Do you like enormous differences?
Are you a person who likes nature, enjoys long walks and fresh air? Or are you the kind of person who is fascinated by technology, interested in the production of district heating, and loves to look at huge buildings?
If you are like both, I highly recommend a walk in spring through the canola fields from Rostock Gehlsdorf to Krummendorf. First you will be able to enjoy the strong fruity smell of the plant species Brassica Napus, better known as canola. While you’re walking the tarred way, which is great for a bicycle tour for every age by the way, you will be surrounded by the colour yellow. I am convinced that you will hear many insects, like the buzz of bumblebees, the wing beat of butterflies, and many more noises. Take a minute, take a deep breath and listen.
If you keep walking, you will see an anthracite power station. For me, it always comes out of nothingness. Behind the canola fields there is one grey cooling tower. Huge. Grey. Always working, never pausing.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Rostock16.jpg
A place of nature meets human technology. I always find it fascinating. It looks like a “cloud maker” to me. Obviously there are no clouds, it is stack gas. When you’re there, close your eyes again. What can you hear now? Is it still the insects? Or is it the power station? I now want you to ask yourself one question: What do you enjoy more? Or can both be equally enjoyed?
My idea behind this post is not to say whether power stations should stop working or not, what is good or what is bad. My intention behind this post is to make you aware of the contrastive differences that surround and accompany us. I asked myself how I feel about the partnership of nature and industry. Do you wanna know my answer? Seriously, I dont have one. Sorry about that. I am well aware of the importance of industry and I very much appreciate the hard work people once put in. But nature means silence and peace to me. And I always find myself healthier and happier in nature.
The way from Gehlsdorf to Krummendorf is one extreme example. When I first saw it, I realised that there are many more examples in the world. Which example comes to your mind?