Hot Week

The last full week of June was hot throughout with a little rain only once. Highs ranged from about 28 to 33 C (82-91F), but it cooled off nicely during the nights and was therefore very bearable, also because it was quite windy most of the time. Our meteorologists keep saying that on average, it is usually this warm in our parts only four weeks later, in late July and not in June.

On Monday (23 June) I worked from home as usual and took a beautiful evening walk to Benningen, wisely having sprayed myself liberally with mozzie repellant before setting off.

Path between fields leading to Benningen

The sky as seen from my Third Room / Study that evening, a few minutes before sunset around 9:30 pm

Twice this past week I worked at the office; first on Tuesday (24 June) and again on Wednesday (25 June), which is my regular day there anyway. While on the Tuesday I enjoyed walking home from Zuffenhausen, I went home directly on Wednesday and was therefore ready to go out when my sister spontaneously suggested we have ice creams in town, which was very nice.

Someone recently asked in a comment to one of my posts what I mean when I say that I have been "walking across the fields". Of course I do not literally walk ON the fields - that wouldn't be a good idea, the soil being carefully prepared for produce by the farmers, and not a very walkable surface anyway. But there are many lanes and paths criss-crossing between the fields where wheat, barley, rye, corn, field mangel, potatoes and many oder crops are growing, and it is of course on those lanes and paths I walk. To illustrate, I have added two photos from Tuesday here:

Typical unpaved path between fields, created by and for farmers; rarely used by cyclists but popular with joggers, dog walkers and horse riders, and last but not least, me :-)

Typical lane across the fields, meant to accomodate cars and farming vehicles; very popular with cyclists and nearly everybody else, but with me mostly after it's been raining and the dirt paths are muddy. 

It rained a little at about 4:00 in the morning on Thursday (26 June), which was certainly welcome in terms of water but meant for very steamy air that felt even warmer than it actually was. 

In the evening, I attended a meeting of my local civic society; it was warm in the building, but I put my fan to good use.

Friday (27 June) was rather pleasant and not too hot. I left the house early and travelled to Weilimdorf for the third time that week, but not to the office. Instead, I was there for a meeting with my fellow Data Protection Officers from the Stuttgart area. All went well with my and the others' presentations, and we had some interesting discussions. For lunch, we were even able to sit outsite in the shade. 

Once again, I walked home from Zuffenhausen, slightly varying my route across the fields from the one I had taken on Tuesday.

I didn't feel up to much on Saturday (28 June), but made sure to do my weekly cleaning as early as I could. By 8:00 am I finished and spent the rest of the day doing exactly nothing, resting, reading and playing when I felt like it.

My sister suggested a walk early evening; it was still hot but the sun was of course much lower and there was a slight breeze, which made it pleasant enough.

O.K. went for a sunset walk that same evening, only later. We facetimed for a while and he sent me these pictures of the sky almost an hour after sunset:

On Sunday (29 June), O.K. and the village band were booked for a fête at a village not far away from them, but my Mum, my sister and I had tickets for a concert that evening - the reason why the two of us spent the weekend separately.

I certainly didn't envy the musicians having to perform on what was a very hot day! I spent it mainly in my darkened living room and bedroom, after having done the ironing as soon as I was up and while it was still feasible to have the windows open, and I showered and got dressed for the concert only in the evening, just in time for when I was to leave the house.

The concert was the good-bye concert of a man who has been active in my hometown's music scene for nearly 60 years. Prof. Siegfried Bauer has founded several orchestras and worked as their conductor, on top of his work as a music teacher to many students.

One of them, Peter Schulmeister, is now Associate Concert Master at London's Covent Garden's Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. When he was 13 years old, he immigrated with his family from Siberia to Ludwigsburg, and studied violin with Prof. Bauer. You can read about him here.

Prof. Bauer was born the same year as my Mum (1944) and has been living and working in Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart since the 1960s. He was highly influential in shaping the town's musical landscape; to him, music has always been vital in getting people together, in working for peace. With one of his orchestras, he has been performing around 50 concerts, not just in Germany but also in England, Sweden, on the Krim and in Israel. 

He was also the initiator and conductor of the "Sing Along" concert my Mum and I so love to attend before Christmas.

Now, at nearly 81, he conducted his orchestra for the last time. It must have been a very emotional evening for him and his musicians - it certainly was for the audience! Peter Schulmeister was the soloist at the violin.

Among the audience were the Prime Minister of Baden-Wuerttemberg and his wife as well as Ludwigsburg's mayor and some other local politicians. The church was packed and tickets (all proceeds going to a charity that Prof. Bauer had chosen) sold out completely - my Mum had gone to buy tickets half an hour after the sale opened and was lucky to get ours!

It was VERY warm in the church, and without my fan (I wasn't alone - many ladies had brought one) I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it as I did.

Standing ovations followed the concert, but it truly was a relief getting out of the church onto the market square where it was still very warm at 9:00 pm but much airier.

My Mum, her friend R (who had been with us all along), my sister and I crossed the square to the corner where "my" Irish pub is and settled at a table on the square, enjoying the sunset, the warmth, the air and the mood - and our drinks, of course. 

Ludwigsburg market square, as seen from my seat outside the Irish pub; the church is where the concert had taken place.

Eventually, we made sure my Mum got on the bus safely, then my sister and I walked home.

To complete a very summerly week, this was a great evening of wonderful music, confirming my belief that humans aren't all bad - we may never stop being horrible to each other and to the other species on this planet, but as long as we are capable of something as beautiful as this, all hope is not lost.