heart-shaped cake

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This post is about a 20km walk from Dirlammen to Blankenau. I have some communication issues, and then I turn forty-two.

In the morning Sabine and her husband were at work, but her parents Anita and Klaus were home. They gave me breakfast, and then we sat there for a while, enjoying tea and conversation.

the cake

Actually, we sat there for hours, until Sabine showed up to take Karlsson for a walk. Anita gave me a heart-shaped cake that she had made from leftover dough during her last baking session. She didn’t know that I was going to be forty-two in less than twelve hours, and that this would be my birthday cake.

a good day to walk

I walked with Sabine and Karlsson for a little bit, then I was alone with the road again. There were yellow and orange leaves everywhere, and the sky looked like it wasn’t going to rain anytime soon. It seemed like a good day for my last walk during this forty-second year of my life.

The town of Herbstein had a supermarket. I went in and bought the usual supplies, along with a tube of potato chips, a can of doctor pepper, and a cup of green jelly with vanilla sauce. It was going to be my birthday at midnight, and I wanted to celebrate it in style.

sweet/dude

A while later I was about to enter a muddy forest road, but I was confused if it was the right way. There were some construction workers nearby, so I decided to ask them. I’ll have to render our conversation in German for you:

Me: Tschuldigung, ist dieser Weg passierbar? (Excuse me, is this road passable?)

Worker: “Ja, das müsste gehen.” (“Yes, should be okay.)

Und wo führt er hin? (And where does it lead?)

“Nach Schlechtenwegen.” (“To Badroads.”)

Okay, noch mehr schlechte Wege, aber wohin? (Okay, more bad roads, but where to?)

[Confused smiles, then laughter]

As it turned out, the next village was aptly named Schlechtenwegen, meaning Badroads.

chips and dr pepper

A few hours later I was in Judith’s and Berthold’s barn. They lived on a farm in the hills above Blankenau, and they had invited me to stay in their built-out party barn that had a bar and a restroom.

I took a foot bath and made some cup-noodles with tofu. I lit a candle that I had brought. And then, after dinner, I got out the heart-shaped cake that Grandma Anita had given to me.

And then I was forty-two.

pictures

the walk from Dirlammen to Blankenau:

with Sabine and her parents

Karlsson

Sabine walking with Karlsson

horses staring at me

the forest road out of Dirlammen

I sit on a pretty road.

Herbstein

house in Herbstein

bridge near Herbstein

the muddy road to Schlechtenwegen

Schlechtenwegen literally means “bad ways”

the Caboose in Berthold’s saw mill

Berthold covering his wood chippings

Blankenau at night

my barn at Judith’s and Berthold’s place

evening foot bath

birthday dinner

birthday candle

heart-shaped cake