Out and About in My Neighborhood

Took a walk around the neighborhood tonight. Right down the street from the house I found the Rohr Ski Club. Of course it is 69 degrees and sunny but maybe we can figure out what they offer between now and the next snowfall. They have a web site and it looks like they plan trips... I also found a hair saloon just down the street the other direction, not sure if it is reasonable but I am due to a trim, so I might try it out.

With the weather being so nice the neighborhood kids have been out and our sidewalks are covered with chalk drawings, hop scotch boards and cute scribbles. It looks like Ryan has been here with me! I guess this is a universal pastime and I bet some of the chalk came in Easer baskets! I went down our STEEP hill but the BIG problem with this is what goes down must come back up. I was sucking wind by the time I got back up to the top. Going to have to work on that one; by summer I hope to be able to do it without a significant change in breathing patterns.

I then headed down a forest path that ran along side the road. Every few feet something would slither in the leaves and underbrush. I never saw anything but certainly was glad that I was on a well established trail and it was daylight. It has started staying light till about 8:00 now so evening walks will be on the schedule more frequently! The trees are starting to bud and soon the forest will be so much prettier. I am getting tired of looking at leafless trees!

Lots of people are out walking in our neighborhood, one lady in particular we see frequently walking her dog. She has a short spiky haircut, is probably in her late 60 maybe even 70’s. Her hair is what makes her stand out. It is white except for the colored patches of bright red, pink blue and green. Today it looked like she had dipped parts of her hair in the left over Easter egg dye! She smiled as we past each other; this is a first too. Most of the the other walker don’t even acknowledge that they are passing you but I got a smile this evening so I think she is starting to warm up to me!

Tonight I noticed that many of the neighbors are moving out doors. I saw several couples eating dinner on their balconies and some of the porches have been decorated for spring and the lawn and yard chairs are starting to show up. We need to get some chairs for our balcony! Am wishing we had known and could have brought over our chase, tables and love seat as they would have been perfect for our back porch and balcony.

And the flowers...maybe it is because it was such a snowy winter but it seems like there are more flowers here than back at home. Everywhere I look there are flowers. Right now it is mostly the early flowering bulbs and some pansies but based on the number of these I am seeing, my expectations are high for all the flower beds that I am seeing being worked.

And then there are the song birds. The evening air is filled with the sound of birds happily tending to their nests. I have never lived this close to such a large wooded area before so this is new to me. I have heard birds before, even gotten a BobWhite to call back to me (at Lake Eufaula) but never have I heard such a chorus of what seems like thousands of birds all singing their own song but blending into such wonderful sounds. Sure beats the 59th street car sounds (of course it wouldn’t take much to beat that)!

So spring in Germany has not really been explored beyond the streets in our neighborhood but we hope to be able to get out and see some more of Germany soon, but what I can see and do right here in my new front yard is enough to keep me intrigued and occupied for a while.