Aug17

“if you see me, cry.”

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Hunger Stone :

Recent droughts in Europe once again made visible the “Hunger Stones” in some Czech and German rivers.

These stones were used to mark desperately low river levels that would forecast famines.

This one, in the Elbe river, is from 1616 and says: “If you see me, cry.”

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“when the well is dry, we will know the worth of water.”

-benjamin franklin

 

 

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credits: history review

81 responses »

  4. The tickets to another planet will soon be on sale and be very expensive. 10 gallons of water will get you a first class seat.

    I read this some time ago and searched and found it again:
    This crossword clue Dowsing ___ (stick that can supposedly find underground water)

    ROD = answer

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  12. This is all the more dramatic when we know that only last year, Germany had these terrible floodings in the Ahr Valley (reference https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/13/floods-then-and-now-photographs-germany-ahr-valley-flooding-disaster-july-2021
    but will humanity learn anything before it’s too late? I dispair some days over the stupidity of us. Very relevant post Beth and thank you for an info I didn’t have – Hungersteine…. indeed! I sigh and weep.

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  17. Like so many of our earth’s blessings that we take for granted will always be available to us. But when low water levels interrupt commerce and convenience, instead of looking at ourselves to blame, we’ll blame it on whatever political party we dislike. Until WE accept responsibility and agree to change, the earth will never recover from how we have treated it.

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  18. It shows the interconnectedness of the earth’s various facets. Each of us is mere blip on the horizon. Drought in one place. Flooding in another: is man so powerful that we can make Ma Nature conform to our convenience? Do we want to have that responsibility?

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  21. Reading down through the comments, I read “the interconnectedness of the earth’s various faucets”! The faucets were wide open here yesterday, ending drought in some areas while flooding others.

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  23. Nature simply puts up with us and if she gets tired, or thinks we’re too much trouble…it’s pretty much over, since She is the one with all the power. We have screwed up the environment and yet, we still take no radical steps to change what we have done. Huge industries pay huge fines and the government takes the money and allows the pollution and destruction to happen. The stones are just another reminder of what our future may hold.

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  35. This post had such a profound impact on my body. I felt it and it doesn’t feel good. There are just too many not paying any attention and not wanting to understand. Living in different parts of the world where abundant clean water was not a given has taught me how valuable it is. Instead of oil and gas pipelines or in addition to them, we need to find a way to funnel flood waters to places that are in need. It can’t be that hard. Frustration is oozing. Sorry.

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  37. Had no idea these stones existed. Feels like ghosts warning you of the suffering they once knew. There’s an awful realness to them, to see them having been literally carved at a time when these stones were exposed and famine was likely on their doorstep. Eerie and haunting. Thanks for sharing

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  38. Pingback: “if you see me, cry.” – THE FLENSBURG FILES

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