Running for Election

by

Siri and Selma got up at hair-raising time to accompany Dina to see the hares. The sun was rising as we made our way to Stiffkey on the North Norfolk coast.

Siri und Selma mussten zu erschreckender Zeit aufstehen, um Dina zu begleiten, um Hasen aufzuspüren. Auf unseren Weg nach Stiffkey, westlich an unserer Küste, ging die Sonne auf.


We weren’t there to admire the sunrise, which our Siri, who is currently in her art criticism phase, labelled ‘kitschy’ in disgust. Kb nodded in agreement, still slightly sleepy at this inopportune time.
We accompany Dina, who wants to take photos; meanwhile, we eavesdrop on bunny talk. Big secret: we understand the language of rabbits and play ‘UE’ (for Unauthorised Eavesdropping).

Es ging uns nicht darum, den Sonnenaufgang zu bewundern, den unsere Siri, die sich gerade in ihrer kunstkritischen Phase befindet, mit einem abfälligen ‘kitschig’ bezeichnete. Kb nickte zustimmend, noch leicht verschlafen zu dieser Unzeit. Wir begleiten Dina, die fotografieren möchte und dann belauschen wir derweil Hasentalk. Großes Geheimnis: Wir verstehen auf alte Buchfeenweise die Sprache der Hasen und spielen Unautorisierter Lauschangriff.


“So, who do you think will win the election this year?”
“Definitely not the squirrel. He’s nuts!”
“What about the owl? She’s wise, right?”
“Yeah, but she’s all talk and no action.”

“Na, wer wird denn dieses Jahr die Wahl gewinnen? Was meint ihr?”
“Bestimmt nicht das Eichhörnchen. Das ist doch völlig Nuts.
“Und die Eule? Sie ist doch weise, oder?
“Klar, aber viel Quatschen, wenig Action.”


“I heard the fox is running too.”
“Oh great, another smooth talker. Just what we need.”

“Ich hörte, der Fuchs steht auch zur Wahl.”
“Super, noch so ein Weichredner. Genau, was wir brauchen.”


“Maybe we should run for office.”
“As a trio? The Dynamic Hares?”

“Wir sind doch keine Hasenfüße, wir können uns auch zur Wahl stellen, oder?”
“Als Trio? Die Dynamischen Hasen?”


“We could promise: unlimited carrots for everyone!”

“Freien Zugang zu Möhren für jeden, könnten wir versprechen.”


“And mandatory nap times. I’m in!”

“Und staatlich vorgeschriebene Siesta Zeiten. Dann bin ich dabei.”


“Do you think we stand a chance?”

“Meint ihr, wir haben eine Chance?”


“Absolutely. We’ve got charm, wit, and great hair!”
“Imagine the campaign posters: ‘Hop to a Better Future!”

“Klar doch, wir sind charmant und klug und haarig.”
“Stellt euch die Wahlplakate vor: ‘Wir hoppeln der Zukunft entgegen’.”


“And our slogan: ‘No Bunny Left Behind!'”
“What about: ‘A carrot in every paw!”

“Und unser Slogan: ‘Wir lassen kein Häschen im Stich’.”
“Was haltet ihr von: ‘Möhren für alle!”


“It’s settled then. We’re running!”

“Das ist dann Sache. Wir laufen als Die Dynamischen Hasen.


“Let’s go win this election.”
We bid you farewell and are curious to see whether The Dynamic Hares will make it.

“Dann los, um die Wahl zu gewinnen.”
Wir verabschieden uns von euch und sind gespannt, ob Die Dynamischen Hasen es machen werden

.

© text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers & Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea 2024

147 thoughts

  2. What a great post 🙂 I’m definitely in with the Bunnies carrots and naptime, all I need. They get my vote. Thanks for lightening up this election business with great pictures too. P.s. I do like that sunrise very much!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  6. In real life, it is the hare who wins. Every time. Look around you. And in any case it is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read. They are too busy winning the game.
    Anita Brookner
    ***
    I have just read “Hotel du Lac” by Anita Brookner and loved the witty, intelligent and so sophisticatedly written novel very much. What a treat to get introduced to her work with the famous Booker prize winner.
    Brookner uses pictorial and literary allusions like no-one else, the essential technique, to evoke the scenes and create moods, heighten the style and alert me as a reader.

    ***
    I think it’s obvious the Dynamic Hares are out to win this race. Fingers crossed!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear Dina

      Oh dear, we read over this Brookner-quote and had it forgotten.
      The fable of the tortoise and the hare is probably the best known of Aesop’s fables. Surely it’s written for the tortoise market or the market of the tortoise-lovers.

      Anyway, we are sure that the three hares will win this time – well, there is no tortoise around.
      Love
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  8. I enjoyed Anita Brookner’s observation as much as the terrific photos of the hares, and the witty commentary that come along with them. Perhaps we could revise an old saying somewhat; I think most of us could use a hare rather than the politicians that have bitten us. I certainly would vote for hare-brained schemes over hair-brained schemes.

    Brookner also reminded me that, while I don’t know about the relative speed of tortoises and turtles, I can attest to the speed of turtles. I tried to catch a young one circling a large parking lot recently, to carry it to the edge of a nearby slough. It took some time to get him; turtles can move!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Linda

      indeed, Anita Brookner’s novel is nearly without any action but full of clever observations in a highly reflected language.

      We didn’t know that turtles can move quite fast. We only met them in Greece many years ago.

      Wishing you a wonderful week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Great, dear Sue. We think that the three hares get the absolute majority.

      The DH party, the “Dynamic Hares”, will be the big winner of this election.

      Wishing you an easy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    • Hi, dear Lisa,

      we registered your vote and it seems to be that the Dynamic Hares will win.
      To make naps mandatory will be one of their first action when in power.

      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Guten Morgen, liebe Regine

      Ja prima, noch eine Stimme mehr. Da sind die Hasen nicht mehr aufzuholen.
      Toll, dass wir mit unserer Post gute Laune bringen konnten. Das würden wir gerne mit jeder Post.

      Mit lieben Grüßen
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Good morning, dear John,

      indeed, our hares have connections and relatives all over the world. The Jackrabbit is no rabbit but a hare. Our three Dynamic Hares will change the discriminating name Jackrabbit to Jackhare when they win the election.

      We find it amazing that the hares live in our lush surroundings as well as in the desert. Very adaptable …

      Thanks and have a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, dear Janet.
      Our hares can run up to a speed of nearly 50 mph but usually they just hop.

      Especially Siri and Kb don’t like pictures of sunrise or sunset. You find them everywhere, the net of full of it. They are kitschy because they show what you expect and what you are used to.

      All the best
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  26. Ihr lieben vier,
    vor noch einer Woche waren wir in Schottland und haben auch Eilean Donan Castle besichtigt. Was für ein wundervoller Ort! Ich habe nochmals meine Kommentare von 2017 zu eirem Beitrag zu Eilean Donan Castel gelesen. Es hat 7 Jahre gedauert, bis wir nun endlich in Schottland waren.
    Ich erinnerte mich noch gut an euren Blogbeitrag und, dass ich seid dem Lesen eures Beitrags unbedingt an diesen Ort wollte. Wir waren 2 Wochen in Schottland und es war sehr inspirierend.
    Gerne hätte ich den Kommentar zum entsprechenden Blogbeitrag geschrieben, leider ginge das nur über den Reader und dort konnte ich diesen Beitrag nicht suchen. 🙂
    So schreibe ich zu eurem aktuellen Beitrag.
    Wir haben heute blauen Himmel und ich will jetzt etwas zur Erinnerung in Bezug auf Dokumente schreiben (Foucault, Steyerl, Derrida) und schaue von meinem Arbeitszimmer in das blau der Wolken.
    Liebe Grüße von Susanne

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Liebe Susanne

      Eilean Donan ist wie ein Märchenschloss. Die Lage ist atemberaubend. Hier kommt der Link zu diesem Blog
      https://fabfourblog.com/2017/07/06/eilean-donan-castle/
      Wir werden sicher auch noch einmal dort hin fahren.

      Wir hoffen, ihr hattet eine rundum schöne Zeit in Schottland. Wir lieben Schottland.

      Hier hat es heute Morgen geregnet und jetzt haben wir auch blauen Himmel und die Sonne kommt heraus.
      Liebe Grüße vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer

      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Danke für den Link, Klausbernd. Heute haben wir Wetter wie ihr, als du den Kommentar geschrieben hast. Es ist als ob der Regen die Welt gereinigt hat. Seufz, wenn es nur so einfach wäre!
      Viele Grüße aus Berlin….

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Susanne
      Hier haben wir nun Bilderbuchwetter, sonnig und warm wie es sich für den Sommer gehört. Da werden wir gleich einen Ausflug machen, nachdem wir die Küche aufgeräumt haben.
      Mit lieben Grüßen vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Liebe Uschi

      die Hasen werden es machen.

      Zu Sonnenauf- und -untergang fällt uns gerade dieses Gedicht von Heinrich Heine ein

      Ein Fräulein stand am Meere
      Es seufzte lang und bang
      Es rührte sie so sehre
      Der Sonnenuntergang.

      Mein Fräulein sein sie munter
      Es ist ein altes Stück
      Da vorne geht sie unter
      Von hinten kehrt sie zurück

      So weit zu diesen Sonnenbildern

      Liebe Grüße nach Frankfurt
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  28. Dear friends,
    it’s cold and wet where I’m and I find the sunrise almost heartwarming. 😉
    What happened to summer? Wouldn’t that be a funny hare conversation too?
    Reading this post was a great start to my week. I was laughing my way through the hilarious comments and wonderful photos. You are hares are stunning, Hanne!
    I have never read anything by Anita Brookner so thank you for introducing her work to me. Hotel du Lac is on. my list!
    Have a great week and stay dry and warm.
    Kram
    Annalena x

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    • Dear Annalena,

      well, those sunset and sunrise pictures …
      We love this little ironic Heine poem we quoted in our answer above. On the other hand people seem to love those pictures although you find them everywhere in the net and furniture stores. We seem to love what we are used to. That’s actually the end of art, at least how we understand it.

      The hares are now that busy with their campaign that they don’t have any time to speak about the weather. That will come later.

      Anita Brookner was new to us as well. We thought that’s chickLit. But it is a classic famous for it’s style. It sometimes reminded us of Thomas Mann. The syntax and the exact observations …

      KRAM
      🤗 🤗 🤗 🤗
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Thank you very much, dear Derrick.

      Are we mad? We don’t really know but we hope so. Nietzsche thought being mad helps producing art – but he was really mad. And the hares seem to us quite mad too

      Thanks & Cheers
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  31. Beautiful photos and a great story. I’ve never read the Hotel du Lac, but I have stayed in that hotel on my first ever visit to Vevey on business. I arrived when it was dark around 10pm on the road side entrance and when I woke up and looked out of the bedroom window at the lake and mountains beyond, my jaw nearly hit the floor! It ‘s no wonder I decided to go and work over there a few years later! (Thanks for bringing back that wonderful memory!) 👍👍😊

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Mike

      thanks a lot for your comment. We didn’t know that the Hotel du Lac was real. We saw it as fiction. Now we are – just a little bit – envious. We want to go there too.

      We are happy that we could bring back wonderful memory to you.
      Wishing you a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  40. Dina – your photography always tells a wonderful story. Your ability to photograph hares in their environment is truly remarkable. It is as if you have received an invitation to be a part of their community. Hares are known to have exceptional speed so how you were able to capture the hare poised gracefully in the air even when he was speeding away, speaks to your photography skills.

    The story was brilliant, humorous and thoroughly engaging.

    I have often wondered why we never tire of photographs of sunsets and sunrises. These photos are ubiquitous and very much the same. Do we like them because they symbolize beginnings and endings. Or is it the warm hues and soft lights that create a sense of calm and nostalgia? Or is it that many quotes include either sunset or sunrise? “The darkness is at its deepest, just before sunrise.” Voltaire.

    But I digress,

    I enjoyed your previous post on sunrise and sunsets – you gave me a great deal to think about.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Good morning, dear Rebecca,

      Hanne-Dina is a hare whisperer. She spends a lot of time hidden in hedges to get these pictures. It’s a lesson in patience and you have to know where the places are where hares come together.

      Sunrise and Sunset – we suppose it’s the dramatic light. At least here in the UK people like it dramatic that’s with music as well. It’s the drama of light and darkness which produces the colours. Goethe saw it like this in his Theory of Colours.
      The forerunners of christianity are the religions of light mysteries like Mithraism and before this Zoroastrianism. Good and evil were seen as light and darkness and they are fighting.

      Thanks for your comment.
      With hugs 💙💜
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    • Lieber Peter,

      Dina fotografiert mit einem langen Objektiv, aber mit viel Geduld kommt sie auf zehn Meter und weniger an die Hasen heran. Der Wind muss gegen sie wehen. Das ist wie beim Jagen. Dina versucht stets auf ein paar Meter heranzukommen, aber das funktioniert nicht immer. Sie kann auch gute Bilder schießen, wenn die Hasen um die 100m entfernt sind.
      Sie liegt meist still in einer Hecke, ihr blondes Haar verdeckt und in Tarnkleidung.

      Danke für deinen Kommentar.
      Wir wünschen dir alles Gute
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

  44. The hares get my vote too.

    Great photos and I love that angle of photography down low. Did Dina bend down low or is it merely that the photos were from some distance away enabling that ground view?

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • Dear Vicki

      usually Dina is lying in a hedge. She is at the same level as the hares.

      We suppose, the hares get the absolute majority.

      Thanks. Keep well
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

    • Good morning, dear Cendrine,

      thanks a lot for your kind words 🙏 🙏
      We hope to see you here again.

      Wishing you a wonderful weekend
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Like

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  61. The best manifesto yet! 😀😀 Love the photos and well worth the early start and laughing along to the ‘conversation’ – the most sane part of all this election farce! Wishing you all well in Cley and seems summer might finally have arrived for us! Annika

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Dear Annika,
      thank you for your kind comment 🙏 🙏
      The weather is great here on our coast, warm and sunny. We love it.
      The hares are clever, aren’t they? And the three hares will surely win.
      Wishing you a happy week
      The Fab Four of Cley
      🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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