This morning, 49 days after Easter Sunday, was one of those mornings when you get everything ready to go to a park, preferably beside a lake or the sea, with a bit of shade. You’d take a blanket and picnic basket with you, some sunscreen, and you’d cycle out to that park with a couple of friends and family, looking forward to a great day. It’s Pentecost not just today, but also tomorrow – at least in Germany! It’s the day the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles. It’s also the Jewish (and much older) feast of Schawuot.

If it was the Holy Spirit who came down on Hamburg this afternoon, he came with thunder and lightning, and a massive downpour. Rather than sitting on their blankets, people used them as emergency covers until they had reached their cars. Literally thousands of people were sent running across the parks of Hamburg with their kids under one, and their picnic utensils under the other arm. Just after 3pm, the sky was so dark that it looked like the apocalypse was neigh. And then it started, the Donnerwetter, the Gewitter of massive proportions. – By the way, is there a word for ‘Gewitter’ in English?

Luckily, Pádraig was left unaffected by what was going on outside. He had a great weekend with four really nice friends from Dublin over for a visit. To be able to hear the familiar voices from home, to feel that his old friends are still with him and will continue to visit him, must be such a big reassurance for him. To know that so many people are thinking of him and visiting him, telling him of what is going on back in Dublin, remembering great times they had together, and making plans for better times ahead. Laughs and life.

This being the weekend, staff did not manage to sit him into the wheelchair, but he was back on the speech valve, and this time for about two hours. For Pádraig, this is like training. Using muscles he hasn’t used for a long time. Getting back to some degree of normality.

Today, I also got an email from an old colleague and friend, organiser of Localization World, who said that the fundraiser they organised, the Mountain Flag Challenge, managed to raise more than 10,000 euro, and that about 33 hiker made it to the top of the Djouce. It was a fantastic initiative and a great initiative! Thank you to all who put so much work into the organisation of the event, those who so generously contributed, and those who made it up to the mountain! He also sent a few more images that really show off the beauty of Wicklow!

Today’s German Music Tip
Johann Strauss II, Unter Blitz und Donner
What’s hot
Thunder and Pentecost
What’s cold
A quiet day in the park
The German word/phrase/verse of the day
Frohes Pfingstfest!