But it's been lovely walking weather, and last Sunday, O.K. and I went for a walk that would include both sunny stretches out on the fields and welcome shade in the woods. Remember, the Blackforest starts almost right behind the village, so we're never really far from a woodland walk, beautiful in all seasons.
We started off directly from O.K.'s front door, no car needed.
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| View towards Niederschopfheim |
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| Wildflower meadow |
We skirted the village of Diersburg and tried a slightly different circuit. At one point, we had to retrace our steps, as the path ended at fenced-off private land with no way around or across it. I didn't mind at all; it was still beautiful.
On my way home, I suddenly found myself time-travelling when I looked at the digital sign on the train:
Somehow, I made it out of the time loop and arrived at my own place back in the year of 2020 - I don't think I would want to be stuck in November 2000! Twenty years ago, I was 32 years old, working way too much for way too little. My life then wasn't all bad, of course; Steve had just moved in with me (and ended up in hospital with blood poisoning from an infected tooth the same month), my parents were still working and my grandma was still alive.
Now that I am 20 years older (but not necessarily wiser), a lot has changed, but most of the time, I love my life the way it is.
Oh, and there is reason to celebrate today for my family: It is my parents' 55th wedding anniversary!!!
Two years ago, we weren't even sure whether my Dad would still be around for Christmas. And here they are, still together after so many years. Love you so much, Mama und Papa!
That was a beautiful post, Meike, and 55 years is a good innings as cricketers say.
ReplyDelete'High Summer' certainly was a term used by my parents for the hot days in the middle of summer which, whether in reality or just in our minds, occurred every year. I do occasionally use it as in "It was like high summer" but without really having a specific definition of the term.
I forgot to mention the fabulous wild flower meadow photos. I've tried a small area of wild meadow flowers this year but so far with mixed results.
DeleteIn the last 20 years I've had some of the worst and some of the best days of my life. I'd love to relive my New Zealand years but I'll pass on some of the others.
I agree with Graham. The term "high summer" is certainly used in England though at the moment it all feels like "lost summer" such is the changeable weather.
DeleteThank you, Graham and Neil.
DeleteGraham, isn't that what life is all about - the good and the bad? It does not necessarily have to come to the worst in order for us to appreciate the best, but it can be a bit of a bumpy ride for all of us at times, I guess.
I think we tended to say mid-summer when I was growing up. 2000 - it might be good to be twenty years younger but I'd have to go back to work.
ReplyDeleteApart from a few typical middle-age female things I could well do without, I don't mind being in my fifties; mostly, I feel comfortable in my 52-year-old skin and do not long for my "lost youth", either.
Delete"Summer" doesn't feature much in England. Forget "high". England is one big disappointment. So much promise, so little met.
ReplyDeleteYou appear to hold some affection for the country. As do I. Yet, seriously, to actually LIVE in England, day in day out, is an endurance test for a German. Little works, everything is late or not delivered at all. They don't even have beeping names on their dwellings. This is to keep postmen on their toes. And me chasing my goose, delivered to the wrong address, on Christmas Eve.
The English pride themselves on being "eccentric". No, they are not eccentric. They are the middle child in a large family. Difficult. Ref EU. Always asking for the Extra Wurst. Then throwing a tantrum when denied.
How this Brexit shite is going to work out is anyone's guess. Lucky for Boris Johnson that Covid took over. Now no one remembers the Damocles' sword (Brexit) hanging over this country. On a thread. It's shocking how easily distracted people can be. Never mind, Meike, another plague to take off our minds of business in hand. As the Romans said: Give the people bread and games and you'll get away with murder.
U
Your name goes on the list.
DeleteMy sister has lived in England for a while, in connection with her job. I have friends and family in Yorkshire. It is a place I feel very much at home and, apart from snow, have experienced it in all weather - but not, as you say, lived there day in, day out, with work and all that entails.
DeleteAs for eccentrics, well, there are "solche und solche" in every country, I dare say. And I better not get started on Brexit. The day the result of the referendum was announced, I felt like being slapped round the head. Hard.
Your mother was such a good looker and your father looks like a professor on their wedding day. Lovely picture and thanks for sharing it. A bit like Marilyn Monroe with Arthur Miller. It is easy to see that you have inherited your good looks from your father. Congratulations to the two of them. 55 years is a remarkable achievement.
ReplyDeleteI very much look like my Dad, don't I. MM and Arthur Miller? Well, my parents' age difference is only two years, and my Dad may look rather intellectual in that picture, in real life he never wore a suit and tie if he could avoid it, and he was a printer, not a writer.
DeletePictures can be deceptive, but their loveliness is completely genuine!
Love the wildflower meadow! Absolutely lifts your heart to see all the colours. Tried to find wildflower seeds for a portion of our garden, but like many things this year, out of stock.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in the UK, I remember the use of the term, high summer, but as others have said before me, it never had much of a definition.
Congratulations to your parents on their 55th anniversary. Wonderful photo of a handsome couple. Your mother's bouquet must have been glorious in colour.
Mary, the definition of high summer is pretty much my own, not anything I have taken from a book or learned at school, but I suppose most people would agree - when else than mid-July to mid-August would one say it is high summer?
DeleteThank you! The bouquet was as beautiful as the bride holding it.
Happy 55th Anniversary to your wonderful parents! I do feel that I have heard the term "high summer" but I am sure it is not used often. We talk about the dog days of summer but this year we are having far far too many dog days. That wild flower meadow is beautiful. It makes me happy looking at it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kristi!
DeleteDog days (Hundstage) is a term used here as well. I like how our summer has been so far.
I love wild flower meadows, but this one was a particularly beautiful patch.
Congratulations to your parents! The wildflower meadow is a very cheerful sight :) In Sweden we talk of high summer too ("högsommar"). (I think usually vaguely referring to the period from around midsummer and through July.) - Interesting time loop thoughts. My first thought was that I for one certainly would not want to be stuck in November 2000. Then it struck me that in some ways I still am. (Work injury in October, and I never got back to full-time job again...)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Monica!
DeleteMy time loop thoughts have obviously triggered some of your own thoughts on that topic. I like it when one of my posts does that (other than merely posting pictures of sunsets and Blackforest walks).
I've heard the phrase "high summer" nut I don't think it's much in use in these parts...webhave months and months worth of high summer temperatures! Those wildflowers sure are pretty. And 55 years is quite the accomplishment! Congratulations to your parents!
ReplyDeleteWe have had unbroken high summer temperatures for weeks and weeks on end for the past few years, and it wasn't good for our environment. This summer so far, we have had some rainy days in between and cooler nights; I like it that way.
DeleteThank you, Jennifer! 55 years is great!
Happy Anniversary to your dear parents! What a special anniversary that is for them too! I love the wildflowers as they look so pretty and natural. I have not heard the term "high summer" more than a few times but we must be in it where I live. We are currently under a four day "excessive heat warning".
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bonnie! Every wedding anniversary has a name attached to it, such as Silver for 25, Golden for 50 years and so on (as you of course will know). My Mum said yesterday that 55 is "Jewel" anniversary. It fits; my parents are more precious than any gem.
DeleteYour mother and father are so young, so full of hope. It is moving to look at a photograph of our parents when they were younger than we are now.
ReplyDeleteYour father is tall and calm and intelligent, your mother beautiful. Your mother reminds me of Suzanne Perrin Roosevelt who was married to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Jr. There is a photo of them online on their 1963 tour of Japan. I liked the classic dress style of ladies in those days, modest, feminine, like models in very old copies of Vogue.
My Mum was four weeks short of her 21st birthday, my Dad was 23. As back then one was of legal age at 21, not at 18, my Mum's father had to sign his consent to their getting married.
DeleteThey are almost the same height in real life, but the photographer made my Mum sit so that the husband appears taller than the wife - very traditional, but it does look nice in the picture, I have to say.
it looks very beautiful your place, I want to travel around the world but haven't been able to even get out of the island that I just stayed in, never had a nice weekend
ReplyDeleteHello abasozora, welcome to my blog - this is your first comment here, I think.
DeleteSorry to hear you have not had any nice weekends. Staying on an island does not sound too bad, actually, but of course I don't know where that island is - and how big.