In January of 1972 our family bought a new Volvo in Goteburg, and drove down to Dubrovnik. On our way back somewhere in the mifddle of Germany, we were in a gas station and found some stranded art students in a broken down VW.
As we were relatively better off and had a new car, we offered to tow them to a place a hundred miles up the autobahn to where their friends could rescue them.
We found room in the station wagon for two of the students which left one to steer the VW and freeze. I do not recall who provided the tow rope. There we were in the middle of frozen Germany, pulling a car behind us quite illegally I am sure, and picking up an interesting story plus some goodwill for touristy Americans.
When we left them in the hands of their friends, we also recieved a promise to send us some original artworks in gratitude for our helpfulness
A few weeks later we did recieve a large package with some tempura works, both abstract. One was a fish that reminded me of the designs by Australian aboriginals, the other was just an abstract with swirling colors.
In our many moves in the next six years, I finally donated the pictures to Goodwill.
It would have been interesting if I had saved the works and the names of the artisits, but there is a lot to be lost from the past when a family breaks up with divorce and death. Many thanks, you German artists who went on a ski trip to the Alps and got towed home by Americans.
