Happy Saturday, y’all. It’s cool and overcast today, and Bill is preparing for another TDY in Bavaria. I’m not sure what we’ll do, but it looks like the weather may not be optimal. We’ve sure had a mild summer this year… lots of rain and temperatures that weren’t very oppressive. I’m grateful for that. Coming from Virginia originally, I know what it’s like to feel like you need gills to breathe. We have had a few warm, humid days this year, but it’s really not been too bad at all. And pretty soon, after next week’s warm spell, it will get chilly and Fall will truly be upon us.

When Fall arrives in Germany, so do a lot of fun harvest related festivals. But, at the end of October, the wine stands end… I always find that sad, because the wine stands are a lot of fun, especially for Noyzi. We went to the one in our village last night, and Noyzi got to work on his social skills, make new friends, and enjoy a change of scenery. I got some photos of our fun.

You’ll notice there are also election candidates’ signs, which I took photos of a couple of days ago while walking Noyzi through the Dorfplatz. It’s always interesting to see what German politicians focus on when it comes time for elections. The first five photos are from a couple of days ago, while the ones with Noyzi and sunshine were taken last night.

Noyzi was a bit excited at first, but after about 45 minutes, he settled down. He also got to meet one of our neighbors, who was understanding when we explained that Noyzi is from Kosovo, which isn’t a very dog friendly place. He was abused before we got him, so he gets nervous around men. However, he’s come a LONG way, and calms down quickly when he realizes that someone is being friendly. He loves people, and he LOVES wine stands and Biergartens.

Something funny did happen last night. There’s a somewhat young looking couple in Breckenheim who sometimes attend the wine stands. They have two little kids. One is obviously a girl, but the jury is out on the other child, who is still very young. I thought it was a girl, but Bill thought it was a boy child. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

Anyway, the children’s father is a very gentle looking guy… kind of short and slender, with a beard and shoulder length blond hair. He actually looks like a shyer, younger version of the husband half of a LDS couple I knew when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid 1990s (they were my colleagues, not missionaries 😉 ). Every time I see this guy, I am reminded of Jason from Armenia. Both men are very “granola” looking, although by now, Jason is probably twice the local guy’s age.

So, this local beaded guy was wearing a down vest last night, as he was shepherding his small children. I was admiring how very patient and attentive he was toward his kids, playing with them, and making sure they didn’t get into any trouble. The children got a bit close to Noyzi, who was a little spooked. He doesn’t spend a lot of time with little kids, although I’m sure he would enjoy them if he got to know them– as long as they didn’t make too many fast moves.

Bearded guy comes up to Bill and asks in German if Noyzi minds children. Bill told him in German that Noyzi is friendly. I looked up at the beaded guy and immediately noticed that he had a baby doll hanging out of his vest! I was immediately charmed by that! What a great dad! Obviously, he was being a good Opa to his little girl’s baby. It was very cute, and my respect grew by leaps and bounds as he herded the children away from Noyzi.

There were a couple of other kids climbing up on the chest where the chess pieces are kept. Our Dorfplatz has a chessboard built into the brick floor of the village square. The kids were picking the grapes that grow in one corner of our Dorfplatz. Nobody seemed to mind… it looked to me like the grapes were about to turn into raisins, anyway.

We also saw our neighbor’s mother, a lovely, elderly matriarch who, I fear, is starting to suffer from the troubles that come with aging. We hadn’t seen her in awhile. She broke her leg a few months ago, and then seemed to be dealing with some confusion. She looked like she’s lost some weight, and I noticed she didn’t speak to us in English, as she had been up until around April or so.

I saw the same thing happen to our old Greek restaurant owning friend, the late “Mad Scientist” of Entringen, down near Stuttgart. He used to speak perfect English, having spent years working as an engineer in Canada. Then he moved to Germany with his second wife, learned German, and opened his restaurant. When we met him in 2007, he was married to wife number three, and joked about Barack Obama.

When we came back to Germany in 2014 or so, he was noticeably slower and spoke English less fluently… and then he couldn’t really speak it at all. I was sad when I read about his death in 2020. He was a good friend to us. I’m glad we were able to come back to his place, Agais, a few more times when we moved back to the Stuttgart area.

Anyway… we had a good time last night, didn’t stay too late, or drink too much. Noyzi was very good, and I don’t think any of us offended anyone. I love the wine stands and other community events in our little village. People are very relaxed and nice here. The wine helps! I feel grateful to be a part of it.

Below is a short video I took of Noyzi, who was grinning and having a great time, as always!

Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do today… I’d like to go do something fun, preferably somewhere we haven’t been. Our motivation is lacking lately, though… I guess that’s what happens when you live somewhere so long that it starts to feel too familiar.