1st day in Germany

After picking up my grandsons from kindergarten they were eager to show me their chickens. The six hens — Fiona, Coco, Coconut, Lucky, Robin and Princess — are obviously from a variety of breeds. Three are regular size and three are small. Some lay eggs a few times a week and others don’t lay very often.

I spent almost 24 hours travelling to visit my daughter’s family. I have decided that air travel is something I no longer enjoy.

We have a week together. This morning the boys came in quietly to wake me up, show me their Lego monster trucks and officially meet me. I’ll have a lot to learn in the next seven days. Already I have learned how to play their favourite board game and the purpose of each piece of a monster truck. I have watched each boy perform two cartwheels and have been schooled by their mother on what I can and can’t do in front of the boys. I’m sure there will be much more to learn this week.

They live in a small village, nicknamed “Pleasantville” by my other children. All the houses here are nicely kept, and the people greet each other with a polite “guten Morgen”, and a smile. The roads are clean, with many made of paving bricks.

The walk to kindergarten is along the edge of the forest on the left and a field of crops on the right. In the dark of morning we couldn’t see much more than the puddles we needed to step around, but the walk home at noon was full of discoveries such as pieces of fireworks leftover from New Year’s Eve, a drone destroyed by the fireworks that were taped to it, sticks, worms and what one would expect little boys to be excited about — dog turd.

This evening my daughter and I had a long talk about life in general — diet, KPU issues, sensitivities, German and European politics, etc. It’s hard to imagine how I was able to raise 4 fairly well-functioning people without all the knowledge that I have gained today. (Is there an emoji for sarcasm?)