Frick's Lock

Today several of us went on a tour of the "ghost town" of Frick's Lock, which was abandoned due to the construction of the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. When I was in private school, I could see the towers of the plant being built from one of the windows in my dormitory. The town itself is not known for being "haunted," and it does not have that sort of feel to it at all. It does. however contain elements Deitsch history from the construction of the first home by a Swiss immigrant in 1757 into the modern era. That first house was built with Swiss banked architecture and was constructed right on a spring of the Schuylkill River so that water was attainable simply by stepping outside.

1757 House constructed by Grumbacher -

note that vandals broke the downstairs window.

The town eventually developed into a port on the Schuylkill Canal, which was a major economic artery for the transmission of coal from the north to Philadelphia and of food goods throughout the region. Echoes of the various canals, particularly the Schuylkill, are heard throughout the Deitscherei even into today. The town had a store right along the canal that operated 24/7. The tour operator called it "the Wawa of its day." It also had a very busy barn where mules and horses and other portions of the canal operations were housed.

The Wawa of its day

The barn is said to have a lot of "German" (very likely actually Deitsch) "graffiti" on the walls. This aspect has piqued my interest as other barns, mills, etc., are where runic symbols and other things of interest to Urglaawe have turned up in the past. Unfortunately, the current owner, Exelon (the major electricity supplier in the Delaware Valley) does not permit anyone to enter the barn building, so it is out of bounds for us. I am hoping that this ban may someday be reversed.

The Barn

The railroad eventually came to nearby Parkerford, thus beginning the end of the canal era, but Frick's Lock was still part of the region's fabric until the power plant was constructed and most of the town fell into its exclusionary zone. It seems a few of the houses that remain and that are outside of the exclusionary zone may eventually be rehabilitated into a visitors center or put to use for other purposes.

That which killed Frick's Lock

Deitsch Eclipse Lore

There are two types of stories related to eclipses. One is sort of "pro" eclipse and the other is rather "con" eclipse. 

An eclipse is called a "Finschderniss" (grammatically feminine, so it takes the article "die"), and an eclipse specifically of the sun is called "Sunnefinschderniss." "Finschderniss" is related to "finschder," means "murky" or "dark." The "pro" story is that Sunna and Muun were lovers (some say married) but that the jealous trickster Schadde had gotten between them (this is where the versions of the stories get confusing, which is why they still have not been published), but he somehow manages to persuade the god associated with sleep, Schlumm, to cast sleep spells on each of them. While they are asleep, Schadde sets them into the sky so that he is between them. 

Sunna and Muun do a dance through the skies, trying to be together, and , when a solar eclipse happens, it means they have achieved that goal, with Muun tossing Schadde behind him. An echo of the noise-making appears in this context with some respondents saying that they tap drinking glasses at this time, which is reminiscent of what people do at weddings when they want the bride and groom to kiss. The reason this is only "sort of" pro is that the way Schadde persuades Schlumm to set them to sleep has something to do with imbalance in Mannheem, and Sunna and Muun being together too long would have catastrophic results. Someday I will get that story's versions harmonized.

The other stories are akin to the Norse and other cultural stories: an animal (usually a fox or a wolf) is chasing the sun and catching it, and banging of pots and pans is performed to scare the animal away.

The first story reminds me a bit of this song...

Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon

können gar nichts dagegen tun,

daß sie am Himmel sich niemals trafen,

denn wenn er aufsteht, dann geht sie schlafen.

Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon

können gar nichts dagegen tun,

wenn sie auch träumen von einem Märchen,

ein Pärchen werden sie nie.

Da sind wir beide besser dran, viel besser dran,

weil mich dein Mund so oft ich will am Tage küssen kann.

Hier unten ist das Leben schön für dich und mich,

dein Mund sagt mir so oft ich will: 'Mein Schatz, ich liebe dich!'

Doch Lady, Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon

können gar nichts dagegen tun,

wenn sie auch träumen von einem Märchen,

ein Pärchen werden sie nie.

Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon

würden gern was dagegen tun,

dass sie so einsam dort oben wandern,

dass sie noch träumen, verliebt vom Andern.

Lady Sunshine und Mister Moon

können gar nichts dagegen tun,

wenn sie auch träumen von einem Märchen,

ein Pärchen werden sie nie. Nie! Nie!