Today Gustav and Phillip have to go to work, so Christine
and I will be walking Leo and running errands. Start by letting out the
chickens. Yes, Christine decided to try her hand at keeping chickens and rented
five for 10 days (actually, it was a birthday present for Oma Inge, Gustav’s mom, but she didn’t feel up to the challenge, so
Christine brought them home). I leave you to imagine the groaning that came
from Gustav. It is not that he is worried about the chickens, but he is weary
that his lovely wife will next time rent a pig or a cow.
Then it was time to walk to the Beckerei to buy Broetchens
for breakfast. Very pleasant except that Leo has the runs, and at some point we
had to stop to clean a very messy sidewalk. Christine attributes the loose
vowels to the fact that Leo has been eating chicken shit.
Then we went to visit Oma
Elisabeth, Christine’s mom, who is recovering from chemotherapy at a senior
living facility up in the foothills of the Taunus Mountains .
Before we got there we made a stop at the small town where Chrissy grew up, and
took Leo for a long walk along her old stomping grounds.
Elisabeth was looking good, but is not very happy with the
food, which she finds bland and without taste. What she really wanted was
pizza. So, while Chrissy visited with mom, I took the car and went to buy a
pizza in downtown. I had just gone down the hill and stopped at an intersection
when the car suddenly stopped. In panic I looked at the fuel gage and saw that
I was operating on fumes. Surprisingly the car started right away as soon as I
took my foot off the pedal, but it kept stopping every time I made a full stop
(later I was to learn that it is an “eco” feature of her sports Mercedes). I
drove to the first gas station that crossed my path, put in some gas, and
discovered that right across the street there was a pizza parlor. The nice
station attendant said it was OK to park the car there, and a half hour later I
was back at the home with a steaming pizza.
We all sat at the little table Elisabeth has in her room,
and had a simple but very fun lunch. Clearly she enjoyed the visit, but is
ready to go home a week from now. The problem is that she lives alone in this
big house, without anyone to clean, cook, and keep an eye on her to make sure
she is OK (sounds familiar?). Naturally Christine is there for her in case of
an emergency, but she thinks they need to find a daily companion and that may
not be easy.
Since we were already on the mountain, lucky Leo got a
second walk through the forest. It was a good cardio exercise, and we were
looking forward to having a drink on the Kneipe
on top, but to our great disappointment found it closed. Of course, it is
Monday, and these rural bars close Monday and Tuesday. Schade!
On the way back Phillip called, to invite us all to dinner.
That is, he offered to cook us dinner at the house. Nice! As soon as we got
back he and I went shopping, and he told me how he had rented an apartment and
would be moving there next week. Phillip is a mechanical engineer, is 21 years
old, and is currently doing an internship with a company in the nearby town he
is moving to. I can’t believe that this tall strapping young man is the sturdy
baby I met oh so long ago. (Since he likes cooking I have ordered a crockpot
from Amazon, as my house warming gift for his new apartment. All I need to do
know is to write down the recipe for ox-tail soup.)
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