On Sunday, the 11th of October, we had a special hike or walk planned: A birthday gift for O.K.'s godson who had turned 15 not long ago.
We started early enough in the morning for it to still be somewhat foggy, but it turned out to remain like that for most of the day. There was some rain towards the end of the hike, but it didn't matter, as we were well prepared.
From where O.K.'s godson lives to the parking lot where we wanted to begin our hike took us longer than expected; the distance is about 50 km, but some of the roads are narrow and curvy, leading far into the Black Forest.
We parked near the Allerheiligen Wasserfälle (All Saints' Waterfalls), and they were the first highlight of the day:
A bit further on are the ruins of an abbey, All Saints'. It has its own wikipedia entry here, if you are interested. Founded in 1192 - 60 years after Fountains Abbey, by the way -, it had a long and varied history before falling into disrepair after several fires, and finally was dissolved in 1802. We really only passed through the ruins and did not stop to explore, but I definitely want to go back there another time.
This time, the idea was to walk to the top of the Schliffkopf, at 1,054 m not the highest mountain in the area, but one that - under favourable circumstances - should offer great views. Also, there is a hotel near the top, and we intended to have lunch there as part of the treat for O.K.'s godson.
The above picture is from near the (flat) top of the Schliffkopf - no great views for us today, but nonetheless a beautiful place, made all the more special with the mysterious atmosphere created by the fog.
It is a nature reserve, and visitors are not allowed to leave the designated paths, collect plants, make a fire or camp out there. The large hotel complex with spa and restaurant is off to one side and obviously not part of the nature reserve. We knew it was there but at first didn't see the building for all the fog, and took a path that was leading away from it. But once we realised our error, it didn't take us long to make it to the hotel, where we had a delicious lunch.
Out on the nature reserve again, the fog was not quite as dense anymore, but the views were still of clouds nestled into the wooded valleys - I really didn't mind, and we can always go back there on another day.
Eventually, our circuit took us back to the car. After coffee and cake with O.K.'s godson, we had a quiet and restful Sunday evening at home on our own, before it was time again to get up early on Monday morning to catch the commuter train back to Stuttgart.
I had enjoyed that hike in the autumn woods very, very much, and hope it was a good birthday present for the 15-year-old godson.
Leaving the merits of a most enjoyable walk aside, how can a walk be a present?
ReplyDeleteU
Have you never given a non-material gift, Ursula? Something like going to a concert together, a nice meal at a restaurant, visiting an exhibition you know the person in question is really interested in?
DeleteIn this case, the main thing about the gift was for the godparents* to spend time with their godson. Also, materially, the boy has everything (and more) a 15-year-old could wish for; he does not need more stuff, and when he was asked what he wanted for his birthday, he replied along those lines (something I didn't expect from him).
*His godmother is O.K.'s ex-wife. The four of us - O.K. and I, his ex-wife and her second husband - get along very well.
It should have correctly been "immaterial gift", not "non-material", right?
DeleteIf I may suggest in answer to Ursula's question and in support of your answer, the gift of one's time is the most precious gift one can give...well, one of the most precious.
DeleteIt is indeed the or one of the most precious gifts we can give, I agree. And sometimes, it is so much harder to give someone that instead of just clicking on their Amazon wish list (for example) or buying something for them. Of course, it can only really be given to those we can physically spend time with; I would not consider the time spent with my mother-in-law on the phone a gift.
DeleteMy comment misunderstood. From my earliest childhood walks, long walks, daily, the enjoyment of nature and its wonders, were a fact of life. I was lucky. Neither did anyone expect me to be grateful. Though, of course, I am now. In hindsight.
DeleteIt won't make me popular but dare I say that it were YOU, the adults, who were given the "gift", by the boy, graciously giving you HIS time.
Once we, adults, see "giving" time to youngsters (or indeed anyone) as a gift not a given we are truly bankrupt as society.
U
I took your question "how can a walk be a present" literally - my mistake!
DeleteYoung or old, kids or adults, our time is always precious and the best we can give each other. We all have 24 hours every day, and it is up to us what we do do with them. I am not always proud of how I spend mine.
What a lovely gift for O.K.'s godson! I would love such a gift. Our family has started trying to give "experience gifts" such as you did and we have found the joy and the memories far outlast any physical gift that may not even be needed or wanted.
ReplyDeleteI do love your ventures into the Black Forest. The fog and clouds add their own special beauty and atmosphere to the views. It would be fun to explore the ancient Abbey sometime too. Thank you for sharing this!
I love such gifts, too, and the interesting bit is that the boy said he did not want anyTHING for his birthday - in previous years, he usually came up with a specific wish, for example the latest technical gadget.
DeleteWoodland in autumn is magical, isn't it. My pictures can only convey so much; the scent is missing and the sound we made when walking on a carpet of brown, orange and golden leaves.
That was a very atmospheric walk if entirely different to your recent walks. It was more like my childhood holiday walks in The English Lake District.
ReplyDeleteI particularly enjoyed that difference, Graham. Not that I will ever tire of sunlit vineyards, orchards and woodland, but this was just special.
DeleteI hope that OK's godson was good company and enjoyed the hike and the nice lunch. Some fifteen year old would be saying stuff like: "Is it much further?", "I want a McDonalds burger!", "I hate the countryside!" and "My boots are hurting. Can't we go back now?" Does he call you Auntie Meike?
ReplyDeleteGoodness, no! Nobody calls me Auntie Meike, it's just Meike.
DeleteI was not really expecting the kind of behaviour you describe, although I admit I did wonder whether us four middle-aged men and women would be good company for a 15-year-old and the other way round. Turns out young O. was uncompliacted and friendly throughout.
Of course I am interested! You know I went to that Wikipedia site you gave us!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of the site being founded by the donkey throwing off a money bag at that spot. People may smile at that little fact and think it is folklore but I find quite often that many of these kind of stories turn out to be true!
What a lovely spot to hike and like you, I would not have minded the fog at all. Lucky 15 year old godson!!
I found the All Saints Abbey info fascinating myself, I do hope you are able to go back and do another post!
Take care!
I read that bit about the donkey, too - like you, I guess some of these stories are true, and why not? We all know that animals do funny things, and we also know that people tend to interpret an animal's action in a certain way, especially if it is their own pet. Back then, folks were no less superstitious than today, and dropping a sack of money was regarded meaningful enough to start building there - and we benefit from it today.
Delete*The sounding cataract/ haunted me like a passion,* Wordsworth said (Tintern Abbey).
ReplyDeleteThe little waterfall and the ruins of All Saints' Abbey pictorialize his experience.
The mist above Schliffkopf brings home the passing of time. Winter's here!
As for the non-material gift, this is the one which grows in value with passing years.
I don't often disagree with Ursula, but I think the young SHOULD be made aware of how precious time is for the old. Their devices give them instant gratification.
When I was young, I did not really think about other people's time; my concept of time was rather different back then from what it is now. At 15, a year still seemed a very long time. Plans for 'next year' seemed unreal.
DeleteWhen I said *old* I wasn't thinking of you !
DeleteAs we say in Scotland, you are only a bairn, Meike.
And I didn't mean I would lecture the young. Just a reminder now and then that we seniors don't have forever.
It's not their fault they have instant gratification, it's the Futureshock world they were born into.
Someone said the difference between the old and young is not so much experience, it is that the old know about time, and what time does.
As Auden writes, *Time will say nothing but I told you so.*
I was not trying to say you called me old - besides, I have absolutely no problem with my age. I am 52 and that is so because I was born in 1968, so what? I have never quite understood the apparent problem many (not just women) have about getting older. Of course, some physical stuff changes not for the better, but to an extent it is up to us how much of it we allow, and how much of it we allow to affect us.
DeleteThe greatest gift that you can give a child is an appreciation of the world around him. Good for you! PS how beautiful it is there!
ReplyDeleteThe godson's parents also love the outdoors and have taken their three children (he is the youngest) to some marvellous places on holiday. I hope he won't lose that appreciatiin as he grows up. Such a lot can happen in a young person's life, can't it.
Delete"Stimmungsvoll" is the word that comes to mind for me when looking at these photos ;) (the Swedish word /stämningsfull/ obviously has the same origin). Oddly, I can't think of an English word quite covering it. (I see Graham says atmospherical... That comes close, I suppose. But in this case I think our languages add an extra ring of magic!)
ReplyDeleteStimmungsvoll. Stamningsfull. Meike takes us there in every post. Thank you for telling us. Do they know these words in Narnia, I wonder?
DeleteMonica, when I want to say stimmungsvoll in English, I use atmospherical, too; it is the best equivalent I know, but you are right, it does not cover it completely.
DeleteNarnia! Now you have made we want to re-read all my Narnia books.
In many ways C.S. Lewis is more a puzzle now than ever.
DeleteWas he a fundamentalist? Difficult word to define. All I can say is that I am NOT a fundamentalist, indeed I think fundamentalist churches damage Christianity, and mess up young people, as Valerie Tarico, the clinical psychologist says.
Tolkein was unhappy with the Narnia stories, in the way they crudely allegorise the Christian myth. Alan Garner, not a Christian, said the same thing. Garner's essays, *The Voice That Thunders* (1997) are worth reading.
My balanced theologian is Stanley Hauerwas (YouTube) who is funny and ironic. His book *The Work of Theology* (2015) references literature, but not C.S. Lewis alas.
Funnily enough, the first Narnia books I read as a child never had me thinking of any of the Christian teaching that occured at school and - to a much lesser extent - at home and at church. To me, they were beautiful stories of fantastic worlds that one could enter via an old wardrobe or other portals; worlds where animals were able to talk and magic was an everyday thing. What child would not love that!
DeleteYou found Narnia at the right time. It lay at the back of the wardrobe, in the attic of the old house. Lewis and his brother Warnie played in just such an attic as children. It became important to them after their mother's death.
DeleteSomehow I did not find these books in childhood. I liked portals. Someone told me about the Peruvian shaman Amaru Muru, who escaped the evil Conquistadores, by passing through the magical door in the rockface. He used a gold disc given to him by the Sky People. The door carved in the rock is still there.
*Ancient Aliens: Peru's Gate of the Gods.*
DeleteYouTube. History.
It looks like a really interesting walk. I'd have loved to explore that old abbey! (I have just posted about exploring an old abbey - but it is very different and not nearly as atmospheric. When I started to read your post, I somehow got the idea that you had walked 50 km, and was very puzzled, because I know you are a keen hiker but - !!!
ReplyDeleteI quickly realised, of course, that you had driven the first bit. I hope you do return there and can tell us more about this interesting place. How lovely that OK's godson wanted to see you as your gift, what a lovely, people-centred sort of boy he must be.
Your remark about us having walked 50 km made me smile - I would manage that without a problem within two days, but not one, and certainly not only to get to the starting point of our actual walk :-)
DeleteYes, that abbey definitely wants exploring. It is rather small so won't take all that much time - not like Fountains! - but I think it is worth it.
Now I shall go and have a look at your post.
The best gift one can give is time because the best things in life aren't things. This is especially true for young people who need other, positive adults in their lives to share a different perspective or to listen to their hopes and dreams. What a terrific gift for your godson. Kudos to you and O.K.
ReplyDelete"The best things in life aren't things" - so true! Also, some of the best things in life are for free.
DeleteThank you, Mary, but I can not take credit for the idea for that walk as a birthday gift. O.K. and his ex-wife came up with it for their godson when he said there wasn't anyTHING he wanted for his birthday.