Sunday 18 September 2022

A Beautiful Walk Repeated

This week and next, O.K. and I are on holiday. We started by me arriving at the village last week Saturday early afternoon, and an invitation to a barbecue at the neighbours‘ on Sunday.

Monday (the 12th of September) was sunny and warm after a chilly morning, and O.K. suggested we repeat a walk we‘ve been on in May 2021 and always wanted to do again: A panoramic circuit around the village of Sasbachwalden.

This time, the landscape had a different character; where the orchards were in bloom in May, now the trees are full of apples and pears, and harvesting in the vineyards is well underway. Also, the light on a September afternoon is very different from early May. Back then we experienced some extreme skyscapes and saw nearly all kinds of weather within a few hours.











This little cupboard-like shed was not there last year. We were not particularly thirsty but found the place so nice and appealing that we took two bottles of shandy from the fridge in exchange for a few coins.



As before, we enjoyed this walk very much, but still want to do it again, preferably further into autumn when the vineyards and woodland are at their most beautiful.




If you want to look at the pictures from May 2021, click here.

25 comments:

  1. What lovely blue skies you had! Do they have bottles of water in that shed too?

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    1. They do, and also apple juice, orange juice, red wine, white wine (their own produce of course) as well as beer.

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  2. Meine Gute !
    It's September in Schwarzwald
    Von goldenen Zeiten traumen !
    I have put in a successful bid for the gabled cottage in Photo 2.
    I am flying in next month. Fare thee well, Schottland !
    Pears and black grapes will make the ideal Dessert after Dinner.
    Do you grow pomegranates and blaeberries too ?
    You need not worry, Meike. You won't see too much of me.
    I shall only expect a glass of Spatburgunder on festive week.
    Under the Weihnachtsbaum and the faery lights.
    Someone will play Fur Elise on the piano.
    Then we'll all sing See Amid the Winter Snow in German and English.
    My favourite carol after Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht.
    In time they may even grant me a German passport !
    Jack or Tausendsassa.

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    1. I would definitely come visiting you in that house, Tausendsassa, bringing a bottle of Spätburgunder with me and maybe a Hefezopf to enjoy with a cup of coffee before or after the wine.
      And don‘t worry, you would not see too much of us, either. I live 150 km from that area but happily spend many of my weekends or other time off there.
      Believe it or not, I had piano lessons in my teens and was able to play Für Elise. The dramatic end bits were always my favourites.
      As for the Christmas carol, I don‘t think I know that one, at least not by its name.

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    2. I am delighted that you can play Fur Elise, the most beautiful short melody ever written alongside those of Bach, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, Schubert, Saint-Saens and Debussy. When I hear it I always think of an afternoon in the Fall with the skies shading into dusk.
      See Amid the Winter's Snow is sung to a different melody on YouTube than the one we sang, and children always sang it fast, quickly & brightly - allegro.
      *Lo, within a manger lies/ He who built the starry skies/ He who throned in height sublime/ Sits amid the cherubim.*

      My current favourite speaker on YouTube is Rabbi Tovia Singer who wants to convert Christians to Judaism, and who believes the Jesus myth was a Greek fairytale. I enjoy big problems I can wrestle with, and though I disagree with the good rabbi, he has a big heart and a brilliant theological mind.
      I shall be in Schwarzwald if only in spirit.
      J.

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    3. I have not yet looked up that Christmas carol on YouTube but certainly don‘t know it by the lyrics, either. Anyway, there are so many very beautiful ones, and more than one never fail in moving me to tears.
      Then again, Island in the Sun by the great Harry Belafonte - a man I much admire and had the privilege of seeing live in comcert in Stuttgart twice - does that, too.

      Theological or religious discussions can be so engaging, but I must admit I am rather set in my ways there, while at the same time finding other people‘s views truly fascinating.

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    4. Harry Belafonte was a great man as well as great artist.
      Island in the Sun was a big moment in my childhood like Elvis singing Fools Rush In & Can't Help Falling In Love (YouTube).
      This was the sunny pre-Beatles part of childhood when I was at junior school.
      The music world changed when I went to the big school.
      It was Please Please Me, and the Stones, McCartney's Yesterday, and the Moody Blues singing Go Now.
      There is a funny skit with Cilla Black singing If I Fell (YouTube) to Dudley Moore at the piano.
      I miss those days, black & white TV and one of my sisters playing Fur Elise.
      Lang Lang plays Fur Elise slowly. YouTube.
      Jack

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    5. Harry Belafonte is still alive, he is 95 so only a year younger than Queen Elizabeth.
      Elvis had a great voice, too, and when he was not too wrapped up in himself, his generous heart and love of all mankind directed his words and actions.

      The Beatles were a huge musical influence in my earlier childhood, followed by ABBA when I was about 9 years old. Only many years later did I understand their lyrics properly.

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    6. High-level cognitive abilities are needed to write a song like Winner Takes All.
      No wonder your clever 9-year-old brain was so taken with Abba.
      In Scotland, Abba were huge. Every working-class pub played Abba songs.
      One of my pals at junior (we say primary) school had a young mother who was mad about Elvis.
      Fools Rush In was playing on the radio when I went to see him, one day during the summer holidays.
      A great Elvis hit. Brook Benton recorded it too.
      Cognitive processes do not work independently, but are interactive, in complex kind of dance.
      How exactly these processes function in musical composition interests me.
      I am reading Laura Tunbridge's fairly short biography of Beethoven.
      There isn't a dull page, and it is lighter in style than John Eliot Gardner's monumental book on Bach, *Music in the Castle of Heaven*.
      Jack

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  3. Lovely day for a walk! My two favourites among these photos: No 2, plus the window box with geraniums :)

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    1. It was a bit too warm for my liking for some of the uphill bits, but that was mainly me not being good at uphill in the first place 😊
      The house and garden in the 2nd picture are rather typical; it is the kind of Bauerngarten (farmer‘s garden) I like very much, with its mix of the edible and the beautiful.
      The geraniums and the small green watering can were at the back window of the historical mill you can see in my May 2021 post.

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  4. What a lovely walk. A surprise in the little shed. Wonderful photographs too.

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    1. Oh dear, I'm anonymous again.

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    2. Just like I was anonymous on your blog for a while.
      Yes, the little shed was a nice surprise. Not really necessary formus at that moment, but still welcome.

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    3. Sorry - the formus was supposed to read for us. Blame the touch keys on my ipad as opposed to a proper keyboard.

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  5. As always, lovely photos! Thank you for sharing them.

    I hope all is well with your family, Meike. I've been thinking about you. xx

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    1. Thank you, dear Jennifer.
      My Dad is still in hospital and by the looks of it will have to stay a while. A big operation at his age and pre-existing condition is a lot for both body and mind to cope with. My Mum goes every day, and my sister and I go as and when we can; more than two visitors at the same time are not recommended/allowed.

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  6. It looks really incredible. I am glad you had such wonderful weather, which gives your photos an extra beautiful dimension. The little shed with the drinks is fun, and the scenery you photographed is so inviting that I felt I'd really love to go down some of those paths myself. I like country cottage gardens (as we call farmers gardens) too. They are my very favourite sort. I hope you and OK enjoy your holiday - I am sure you will if it continues like this.

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    1. I love repeating good walks at a different time of year, and it really was a fine day. The little drinks shed was a welcome surprise!

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  7. I can't tell you how much I love that idea of the little sheds with the drinks and snacks for those who are walking. Hope you have a lovely holiday! Europeans are very lucky with all the holiday time off! Your weather looks lovely, such pretty blue skies!

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    1. Within Europe, I believe we are the country with the most holidays. And people still feel (and many really are) overworked and exhausted all the time!
      Thank you, we are enjoying our holiday. The weather has turned very autumnal with really cold nights and showers between sunny patches.

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  8. It looks idyllic, how nice to see the orchards/ vineyards!

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    1. It really is a beautiful and idyllic area.

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