april: spring in the country.

outside of wiesbaden, in the so called 'ländchen', there are several little villages, situated peacefully at the foothills of the taunus mountains. i refer to the region as 'the shire', you know, as in the place where the hobbits live in 'the lord of the rings' :) on one of my spring walks i discovered that auringen was in possession of a real hiking trail, approximately 8 km long. i had tried out the trail before, but failed miserably at following the correct paths, and ended up somewhere near medenbach ( i think i wrote about that in my last post. ) so of course i needed to return for a new try. the weather also was much better than the last time i visited, which made for a really beautiful walk. one of the downsides though, was the fact that the trail is badly signposted. i walked into dead ends at least twice, but i was determined to finish the walk this time, so i didn't give up.

tiny creeks are my favourite.

it's so great that every year the flowers begin to bud out of dead leaves again - it warms my heart every single time. and i just love the contrast.

passed by a pond. reflection time!

i'm so happy i managed to capture this eurasian jay so perfectly! they're such nice birds. in german they are called 'eichelhäher', because they hide acorns and caw with a rasping voice.

blooming blackthorns.

allotment gardens.

the mill of auringen is actually a really nice building.

and ducklings greet you at the gate.

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november: kickelhahn, himmelblau & weimar cemetery.

i had a week off in november and visited my parents ( as i often do on my vacations ). on a sunday morning we headed to the thuringian forest to climb onto the peak of the kickelhahn mountain. the kickelhahn mountain is the landmark mountain of the city of ilmenau . johann wolfgang von goethe , the famous writer & philosopher, often visited ilmenau and also climbed the kickelhahn. oftentimes he stopped at a little hut in the woods to relax for a while and on one of these stops he wrote one of his most known poems. our little adventure didn't last the whole day, though, as we had a little date with the weimar cemetery to look after the grave of my grandparents and then to visit my cousin and his family. tiny peek onto the kickelhahn tower. thuringian woods - deep dark green. at the goethe hut. this plate shows the german version of the poem goethe wrote here. inside the hut. and here's the english translation. i love this poem so much, as ...

in the forests.

it's that time of the year again.

july '20: lake petersdorf discoveries and a plea against genocide.

the green wild meadows of malchow's sandfeld. in the west of malchow there is a big chunk of forest that spans towards plauer see, a widely 'uncultivated' area these days, but it hasn't always been this way. in my last post i mentioned the nazi munition factory that had been built in these woods, away from prying eyes of their enemies and where they also built an external subcamp for the concentration camp ravensbrück. exactly these woods we explored on a pretty sunny day, betraying the darkness that happened around these parts. isn't it weird that there are places in this world that were built or used by dark forces and horrible regimes and you vist them 80 years later and they are the most peaceful places you can imagine? sometimes my brain can't cope with the contrast of knowing what was in the past and what the present looks and feels like. it definitely leaves me with a strange impression often, kind of like a little sting in my heart and brain that is not ...

ghost of nature.

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