From My Mental Library: First Week Back

The first week back after my Yorkshire holiday was busy but not stressful. Many of my colleagues are on holiday right now, which means a lot less meetings than usual. That allowed me to wade through my piles of emails largely undisturbed; not that those piles were quite as high as expected. Mostly, after two weeks away from work, I find well over 200 emails waiting for me. This time, there were only 133.

Monday (11 August) started chilly at only 14C/57 F - perfect to let fresh air into the flat and maintain a pleasant room temperature throughout the day, while it became warmer outside with up to 29C/84F by mid-afternoon.

Of course apart from working at my desk, I did the usual return-from-holiday things such as washing and food shopping. Also, after finishing work, I had a chat with my downstairs neighbour who had been looking after my mail and my houseplants; I gave her a souvenir to say thank you, even though she had let my hydrangea die (which she apologised for).

As soon as she was gone, I put shoes on and was off on a walk to Benningen. Going for my standard walks is always part of the coming home process for me, and I enjoyed that first one very much.

It was my Mum's birthday on Tuesday (12 August), but because I was working and she was going for a meal with her former colleagues in the evening, I only saw her in the afternoon for an hour over coffee and a piece of delicious home-baked cake. My sister and I had collected several presents for her in Ripon and handed those over. I think she liked them all.

At 32C/89F, I didn't want a walk after work that day.

On Wednesday (13 August), I was back at the office for the first time since my return from Yorkshire. It was also the first day back for one of my colleagues, and so we had plenty of stories to exchange - and plenty to do, too.

Getting off the train in Ludwigsburg after work, I went to my sister's, and together we walked to the farm café/restaurant just outside town where we often have family celebrations and other meals. Our Mum had booked a table there for us and four of her closest friends, and in spite of sitting outside, we were unbothered by wasps (something I had really been afraid of). The meal, company and location all combined for a nice birthday celebration for Mum.

You wouldn't think this lady has just turned 81, would you?

Whereas this one has aged at least 5 years in the first half of this year.

Thursday (14 August) was another one or two degrees hotter at about 33-34C/91-93F, but it was well bearable at the office, since my room there faces north. Too hot to walk home from Zuffenhausen or Kornwestheim, though.

I waited until after the main news on TV before setting off on a short walk of about 45 minutes; stupidly, I had not thought to use mozzie repellant and got stung a few times when I had to stand still at a traffic light. For people in the cars passing by, it must have looked as if I was practicing the Schuhplattler.

Working from home on Friday (15 August) with no meetings, I was able to do my cleaning, changing of bed sheets, food shopping etc. in the morning before it got too hot, and work in the afternoon. My Third Room (study) is the coolest place in my flat, making it possible to focus without my brain completely melting.

Once again, I went out for a walk only at 8:30 pm, but this time I sprayed myself liberally with repellant before setting off, which made for a much more relaxed sunset walk.

O.K. arrived at around lunchtime on Saturday (16 August). We had a salad of watermelon, feta cheese and roasted pine nuts with some crispy baguette and then went into town for an errand.

A rest followed before it was time to dress up a bit and walk back into town, where we attended the première of "Marie Antoinette" at an outdoor theatre. We'd been to their performances a few times before, and they are brilliant - a mix of hilariously funny, well done songs and some serious food for thought. It is amazing how much a small cast of only four actors (two of them playing several characters) can achieve!

Again, I had made good use of my bottle of repellant [note to self: stock up on that!] and was not stung or bitten in spite of there being quite a few flying nasties about.

After the performance, we sat in the adjacent beer garden for something to eat and drink before my sister took our Mum home in the car and O.K. and I walked home. (The tickets for the four of us had been a joined birthday present for Mum from my sister and me.)

Sunday (17 August) offered a very welcome respite of the week's intense heat; in fact the morning was so chilly that we shut the kitchen window while we were sitting there for breakfast.

We then set off on a walk that took in the lake (Monrepos), part of Asperg (not the castle on the hill this time) and a beer garden where we had a refreshing shandy (by this time, it had warmed up again and the sun was out in full force) and eventually ice creams in town, 14 km altogether.

A late afternoon nap was in order, after which I prepared watermelon (again!) for our meal, this time with Serrano ham and toasted slices of baguette with a bruschetta mix on top.

O.K. left at 7:45 pm, while I went for a very beautiful sunset walk of just under 10 km. It was dark by the time I reached home, but it had been so pleasant out there that I just did not want to turn in just yet - I only wished O.K. was there with me instead of in a traffic hold-up on the motorway, which made his trip home at least half an hour longer than usual.