February Walks
February 2007
Written March 4
Dear Friends and Families,
This is just another quick note "for the record" (OUR records, at least.) Winter days do blend with one another, but we like to be able to look back a year or two from now and remember weather, haircuts, weight gain or loss, and other milestones in our life in Germany. Few "milestones", I suppose, are significant, especially to others, but without a record I have the feeling the experience will just pass us by. We don't want that.
So, here are acouple quick snaps.
Early in the month, we went shopping, the traditional way. Erlangen had a small market set up, with a handful of shops, dealing mostly with household items. I've been told that these occasional markets used to serve a very practical purpose of providing small villages easy access to necessities. Nowadays, it seems a bit of an anachronism but, then again, many traditions are that way, just reminders of a people's history.
Speaking of history, beneath our feet in this central square in Erlangen, is a well worn brass plaque: "Hier Wurden 1933 Bücher verbrannt" - "Here is where books were burned in 1933.", another reminder of local history.
A couple of our weekends in February were particularly good for neighborhood photos. Early on one Sunday, we walked up to the park grounds of our neighborhood castle and were greeted with wonderful winter sunrise colors. It was soothing to have the place to ourselves. Well, we did have to share with the heard of deer the Graf keeps inside the old stone walls.
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Later, we discovered the great lake of Pommersfelden. We had managed to miss this pond in all our walks of the last year but today, we joined the ducks and fishermen enjoying a bit of winter sun.
We also joined the other villagers strolling down the tree-lined roads. By the time we were home, our first crocus had popped up, giving us hope that Winter is almost over.
That's it for our home town record. Special? Maybe not, but we like it.
John and Marianne.