pale

 Wait for a few minutes for the man with the sticks. It is actually quite good to wait, allow the breath to return after the climb up the keyboard of the oxen. Without a pause today, and walk all the way around the castle to the view of Landshut. It is a clear day, and the low angle of the sun picks out the shapes of the roofs and the walls of the houses of the town below.

There is a walker and then two runners. They all say good morning, but somehow they all seem to be in a desperate hurry.

Then the man with the sticks arrives, his face pale and drawn. He does not look well today. He says that he could not sleep because of all the things that worry him. His daughter-in-law, who cares for him, will be off to the mountains for the weekend, and he is frightened at the thought of being alone. He worries about his property, he still owns his family home, this must be sold for it is empty. For sentimental reasons he does not want to let it go, an understandable sentiment.

Walk the short stretch to the car park, he has become as talkative as ever, and the colour has returned to his face.

The walk today is easy, even the climb up to the Carrosahöhe, normally a killer, is manageable today. Maybe it is because the weather is cooler. Maybe the old body is actually getting a bit fitter now.

Maybe.

The Italian waitress is as friendly and as beautiful as ever. And the coffee is as good.

charming

The story today, the account from the life of the man with the two sticks in the park. He has many things to speak about, it seems. Stories from his life, a tiny spark of conversation, a small question releases a flood. The question of whether it is not possible for his children to help him with his house-

 - a flood of an answer is the result.

In a quiet questioning voice he explains that his daughter and he are estranged for some years now. The reason, he says, is unclear. Then he proceeds to explain, and the disaster becomes more visible.

There was an occasion when his son-in-law, whom he describes as a coward and a weakling, turned up in a distraught state and complaining about his wife. This was strange, for as the father he would surely be the wrong person to complain to. But the two-stick man calmed the situation and the son in law went his way. This took place over five years ago.

The next day the daughter turned up, she started a quarrel with the wife of the man. This turned so abusive that the daughter had to be asked to leave the house. To the two-stick man's great regret he told his daughter the following day when she turned up to apologise. The reason now was that his wife insisted that the daughter was terrorising her.After that the daughter only turned up much later, at the wife's funeral, and was seen to be in apparently high spirits.
This upset the man even more. He apparently interpreted this as a lack of piety.

The relationship to his son was damaged after his son engaged a lawyer who threatened to sue for inheritance payments. The old man was saddened by the fact that his son had been incapable of asking him before taking legal advice.

And thus, the old man is alone, but for his youngest son and his daughter-in-law. 

In conversation he is clear and concise, he recognises his situation.

Recount this account back to him at the end of the walk, up on the parking lot. He smiles, agrees, and says that that is roughly what happened.He says that he looks forward to the a meeting tomorrow.

The day is pleasantly cool, it is easy to walk the remaining nine kilometres. The charming waitress at the cafe brings coffee, no sugar, no milk, but with four amaretti. She is so charming, really.

never mind

 Wait for the son to leave for school. It is a strange thing, but he has developed some kind of a phobia against the sound of the coffee machine. His father, however, does not want to leave the house without a cup of coffee from this machine.

Therefore it is necessary to wait until he is gone.

Press the button, and the coffee starts to flow.

Wearing the walking shoes and the outdoor trousers ready for the days walk, sit down and take another cup of the coffee. Then start the days walk, passing through the town centre by the big church and onward to the oxen's keyboard, a steep path paved in bricks with a ridge every thirty centimetres on its surface to prevent the tourists who use it from slipping.

Oxen have not been driven up this path recently at all. Such animals are no longer required in the castle.

Walk around the castle and wait a few minutes. The old man with the two walking sticks arrives, it is like an arranged meeting. He speaks of his bad time in hospital some years ago, how difficult it was for him to start moving again at all. Stand and admire the town, and then commence the slow walk up the path to the parking place. His pace is slower today, the damp appears to make his hips cause him pain. He is pleasant company, and it is easy to listen to his accounts from his work as a facility manager in a bank. He had been able to point out the building in which his bank had been from the viewpoint. The building is now a fashion shop.

Leave him in the parking lot with his car, and carry on around the park, see the birds, and with no pause go into the smaller garden where they used to grow mulberry trees to feed silkworm.

Today is somehow more strenuous than yesterday, but after three hours walking the circuit is completed. There is a new waiter in the café, who spills the coffee into the saucer as he is serving.

Never mind, he will learn.

yesterdays collapse

The old circuit again, up the stairs to talk to the man with the sticks, he lets small pieces of his life slip out one by one. His eyes are bright and clear as he explains that he is trying to get his strength back with his short walks in the park every day. He has lost his wife and due to some skeletal thing in his neck due to tension he became nearly immobile. So he says, and his voice and his steady manner lend his speech credibility. Now there are two elderly men walking in the park, the one younger by twenty years. The man used to work driving for a bank, maybe as a chauffeur. He tells the story of  some medicine and a brush with the police. The medicine had been in an alcohol suspension, and the police had caught a whiff of it on his breath and became suspicious. The story took place years ago.

There is a conversation with a younger man leading his dog in the park. The young man is brightly dressed, and very carefully too. He gets to speak about his dogs ability to assess other dogs' character.

Leave the man with the sticks in the parking lot at the top of the hill, where he gets into his car to go home to his cup of coffee and his newspaper. 

Carry on walking, there are another six miles to go.

Take a picture of two pigeons at the Maxwehr.

The delicious cup of coffee in the café with the charming waitress in attendance today.

In the early afternoon after all is done, the two parcels packed and taken to the mail, the concentration goes away in a fit of dizziness. The meter to take the blood pressure reads ninety slash sixty. Take note on the page of the log, wonder at this, and lie down for a few minutes.

Today, the 26th, and farewell to the parents-in-law

 Today wake up in a strange bed in the parents-in-law's house.The night was late, there was talk and the old family films to watch.

In the morning a breakfast with egg and toast, the way things should be. The old couple are busy, minding their house, keeping their kitchen in order. Later there will be television and the opening of the grandchild's new hair studio to attend to.

The other two daughters come down last, the two sisters in law. They set up a breakfast for themselves in the garden, a breakfast at ten. Their parents bustle around to see them well taken care of, all are a happy family.

Take leave, and for the fourth time in two days, drive the car the sixty kilometres between home and this endless suburb of Munich, where everybody seems rich and suburban. There are big cars in big garages with smart houses everywhere. The motorway is slow, there is endless traffic returning from weekend holidays, many mobile homes and people in antique cars on the road. Arrive at midday, and relax.

At three in the afternoon take a walk, the usual circuit of ten kilometres. It is becoming easier to fulfil the course every day, remember all the difficulties on the same stretch months ago. Remember the inability to walk even three kilometres without complete exhaustion. The thirty kilometres covered last week would just have seemed impossible then. 

Yesterday

 80 years old today, on the 24th of September, the father in law gave a dinner for his relatives. Being a son in law, be allowed to accompany his daughter to the festivities. 

The venue is an Italian restaurant of some repute in a Munich suburb,  and the company gathered there would fulfil the expectations of any person wishing to make a film on such occasions, The four daughters, all older than they would like to be, one elegant, one downright crazy, another content and one who was always caught on the edge of the world which she had wanted to take part in, the sons in law only one present ,white haired and silent, not knowing how to react to this family gathering. The other three in laws had fallen by the wayside sometime, and are no longer companion to the daughters. 

The grandchildren three, a boy, and two women make up that classification. The young woma is reserved and elegant, the other in her mid thirties makes a brassy impression, all polished and shiny trying to imitate gold. She has employed every single cosmetic aid for enhancement, and enough would have been less. The son of the white haired one is the youngest grandchild, and he is silent, and he is worried about social commitments outside of this family circle, his girlfriend and the companions from school. Today is Christopher Street day, and it is important too. Why does his grandfather have to have his birthday on Christopher street day?

Her husband is a loud mouthed man of Turkish descent, arms covered with tattoo symbolism, a man who never ever accepts his position as being wrong. He shouts unexpected comments across the whole gathering. A person who feels himself to be a leader.

The two children and the two dogs are with them, The children, dark haired and respectable, the dogs revolting small yapping things that get carried about the place in a basket.

It would have made a great picture.

After the meal, a sixty kilometre drive to return the son to his commitments. And then back again, to the grandfathers house, and more festivities

This was yesterday, and the chatter with the all the in-laws consumed the rest of the day.

another walk

 The decision to experiment taken, follow the small path across the stream in Schweinebach, opposite to the Schwedenfeldweg. After a very short distance, the path forks in two, and take the left hand one for no other reason than that it looks friendly.

It is not a placid, friendly path. It is almost unbearably steep, climbing its way up between the trees. There are traces of mad cyclists here and there, but up to the top it is just unbearably steep. At one point it follows the top of a ridge, with steep drops on either side, like out of some fairy story. At the top, there is a hunters stand, and then a large field of grass. Carefully walk around this field, and arrive at the back of a farmhouse. With the uncomfortable feeling that this is trespass, cross the orchard and follow a gravel path away from the farmyard. A woman working at a small outhouse stops her work and stands and stares.

Follow the path, it is actually a driveway, between incredibly tall trees growing in a ravine, with the road at the bottom. The road's surface has been washed out by the last rain. Then there is a junction and a sign. The walkway LA 2 goes down and to the right. The driveway was definitely private property.

Further down the way there is a junction. A young woman in tights and a bright orange top runs past. Consult the maps and the map on the mobile 'phone. Then follow the road.

And now there is no wilderness any more, just modern buildings, and the campus of Landshut University.

The path is known now. Follow the way past the Landshut heating plant, and  take the small side path to the river bank. Then follow the path for three kilometres to arrive in the middle of town, at the Italian restaurant there. Sit down, and put some change on the table.

A waiter brings a cup of coffee, prego.

There is a routine, as almost every day.

so so

 The night all broken, every hour and less have to leave the bed for the porcelain comfort of the bathroom. All to no great effect.
Getting older can be awkward, can be difficult. But the problem itself is new, and in the morning try to call the doctor.
He is on his vacation.
Call his designated substitute, and after some discourse they make an appointment.

At eleven in the morning.

Spend the time removing the dry clothes from the tumble dryer, sorting and folding them a bit. Then, off to the practice, it is at the other end of the old part of town. A short walk, that is the lucky part of living in town. Everything is within easy reach.

The doctor has no waiting room, people need to wait in the corridor. The corridor is full, there are three doctors in the practice. After an hour's waiting, it is time for the examination. The nurse explains, lie down on the couch with the lower midriff exposed. The doctor arrives and examines the insides of this patient with his ultrasound equipment.
He sees nothing really, nothing to bother him. This gland is enlarged, that is all, and that is not abnormal. Considering the age of the patient, it is really not that abnormal. Get up, rearrange the clothing, and go to the consulting room.
The doctor explains.
The doctor recommends.

And that is all, no diagnosis and no cure. Just a prescription, which might get rid of the trouble. 

Then again, it might not.

Eyebrows

 The walk was finished at speed today, it was started late because there was a package to be brought to the post, and then it was raining. It is time to buy a new jacket, the older one looks distinctly shabby. Perhaps an XL sized anorak would do the trick.

The waitress at the café was as charming as ever, and the coffee was not quite as good as other times. Perhaps the barista is a different person every time.

There is an announcement on the mobile 'phone saying that the estimate from the camera makers is ready. Hardly dare to look, for who knows how much such a respectable German firm of tradition might charge for repairing and servicing one of their lenses.

The amount is surprisingly reasonable, not cheap, but considering that the piece of equipment will be as good as new afterwards it is a really good deal.

Now the coffee tastes better, and when that is finished hurry on home and reply to the firm, print out the acceptance note and put it into an envelope to send it on. On the way to the barber drop the letter off  in the post office.

The lady at the barber shop remembers the photographer, and continues the conversation where it had left off over six weeks ago. She has a lot of work to do to turn the hair into a respectable German haircut.

She even trims the eyebrows.

lonely

 The man with the two sticks is standing under the trees. He is elderly, and has an alert cheerful face. He says hello,  slow down to exchange a few words. 

Walk on to the platform at the castle walls, the place from which the shots are fired when there is a festival. Stand there and look down over the town, he explains all the different streets that he used to live in. He enjoys talking, perhaps he is lonely. He talks of his past, and it is strange, for he is doing the talking. Just agree, and show understanding, and he talks. He speaks of his camping escapades as a youth, when he and his mates got on their bicycles and drove to the Zugspitze. And climbed that mountain too.

He is getting more and more cheerful and sprightly by the moment. In the end, arrive at the parking space by the playground. That is where he has parked his car.

That is where he explains that his wife died four years ago. He is a lonely man, but he says that he really wants to be fit enough to carry his coffin to his own funeral. 

Cross the parking space, he has now long driven away.

Go to visit the rheas, and then carry on with todays ten kilometre walk.

speed

 The dentist's assistant works on the teeth, cleaning interstices, removing last weeks food particles stuck there hidden from the brush. She is wearing a mask to protect herself from covid, so she may wrinkle her nose as much as she pleases. Still, hopefully it is not all that bad. And after half an hour of diligent scraping and polishing, she is finished.

The dentist herself comes in and takes a look. She counts the teeth, there has been an alarming amount of work done by herself and her colleagues. But it is all stable, there are no problems. The dentist is finished in ten minutes.

Then go out and wait for the bill. They will accept credit cards here too. And with the same efficiency the money is gone. And, there is a warning not to drink coffee, eat curry, drink tea or wine for the next four hours.

In the afternoon, take the morning walk, the one that could not be taken because of the dentist. The pace is getting ever faster, the ten kilometre course full of ups and downs is done in two and a half hours, including a break to speak to the collector of cameras on the way.

And after the coffee buy a bottle of expensive cognac, french brandy for the father-in-law.

It will be his birthday on the coming weekend.

hope

 Leave the beer garden behind, it is now ten in the morning. There was no cake to be had yet, but the cup of coffee and the glass of water was welcome. The path leads along by a field of maize, the maize almost ready to be harvested now. Ahead is wind driven generator, it's huge blades going "whoosh-whoosh" as they draw their power from the wind. It is a huge device. Walk through the woods down to the road, cross the road and go on up the other side. It is a steep climb, and the road is poor. A mountain biker works his way up the hill, working hard to bring his vehicle to the top of the hills along the rough road.

Ask a couple for directions, and they are very helpful. There are so many alternative routes.

At last, a junction in the paths. And there is a big plan of the area there too. It used to be a military practice area, and has been converted into a nature reserve. The wide paved roads, built for tanks, cut through the open landscape, all strangely without fences. There are groups of fruit trees that indicate where a house used to be. But it is nothing now but a huge open landscape.

It was a walk of nearly twenty kilometres today, and the return stretch is more than ten. But the exercise is good for the old body, and, who knows maybe pills will be not so necessary after a while.

socks and salami

 The railway station in Landshut is smaller than in memory, it seems to have changed from the moderately impressive building that it used to be. It now has solar panels attached to its roof, maybe that is part of the change. 

This was a small walk out of curiosity. The railway station used to play a central part in life, in getting to work, and so on.  Now it is just a small railway station, one that has given up much of it's life to the reorganisation and centralisation of the railway system. There are a few drunkards at the door, up at the top of the steps. They are ogling all the young women in their summer clothing, just staring.

Go inside and order a cup of coffee and a roll with salami. It is strange, it has been some years now, but the rolls and the coffee still taste the same. One can tell that the railway restaurant is run by a chain. Because of the pandemic, the seating area is closed. Go outside to look for a seat, avoiding the steps in front of the station, avoiding those ogling drunkards.

There are no benches in front of the station, only bus shelters. Find a distant deserted bus shelter and finish off the coffee and the roll. And then walk on beside the flood channel, now a park. The transformation is strange, for when the channel is operational, it is like a river. And when the water goes back, it is a park again. There are nice houses here, they are flats build in the thirties of the last century. Follow the road all the way down to the old slaughterhouse, and go to the supermarket to see if they have those socks that their advertising had promisedl.

They don't anymore, all of those socks have been sold out. What a shame!

Now the head starts to spin again, so take a slow walk home. It must be the heat causing this. Or maybe a long cool drink of water would be nice.

grey bauble

The last section of todays walk, the section between the café (three amaretti today) and home drags. The feet hurt, and all the people around have the appearance of idiots, shouting. There are the usual people racing their bicycles in between the pedestrians.

And then there is the message from the Chinese tradesman asking that an item be returned to ensure compensation.

It is all rubbish, and a fraud.

Today is a day  for depressions, today is not a day upon which anything happened worth writing about. It is all grey, everywhere.

At home, start to arrange things, and then the son comes home. It is in order to look for a watch for his grandfather, a thing to thank him for his generous presents over the years.

And then the voice comes in from the off, like in the theatre, telling stories of cheapness and easy thrills. There is no such thing as an expensive gift to be had cheaply.

That is nonsense.

A thing of value is always costly, no matter how it is paid for.

Wander around town with the son, and he chooses carefully. And then wander around with the wife. She says that the watches are too expensive.

A cheap watch is nothing else but an easy insult, a glowing bauble.

And that on a grey day like this.

disposal

 Gather together all the books on t'ai chi from the shelves, a passion now at least a quarter of a century dead. They will not be looked at again here and they are just absorbing place in the shelves, and gathering dust.

Put them into a paper carrier bag and take a walk through town. As soon as the door is closed it starts to rain. Big heavy drops of water. Carry on regardless. Keep the books a little bit covered. There is a tiny building at the side of the road, a telephone box sized building. It is a small book depository set up by some local initiative. Put the books into the shelves. Then leave them there, for somebody else to find and to perhaps enjoy.

The paper carrier bag has collapsed, one of the handles has been ripped off. There is a heap of cardboard boxes at the side of the road left there to be collected by the waste paper recycling people. Put the remains of the paper bag into one of them, and carry on walking along the river. The rain increases, it is now quite a downpour. Go into one of the cafés on the street and have a cup of coffee and a croissant. They pronounce croissant like "cross aunt" here, well, they pronounce the L L in the Spanish spelling of Majorca as "Ma Lorca" too. So what!

And thus another reminder of a past episode has been done away with, and is no longer an irritant.

monochrome

 The days walk started early and was fast today. There was no stopping to feed rhea americana today, yesterday it had seemed as if the damsons had been ripened to a stage where the birds no longer cared for them. Nonetheless, the birds all came running over to their erstwhile benefactor. The circuit around the small garden, there are the Kindergarten children all out under the trees. Like goblins and hobbits and elves. People are out walking their dogs, it seems to be a thing that is done just before ten in the morning. Say hello to the Leica collectors wife, and carry on around the hospital and all the way down to the foot of the Moniberg in one go, without a break.

Climbing the long stepped path up to the Carrosahöhe is hard work. Despite all intentions, it is necessary to stop three times to catch breath and to allow the feet to stop hurting.

Carry on over the top, all the way through the now-autumnal woods. A group of young people approaches, led on by a male teacher pontificating about all the things his children do. At the end of the group of about thirty fifteen-year-olds a silent teacher walks. She looks entirely disgusted by the whole business. It all seems to be some kind of school outing.

When the denser woods have finished, the path leading between a field of maize and a jungle-like wooded slope, approach another group of schoolchildren. Some of the kids say hi and hello. Others do not. The teachers are much to busy showing off. 

Finally, at half past ten, get the delicious coffee at the small Italian place. The charming waitress puts two small biscuits on the saucer, so called amaretti. She laughs and say that it is because the guest uses no sugar and no milk in the coffee.

It is very kind of her.

Sit there under the parasol and watch the rain.

Make the decision to buy the camera. The little black and white German rangefinder camera.

There is no commercial reason for it, It is will just be good to be stuck with monochrome again.

lovely day

 this morning the son brought a cup of coffee to the bedside.

That was nice. On his father's birthday. Such a nice gesture. Get up, and realise that it was only so that he did not have to bear the sound of the Pavoni espresso machine in the morning. He hates that sound.

He had forgotten that it was the birthday.

What the hell, no need to remind him. Go on the twelve kilometre walk like every day for the last month, remember to pick up a name plate ordered for the post box.

Stick it to the post box on the return. At least now the postwoman will not complain. There are no greetings in the mail box either.

The sun is shining and it is a lovely day.

dialysis

 Leave the path and stand aside to allow a young girl with a young dog to pass. She has the dog on a lead, and she and the animal stay to their side of the path. They are headed up the path, they have come all the way up the hill.

Walk on down the slope to the favourite park bench with the view over the freshly ploughed field. Sit down and relax. The young girl comes back and her dog is more curious now. She says hello, saw you on the way up. Chat about the dog, it is an Australian sheep dog, a popular breed, there have been a few others around. Mistake it for a collie, but it is so young and fluffy, almost anyone might have made the mistake.

Talk about one thing and the other. She explains that she is only fifteen and would rather not be addressed formally. German is like French in that respect, English only has the "you" form left. It is strange, but it is always important to maintain distance.

She goes to the same school as the son, and is a year younger than he is. She explains that she will be doing her final exams in two years, and will give up Spanish and Latin to concentrate on English. Ask her why she is so keen on English, she says that she can have dual citizenship, American and English. She was born in America and adopted, she differentiates between her old parents and her new parents.

She says that she must be getting on now, her father is waiting, he needs a dialysis treatment, she has to attend this at home.

Wish her luck with the dog, and that the training of the animal goes well. She goes on her way. Wait a while longer, there is no need to catch up on her, no need to be an elderly nuisance.

But she certainly has a load on her mind.

sunday music

 Walk along the road that passes the house in which the family used to live, yet again see the bamboos. They have grown over twenty foot tall now that they have become established.  Take the short path through the forest, passing two families deep in discussion about houses and their ideal locations. Just pass, the men say Servus and say Servus back.

A young woman is riding a horse, proceeding up the road at a slow walk. Pass her, say hello. and take the upper road to the small beer garden. It is only another mile and a half on. Stop on the way to take some plums from a tree,  and go into the beer garden.

A cup of coffee, a cake and big glass of water.

A band starts to play, all the members of the band are dressed in the same Bavarian costume, all with white feathers in their hats. The yound trumpeters seem to have a problem, their instruments make an occasional squawking noise.

The atmosphere is lovely, there are children running around, a cat comes over to be petted. it is lovely weather.

The two trumpeters wander off into the woods, and answer the instrumental calls from the other instruments with short melodies of their own. And at the end, they approach the bandstand and join their colleagues.

It was altogether a pleasant picturesque experience.

Pay, and go, in order to keep the memory. The garden will become crowded later on, and things will no longer be pleasant.

fat wheeled bike

The walk was pleasant today, but breath was short. returned home early, after the surly waitress at the café put a coffee on the table without being asked.

She did not do it in a friendly way, quite different from the Italian girl who normally serves. Perhaps it is just because of the weekend, and she does not want to work . Watch all the people on their bicycles, today is the day when many go on longer tours with their electrical bicycles. How far will a machine like that run before the power is gone? It does not matter.

An elderly man attempts to put his e-bike, as they call it into the bicycle stand. The tyres are too fat, and the stand cannot be used for such a bicycle. He spends a lot of time trying to unravel a very complicated bicycle lock, in the end he succeeds and chains his fat tired bicycle to his wide's small wheeled one.

And now the last of the coffee has gone cold, get up and finish the walk for today. It is only just under ten kilometres, but there is just no way today. The legs are tired and the ankle with the blister is sore.

closing shop

 After the walk, all thirteen kilometres of it, take a rest. Despite the patent bandages, the blister on the heel of the left foot remains sore, and the legs are both aching for some reason, aching more than on other days.

Lie down for an hour after having made a cup of coffee and a big glass of water. Measuring the blood pressure shows that everything is in order. If the measuring device is actually working accurately, who knows? Sometimes it seems to show results that make no sense at all.

Afterwards, go upstairs to take pictures of those things left over from a lifetime career. Bits and pieces of equipment that where useful once, but which now have no use in this environment. Tomorrow, they will all be online, and perhaps somebody will find a use for old photographic equipment. At this stage in life the career will never develop, and the stuff is of no use in the shelf.

And that is what takes up the whole of the afternoon.

ripe plums

 Start by walking down the river today, down to the place called Kupfereck, or Copper corner. No idea at all why the place should be named like that, after a metal.

There is surprise now that the way is so short. Perhaps all this is because the body has become fitter with all of this walking. Even though it is only seven miles a day, it must be training of some sort, and of some value. After crossing the main roads walk up the Keller straße, and take the footpath through the woods along the top of the valley. At the end, pass the old prison, and walk on to the keyboard for the oxen, or the oxen's piano. Gather a few damsons for the birds and climb the steep ridged path all the way up to the castle. Walking is a little more tiring today, but only because a mile has been walked already today.

The fruit is getting riper all the time, and the Nandu birds are delighted with the sweet treat. They hear the tread on the stones, look up and come running. 

There are spectators today who laugh when the birds jump for their treat.

no thrills attached

 There is a field with horses out grazing, and a farmhouse up on top of the hill. The farmhouse belongs to a family called Bartreith, and there is a small yellow signpost at the side of the road leading to this house that says just that.

There is a man sitting on a blanket which he has spread out on a grassy patch beside the road studying papers with drawings on them. Walk past, then think of the rucksack yesterday with all of the papers inside. Turn back and ask him whether, by any chance, the rucksack belonged to him. Tell him the story, and explain that there is no reason to really care, for the police will see to it that everything is returned to order.

A conversation ensues, he has a decision to make.

Whether it is better to live insecurely and expensively in Munich or to commute from his work in Munich and to live in Landshut. Two hours driving every working day would be the result of the one decision, and a danger of not being able to pay for his family home in the case of his work not being as successful as hoped would be the result of the other.

He is curious about the strains of commuting and the exhaustion involved in regular car driving. That exhaustion that sets in once the thrill has gone, once the favourite means of transport would be a self driving car with not thrills attached.

And then leave him to continue the walk around the hills on this which might turn out to be the last perfect day this year.

office pro

 By the way, by the wayside beside the path a rucksack, a small grey backpack with zips and things. And round about nobody in sight. This is strange, people do not usually leave their baggage in the middle of the fields beside country lanes. It is time for a break anyway, it is a lovely day out in the Bavarian countryside.

After a while, open the front flap of the bag. There is nothing in the first flap, and in the second a few pens and a pair of glasses. The thing would be to find something pointing to the owner of the bag. So open the main part of the bag, it has a filing folder in it that seems filled with papers. There are a few loose papers and a magazine on cycling there too. Look at the cover of the magazine, in case there is an address sticker there.

No luck in that attempt. There is a letter, with a name and address on it. Look at another paper, these are all stamped permits for one thing and another. The same name appears here. 

But there is no telephone number. Maybe that is not so bad, why should I want to deal with such a person anyway, who knows what on earth may be missing from the bag. Call the police station in Landshut, they say it will be in order take the bag and turn it into the police station.

Pick up the bag and carry it on one shoulder. It is surprisingly heavy, but as the straps are well padded this is not a problem. The bag is a grey Deuter bag, called an Office pro, whatever that means, perhaps it is made for carrying papers. 

Continue the walk, all the way down through the woods beside the highway, reaching the river in about half an hour. It is six kilometres to town, and after a while the extra weight of the bag tells. Consider that the body weight lost in the last two months more than equals the weight of the bag, and derive cheer from the thought.

See that the café at the power station is open again, and stop off there. There is a man at the next table talking to himself. At first imagination says that he has a mobile 'phone with some kind of microphone, then see the drink on his table and realise that he is raving drunk. When the coffee is finished leave him to his one-person political discussion and carry on to the police. They are short staffed.

The paperwork takes hours. The bag contained three mobile telephones as well as the folders. Sign the papers, do not cross the box requesting a reward, request that no personal details be passed on to the owner, whoever that may be. 

That exercise in honesty took up half the afternoon.

rancid

 It is not easy to persuade the son to come along for a short walk to the town hall. He is hard to convince by reason or argument in his current state, whatever exactly that is. But after a wait, he comes alonong. Together we walk down the main road after crossin g the river. When we arrive at the door of the building there are people sitting around in front of it, waiting to be called up. There is a speakerphone beside the door, press the button, and hear an answer. It is possible to see the woman inside, sitting at her reception desk on the other side of the hall.

She explains that, on account of covid, appointments are necessary for even the most humble of dealings. Anyway, all of this is explained on the yellow note attached to the door. Explain to her in turn that it had been necessary to walk halfway across town to read this yellow notice. See her shrug in her glass box on the other side of the hallway that is visible in the window.

Wish her a good day. That is polite, but not really truthful.

Return to the town centre with the son. He is distressed by all of this.

Having reached the centre of town the decision is made to go to a café for a cup and a bite to eat, why not?

Arrive at the cafe and realise that a vaccination pass will be required to be allowed to sit down and have coffee. He runs home to get the forgotten pass.

Wait for him to return, this takes a while.

Have a cup of coffee and a buttered pretzel. The coffee is good. but the pretzel is stale and the butter is rancid.

It is nice to be in the café again in the company of the son

beer garden on a hill

 Today there are cyclists on the forest paths, the paths barely wide enough for a pedestrian. Step to one side to let them pass, first in one direction, and then another pair in the opposite direction. Earlier on there were two on electric mountain bikes who raced up the path at a very high speed. That was unpleasant to watch.

Leave the usual path and cross over the Moniberg, passing the house in which the family used to live. It is turning into a hovel, nobody cares any more. The bamboo, planted out of curiosity all those years ago, has spread, and is now growing along the fence.  They were not particularly good times either, but that was over ten years ago.

Walk on past the modern living houses and the old farm houses. They still keep horses there. Take the old back road through the small wood, the farm were they keep the horses and cross the main trunk road using the bridge.

It will be a longer walk today, a small journey of twenty kilometres there and back. The first objective is the beer garden by the little church at the top of the hill. The beer garden was originally built to supply the church's building workers with beer, and when the little church was finished the beer garden remained.

Drink a glass of water, eat a doughnut and have a cup of coffee. It is pleasant today, under the trees and being able to watch all the guests, arriving in their cars, many wearing their traditional costume.

And afterwards, take the long walk down to Schönbrunn, to later walk along the river back home.

Sometime this craze for walking will go away, but now it seems here to stay.

make the day

 climbing the Ochsenklavier again, chasing a crowd of young tourists who had rushed on ahead only to be caught up on again as they were halfway up. It is a long brick-paved path, each step being bricks laid flat, followed by a line of bricks on their sides with the long narrow edge up. This makes for a flat pavement with ridges every thirty centimetres. It is tiring to climb if one does not place ones feet carefully.

At the top, cross the open space before the castle and touch the corner of the wall at the moat. And then walk on as always, visiting the viewpoint, feeding the birds and walking around the small park, past the hospital, down into the valley and up to the next viewpoint. And then down to the river, and  back home.

That is nine point nine kilometres.

In the evening a walk in the park, and the direct route to the viewpoint through the park. Walking along the path suddenly a very beautiful young woman, glance up in passing, she smiles and say hello.

That has made the day.

piano of the oxen

Today the fruit has fallen from the tree, at the bottom of the hill at the beginning of the stairs called the piano of the oxen. Gather a plastic freezer bag full of this fallen fruit for the birds, checking to make sure that they are not rotten. Breathing is more difficult today, there is no knowing why this is so. Perhaps it has to do with the air, or maybe the humidity.

Take the ridges on the piano of the oxen one at a time and steadily, and arrive at the top after five minutes. The bodily overweight has now reached the top of those eighty metres of above the streets of Landshut, and the ability to breath returns steadily and smoothly.

Taking daily exercise is worth while, even if it is only walking.

when the leaves have gone

 Hold the small fruit high, and let the flightless bird hop for it, That makes the other visitors to the park laugh. Most of them are worried that the birds will snap their fingers if they are careless feeding them,  and are frightened that this might hurt. The birds maybe cannot snap that hard, and in any case, they don't. As well as this, they do not have teeth.

The man laughs and calls his little girl. She is feeding the birds grass, which does not really interest them.

The damsons are all finished, walk on through the park. Take the circuit around the old park for the mulberry trees, and upon leaving this see that the collector of old cameras is there tending to the borders of his lawn. He gives thanks for the picture, but said that it is true that from that particular viewpoint the two churches are behind each other, making them hard to tell apart. Discuss this for a while, and then wander on. It is always difficult to satisfy people completely.

Later on, at the viewpoint, search around for what might be another satisfactory view. There are trees everywhere, it will be necessary to wait until Autumn, then the leaves will be gone.

anaemia

 The walk was tiring today, partly because the blister on the heel of the right hand foot caused some pain. It was not possible to bandage it so that it did not hurt. This was just too bad.

The birds did not care, they snapped at the damsons and the fingers holding them.

Take a short path,  it is not worth getting hurt. On the way past the children's hospital a group of young children is being taken on a walk by a kindergarten lady. Pass them and pause at a park bench to try to fix the painful heel, and replace the bandage on the remains of the blister. The children rush past. Get up to go on, and a tiny little Black girl jumps out in the way and holds her arms out. 

Stop

Then her courage leaves her and she returns to the group. Walk on down the hill, and take the direkt route down to the river. Go home, taking the short cut through town, there is now a headache starting. Sit down on one of the public benches and enjoy the sunlight. Then go home, take a rest, and make up the packages for those orders that had come in during the night. Slowly the equipment gathered over the years is dissipating across Euroope, a piece here and a piece there.

After the post office go on to the social rooms at Saint Pius' church. The red cross has set up a blood donation centre here. Register, and then a man takes a tiny amount of blood and puts it into the testing machine. He does this twice.

The result is that the haemoglobin value is just too low. Something is wrong, they will not take blood this time.

Walk back home, take a path by the river, and sit on the same bench in the middle of town, enjoying the warmth. It will be necessary to tell the doctor about this. She now has an anaemic patient.

Go home and collapse to bed for a few hours. It was sensible of them not too have taken blood.