28 May 2012

what do ducks eat, besides bread?

Yesterday I set out to conquer the cobblestone streets of Schenkenzell.  I opened the gate of my white picket fence, turned right, walked a little, turned right again, walked a little more, turned right again, and then realized that I had seen it all.  It turns out that I live on the main road of little fairytale town.  I never would have guessed.  I guess that's what fairytale town excursions are for - to learn things like you're not missing out on anything if you walk directly home from the train station (five minutes), because you will pass everything that fairytale town has to offer on your trip.

I'm not bitter.  Really.  Here are my thoughts about living in the middle of nowhere and not having any friends (yet):

1.  I can just relax and do whatever I want to do (assuming it's within the limits of what Nowhere has to offer).  But that actually means I have to relax.  So it's kind of nice not to have a choice.

2.  If I was living somewhere really overwhelmingly exciting, I would never want to leave.  This way, I can make as many trips as I'd like and never feel like I'm missing out on what's going on at home.  (Not to say that there isn't anything going on in Schenkenzell.  There is going to be a Zumba dance party in June.  And I'd totally be in attendance if my ACL was up for it, which I don't think it will be.)  There are AmCham interns all over Germany, so I think I'll go visit all of them and make them be my friends.

3.  It's completely dark at night, which I really appreciate.  I like to be able to see the stars in the sky.

4.  This is really a gorgeous place with wonderful people.  I like to think of it as a hands-off nature experience, which is my favorite kind.  Schiltach and Schenkenzell are all about appreciating the nature for its grandeur and beauty, but not getting too close.  And I dig that.

So yesterday may have been a smidgen disappointing, but I did have time to finish the book I brought (why did I only bring one book?) and we finally got internet access, so it wasn't a total flop.  I knew today would be better because Frau Hampel left a plate in the kitchen for me this morning with raisin bread and some kind of fruit cake.  I don't know what was in it (it might have been rhubarb, but I'm trying not to think about it), but it was delicious, and really a very kind gesture.  I think she thinks I haven't been eating because she came upstairs earlier while I was in the kitchen (Kitchen Boy was away for the weekend) and asked me if I have been using the kitchen.  At least I think that's what she asked.  Anyway, I have been, but I still wouldn't mind having her bring me more delightful treats.

Schiltach took about as long as Schenkenzell to explore.  It is a bit bigger, however, and I look forward to going there when it isn't a holiday and the stores are open.  After an hour of exploration and a few pictures, I decided to sit down in the grass next to the river and try to watercolor water, which ended up being very difficult.  From this, I learned why people seem to prefer bench-sitting over grass-sitting here, and that's because the grass is infested with ants.  Not just where I was sitting, but everywhere.  And I actually didn't even notice until I had been there for almost an hour, at which point I decided I had already been contaminated, and it wouldn't do me any good to move.  The truth is, I was finally kind of starting to figure out how to paint water, and I didn't want to interrupt my concentration.  Finally, I left, parked myself on a bench, safe from the ants, and soaked up some sun before returning home.

During my sun-soaking, this is what I realized:

In Schiltach/Schenkenzell, there are
more trees than ants,
more ants than people,
more people than bicycles,
more bicycles than motorcycles,
more motorcycles than solar panels,
more solar panels than automobiles,
and more automobiles than trains.

I'm sure I left out a few important things (such as water, but I couldn't figure out how to quantify that because there aren't necessarily tons of streams, but the volume of water is quite large), but that's about as far as my two days of exploration got me.


See my pictures of Schenkenzell and Schiltach here:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150911080594865.413206.501844864&type=3&l=abc651b70d

This is a duck that came to sit by me while I was painting:





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