Lights out

I've replaced the duplicate photo (viking ship) from a previous post with a picture of the lake near our apartment. We enjoy running around the lake and watching the ducks, swans, and seagulls.

It was bound to happen. By law in Denmark drivers must have headlights on at all times. Cars here are set up to have the light come on when the engine is running. Ours isn't, nor does it beep at us when I leave the lights on and get out of the car. So, on a shopping trip Saturday I left the lights on and ran the battery down. Alexa took the perishables home on the train and I went off in search of jumper cables (no jumper cables either!?!?). Another thing about Denmark is that the vast majority of cars are manual transmissions which allow one to start the car with the help of a small hill or a push from some willing participants, thus few jumper cables. Anyway, a nice man pointed me toward the nearest gas station. I hiked over, found cables for $50, and returned to lay in wait for the next nice passerby. Not long after that, the family parked to my right returned to their car. I politely asked (in English) if they could help me. They did and everything worked out fine. The funny part was that when I was backing out of my spot, I saw the back of the man's jacket as he got into the car. On it was "Schuylkill Rowing" and "Philadelphia" (my hometown). I chose not to harass him further, but it was another manifestation of the "small world syndrome."