Agfa Apx 400 on Grainy Mære

The blackberries rabbit hole

Wed, 03 Aug 2022 23:07:00 +0200

On Sunday, I went to a small hidden spot to check if the blackberries were ripe for foraging. It’s behind the playing field on Bornitzstraße, and you quickly stumble into dozens of blackberry bushes. No one was around, so I started picking - until a small thought grew bigger: “Is it safe to eat here? This was an industrial area - aren’t the berries polluted?” That question kept nagging at me. There’s some trash here and there (though not right at the front), but is there a better way to find out if it’s safe to eat?

Observing birds

Wed, 04 May 2022 22:41:00 +0200

As a child, I loved watching and identifying birds. Armed with a well-thumbed field guide, I would look up each new visitor and proudly tell my grandma what I’d found. Not in a professional ornithologist’s way, but with the curiosity only kids have.

As I grew older, my interests shifted and birdwatching faded into the background. But during the lockdown and long days of home office, I found myself drawn back in. Right outside my window stands a Norway maple, and it’s become a regular stopover for all kinds of birds. Suddenly, I was noticing them again - their calls, their colors, the way they flit from branch to branch.

The tuff stones in the former Narva light bulb factory

Sat, 12 Feb 2022 22:04:00 +0200

I still have some memories of the old Narva tower near Warschauer Straße, but I never really explored that area as a child. It was interesting to walk around and see how much the area has changed.

The VEB Narva Kombinat Berlin bulb factory was the central manufacturer of light sources, especially light bulbs, in the GDR. In 1992, production stopped, and HypoVereinsbank converted the buildings into office spaces. During the renovation of Building IV in 1998, four ‘tuff’¹ fountains, designed by Prof. Gustav Lange² and sent over from Slovenia,³ were placed in the inner courtyards. The idea was to connect elements of nature with the urban environment.