The biggest thing I have to get used to right now is Ruhezeit. Time every day for quiet. Here it is 1-3pm, and all day Sunday. So no practice for me!
I took the opportunity of a day off to trek to the local nature reserve, Büsnau and the Pfaffenwald, which is about 3.5km from where I live. The reserve is home to nuthatches, yellowhammers, many birds of prey, frogs (like I have never seen before!), and beautiful wildflowers. In a lot of ways the woodland is similar to what I am used to in the UK, but if you tune into the finer details there are subtle differences. Geraniums grow wild and in abundance. You won’t see one nuthatch, but five or six together. And I was honestly not expecting to meet so many hawks, kites and falcons on the edge of a city!
Nestled on the edge of the reserve is the university campus. Most of it looks like it was built in the 70s, but it manages to sit on the edge of this beautiful landscape without dominating it. Nature runs through the campus - ponds fringed with reeds and bulrushes. Long avenues of trees. It seems like an idyllic place to study.
Of course, we have our own city parks in the UK. But this park achieves a wildness that I have never really experienced - certainly not in London (I can’t profess to great knowledge of the parks in other cities!)
Nature has been a huge source of solace for me during lockdown, as I know it has for many others. We aren’t out of the woods yet with this pandemic, so knowing I can get my ‘fix’ just 40 minutes from my flat is hugely comforting. And there’s a bakery en route! This morning I sampled a Hefe Nuss pastry - apparently it’s some kind of vegan cinnamon bun…
Now it is time to settle into my Sunday evening, and listen to the children playing outside in the street. Perhaps Ruhezeit isn’t so sacred after all!!
