Another German couple in for breakfast, minding their own business until we said hello. From a nearby village they were here for shopping and loved meeting people especially Australians. He knows us well and likes us as he also does, our trains. He engaged with us so much we did not hear our German friends’ warm greeting; I forgot what I had and had not eaten for breakfast; Corrie said yes to another coffee she didn’t want; I forgot the colour of my next pill; but we did hear (when our new friend forgot where he was up to) that our friend got bogged in mud and had to be pulled out by her husband. This was a good time for me to do my rationalising job on myself eg. “it might have happened to me, and Corrie couldn’t pull me out because of her arthritis – phew lucky I didn’t go”.
We bid farewell to our new friends whom we will never see again and forgot to wish our old friends a great day and we will see them for our first meal tomorrow. We’re off now to buy a new hat, I lost mine. I didn’t really like it because it was too loose and I’d been trying to lose mine forever. Well, yesterday it happened, and I made sure not to ask anyone if they’d seen it in case they had. So I have a new one that looks like an old one that I believe I could have a long and wonderful relationship with, and with looks like it has, no-one will steal it.
We’ve been every direction except south and upwards, so we chose south. The beginning of our stony river (thanks for your info Ruth), has the most beautiful autumn colours and they are planted on what looks like a huge vertical hill but some are planted on small outcrops. As we walked along the river I noticed that the “would be river frontage people” did not have that exclusivity, thus sharing the delight with others. As we walked along and around the Southern Isar River we explored steep leafy paths now a foot thick in places, like walking on a huge cushion. As I was walking along a narrow footpath an African was riding his bike. I was going towards the traffic so I moved to the road and he gave me a high five – nice.
On the return journey we saw two middle aged African women squatting down by the water, and it reminded me of Indian women washing clothes in the Ganges. They moved to and fro; they knelt and squatted. So I googled later to see if there was any ritual attached to this. I didn’t find any but then I googled women and water and what I did find was the massive effect women have on water resources. In some African countries women are responsible for managing and maintaining communal water supplies where they control and regulate the use of water supplies. When eg, the soil is exhausted, they find alternatives and solve problems related to farming practices and develop strategies in response to soil deterioration. So what has this to do with Germany, not much, except that these natural skills might be applied to a range of industries and further help women on their tireless journey to equality. Maybe they were testing water quality or temperature or taking sand samples to examine. The more likely scenario is I’ll never know. In the meantime I will have a shower and ponder.
Then we met a big man and his dog. The man was German and his dog was Canadian, a Nova Scotia Duck Toller Retriever. The big man approached us with a hearty Guten Morgan happy that we were intrigued by his long named dog, but now shortened to Max. He told us of his great retrieving skills as he threw a wooden stick through the air. As Max began to chew it, I asked if he was supposed to do that, to which he replied, he’s only young. After calling him as many times as words in his name, Max came back and ravenously demolished the whole stick. I said again is he supposed to do that to which he replied: he’s hungry. I again googled and found that the NSDTR has a hearing problem and thus this already rare dog might become even rarer as experts look into their genetic makeup. I mean seriously if the poor dog mistakes “retrieve her” for “eat her”, they’ve both got problems. I just hope water is not an issue as well.
And tomorrow – more water and paradise!!!
