The View from the Kitchen Window

In Germany it's customary to open your windows in the morning to bring in fresh air. It starts with the bedroom as soon as you're awake. The covers get folded back, the outside blinds are pulled up to let in the morning light, providing your first glimpse of the day that awaits, and finally the windows are swung open. Fresh air seems to be a prerequisite in German homes.

On a cold winter days, when the snow covered car outside needs to be cleaned off and the windshield scraped, you are even reminded of the importance of clean fresh air outside. It's a law here that you must refrain from starting your car simply to warm it up. You get ticketed if you leave your car idling for any prolonged period of time. I've never seen the Polizei enforcing any such regulation, but there seems to be a national conscience about things like this. Germany is a land of rules. I haven't yet mentioned my impressions of the Autobahn, the storied system of highways interconnecting Germany that in many areas allow drivers to travel at whatever speed the traffic conditions will allow. On my regular travels with Marietta on the A8, we generally move along at 75-95 miles per hour (120-150 kph) with the occasional Euro sedans buffeting the car as they fly past of speeds well in excess of ours. The point is, because Germans are raised with a mentality geared toward following rules, things here, like the Autobahn, just work. The Autobahn rules are as follows: you drive in the right-most lane possible, passing is only allowed on the left, if you get behind someone slower, you simply need to signal with your left blinker until allowed to pass, and above all WATCH YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR! As I mentioned, I've seen very little law enforcement, even on the highways where you'd think they would be ready and waiting for leadfoots ignoring the reduced speed areas. In almost two months here, I've seen a Polizei car on the side of the Autobahn only once, and we've seen only one accident and that was minor and the result of icy conditions.

So back to the windows. As I write this it occurs to me that I'm still divided on what comes next. I've made the decision to get back to work. It's not as easy at it might sound though. From what I see of the economy back in New England, things are pretty bleak, or so I'm told. Barack Obama's plan to put America back to work may end up heralding a new era, but won't be happening any time soon enough for this particular quest (not that I'm particularly good at rebuilding bridges anyway). I think the most sensible thing for me at this moment is to find an internet based phone job that will travel with me. A vagabond friend of mine had such a gig and it funded, and continues to fund, his travels across Canada and New Zealand. The world has gotten to be such a small place when it comes to communications. I'm typing on my keyboard in Augsburg Germany and it's populating a webpage that's sitting on a computer somewhere in California. I can pick up the phone here and talk to my Mom on the other side of the ocean just as easily and clearly as I did when I was in Brattleboro Vermont, only 25 miles away. And it's only about a penny a minute. I think it costs more to actually call her from Bratt. Anyway...

I know I'm rambling, but I'm at a loss for anything better than this at the moment. My journey has brought me to this spot, at this moment, and it's my job to make sense of it. I've so often felt the pull to return to something safe and familiar, to head back to Turners Falls or Brattleboro and resume whatever it was I had going for me at the time, this time committed to doing it even better, but it also occurs to me that this is what I should be doing at this point in my life, this is exactly where I'm supposed to be and I just need to have the guts to stick it out. I need to be willing to expose myself to uncertainty until I'm able to see the path clearly enough before me once again. Life in a foreign land apart from family and friends and familiar surroundings, especially without a clear and pressing purpose, as with those serving in the military, can be confusing at times. The decision to stay here or go there seems less tangible, and for me anyway, far less immediate. The future benefit of life here with someone I love, on the other hand, even separated from that familiarity and easy comfort of home, is likely more than I am able to imagine. Only time will tell.

For now, I'm committed to gaining some mastery of the German language, as long as I'm here, it would be nice to be able to communicate with people on their terms and not always on mine. I'm going to find the right company that will allow me again be part of something larger than myself, with a mission that I can believe in, and in return, hopefully benefit from a good income. And lastly, I'm going to enjoy the fresh air and maybe even bake more muffins. Another benefit of German windows: big window sills. That's all I got for now.

Muffin anyone? ~B

*Please forgive my edits. It sometimes takes me awhile for the thoughts to settle in my head before I actually get them right.