An adventure into the past, present and future: Estonia revisited (3)

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An adventure into the past, present and future: Estonia revisited (3) (1)

Archived Articles | 23 Dec 2004 | Arved PlaksEWR

Kadrina embraces us

After an hour we arrived in the small town of Kadrina. At the Community Center the local choir greeted us by singing as we descended from the bus. We responded likewise. An hour later, after our warm-up and some acoustical checks of the church, we sang to a packed church - mostly songs by Estonian composers but also of Grieg, Gershwin and others. Special applause was accorded when our bass soloist, with our choir’s accompaniment sang “Ol’ Man River”. After the concert we continued to sing in front of the church. Then we were escorted to the community center for a dinner, at which the local choir sang to us. Their repertoire included songs from Africa. It occurred to me that this is what I had hoped for the Southern American Chorale when we toured the Baltic Sea cities in the year 2000: having joint performances and reciprocal singing. But that tour fell short of that mark. Late at night the buses took us back to Tallinn, the countryside still bright because of the northern light midsummer nights.

Off to the land of windmills

On Wednesday morning buses took us to the west coast of Estonian mainland and then by ferry to Hiiumaa Island. We were quartered in a country bed-and-breakfast resort. Nearby in the field was a derelict post windmill (a windmill built around a centre pillar which can be turned to take advantage of the wind direction). There were no signs, such as “do not enter.” No one was here to enforce OSHA rules, so a TEM friend and I climbed into the windmill despite the fact that it was listing considerably on its post. We figured that, if it had not keeled over already, our weight, compared to the grindstone would not make much difference. It was challenging trying to figure out how the gears meshed. They were intricate, carved of oak. There were other ingenious labor saving devices such as for lifting bags of grain up to the stone, etc.

In the evening we gave a concert in the nearby town of Kärdla, again to a packed church hall. Afterwards a local man told me, that the town had had a cloth factory that had been destroyed by a local communist destruction battalion in 1941, as the Soviets withdrew. The Estonian self-defense men executed these men during the German occupation. Upon the return of the Soviet occupation in 1944, a monument was erected for the executed men, and the self-defense men most likely met the same fate. Villagers killing villagers. What beasts did ideologies and causes make of neighbors? We returned to our quarters where the Kärdla choir treated us to local food, (lots of fish) home made beer and then to music. Got to dance again.

More windmills!

The next day we continued to the next island to the south, Saaremaa. It is an island with poor soil, so the local industry is mostly fishing, shepherding and the processing of wool into unique sweaters. I bought two for my grandsons. We stopped at some well-preserved windmills of Angla. Oh! Happiness! - the development of modern wind generators was my job for seven years during the energy crisis.

The afternoon was free for us to explore the town of Kuressaare. I went into a castle, built in the 13th century by the Teutonic Knights. They had to invade Saaremaa seven times to subdue it. The final time they were aided by a very cold winter, which allowed the invaders to cross over from the mainland unexpectedly over the ice rather than having to land by ships. The islanders were Christianized and “saved,” for their own good, of course. I bought presents for my grandchildren. I ate wild boar roast with some of my friends in a restaurant which was built into a windmill.

In the evening we were bussed to the solidly built Karja church which celebrated its 750th anniversary this year. They must have had good building contractors in those days. Together with a local choir we gave a concert to a packed hall. Arts are supported in Estonia! A festival in a nearby park followed the concert. At 11 p.m. it was still not dark and the performances by local dancers and singers did not want to end. Finally at the request of our director, we were led to eat finger-food washed down with home-made beer, and soon afterwards bussed to our hotels.

Some folks get excited seeing a hole in the ground

On Friday on the way to the ferry harbor we stopped at the Kaali meteor crater. There were 9 of them in the area, created 4000 years ago. Something special for geologists. The island is flat and marshy. It was said that the farmers along the coast were selling their land to Finns for summer homes, thus being able to retire comfortably. I heard some complaining that Estonia was being sold to foreigners. There are no restrictions on foreigners owning land. The answer from a financial analyst for the government (Valdeko’s granddaughter) was that the capital inflow from that helps to keep the country’s cash-flow in balance.

In Pärnu we were taken to a bed-and-breakfast place, a cluster of old one-story houses in which all rooms had two beds, where one toilet served each house with five rooms. Very enterprising for the owner! When we arrived only one young maid was there to receive us. “Just take any bed that is unoccupied or in the process of being vacated.”

All good things come to an end

Pärnu is a resort town, and we gathered in a park-like setting with a bandshell. For the concert 90% of seats were taken, despite an entrance fee. We sang our best ever. Even I had learned all of the songs, finally. The director thanked us at the conclusion and then we were invited to the restaurant for a complimentary pork chop meal and beer. There we did some earnest thanking and mutual praising with lots of singing. Our concert was followed by dance and blues music, but other than me our mostly gray-haired choir members did not take advantage of that. I discovered that Estonia is in the mainstream of jazz, the blues band being led by Jimmy Lawless from Los Angeles.

The end of a singing era

On Saturday we were bussed to Tallinn. We were subdued either from hangovers, or from the realization that we were too old to come as a choir again to Estonia in five years (2009) when the next song festival will be held. Not enough young men are joining the choir - after all they would not feel comfortable with us, not having the same experiences that binds us old geezers. On arrival in Tallinn the choir members contacted their friends and relatives by cellular phones (everybody has one) and we dispersed. Valdeko met me with his Mercedes and whisked me home, where Milvi received me with a great meal.

(Conclusion)