before it was razed by the French it was the second largest fortification in Baden.
Life is largely business as usual, if you’re a horse. Sure, you’re probably being ridden and exercised a bit less than normal, and aside from people keeping 1.5m away from each other and wearing masks, what’s the difference?
Some evenings I sit down with a beer and record some music to a favourite format of mine: minidisc, or simply, MD. The cable at the top of the unit is an optical cable, which transmits sound as light, which is then decoded in the unit, and dubbed onto the disc by a laser heating a small area to above its Curie point, making the material in the disc susceptible to a magnetic field. A magnetic head on the other side of the disc alters the polarity of the heated area, recording the digital data onto the disc. Playback is accomplished with the laser alone (similar to a CD): taking advantage of the Faraday effect; the player senses the polarisation of the reflected light and thus interprets a 1 or a 0. This is converted to an analogue signal onboard the unit, sent electrically into your headphones (the bottom cable), and voila!
The whole thing is infinitely more interesting to me than music streaming services, and “watching” music on Youtube is woeful. I am not sure I will get bored of MD. I haven’t for the last 20 years, at least.