Ihi Lani (Heavenly Splendor)

I learned and accomplished a lot in the laboratory this week. I really enjoy working with Ute, the lab manager, because she is so nice, friendly, and helpful. Sadly, she is on vacation for the next two weeks. I will miss her. My joy in my work was slightly dampened this week by simultaneously having a cold and my time of the month. The combination of ailments was frustrating and discouraging.

As if physical ailments weren't enough, I was put out a little mentally by my 5-year old fish Blau calling it quits this week. I am very proud of how long he lived. I got him for free when I was at the AuSable Institute for Environmental Studies in Michigan during sophomore year Interim. He was already a year old when I acquired him from the chef who had raised him and his siblings as centerpieces for the chef's wedding. I enjoyed having a pet of my very own, but he also taught me that having a pet means getting a babysitter whenever you are away from home for more than a couple of days. Thankfully, Kathy and my mother were gracious enough to care for Blau in my absence. I heard a song on the radio a few days ago that said, “I was born to live”, which made me scoff because it was so obvious. But, the lyrics could also have said, “I was born to die”, because it is also true that everything which is born eventually dies. Blau has gone the way of those that have the privilege to live.

There are days when it really does feel like this house is out to get me. Within the span of fifteen minutes this evening I had acquired a bump on the top of my head and a toe in need of some new skin. Yesterday evening, half of my body ate the door frame between the kitchen pantry and kitchen proper. Sacsha was an audience to that incident and warned me to keep watch of door frames. He explained that the builders constructed the house with these wonderful openings called doorways so that we don't have to walk into walls. What can I say in my defense? Nothing.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday (Friday) so I enjoyed the afternoon roaming on my bicycle. My main destination was the animal shelter. It was wonderful to see the big dogs and the little puppies. There were lots of hairy rabbits to admire. European animals always have so much more facial hair than their American counterparts. I visited with a few cats whose living quarters door was open, which was absolutely delightful! I let the cats just walk back and forth next to me and stroke my hands with their sleek bodies. The feeling of animal fur is “ihi lani” (heavenly splendor, for those of you who don't know Hawaiian and Michelle's name!). I really wanted to go hug a dog, but I didn't think I should since I wasn't actually there to adopt. I think the animal shelter is privately run, like the Humane Society. The facility was super clean, the living spaces for the animals spacious and comfortable, and multiple animals lived together, which makes for more sociability. I may have to visit the place again, perhaps in a month, so as to not arouse suspicion by returning too soon.

While I waited for the animal shelter to open (they are only open for a few hours in the late afternoon), I made a loop around the “berg”, which means “mountain”, but is in fact just the biggest hill in town where all the really wealthy people live. It was fascinating to see their modern, big, fancy houses with big grassy yards. I also found a forest, which inspired me to check out more of Erlangen's forests on Saturday.

Saturday has been a good day. I slept in as late as I could and when I couldn't sleep any more I stayed in bed reading. I have finished reading “Seneca, Letters from Stoic”. I am sad about this. I really enjoyed his insights and encouragements for how to live a satisfying life. I also read some “Anne of Green Gables”, which is such a wonderful book. Anne is so smart, creative, and optimistic. After a tasty brunch of spinach filled bread and cheesy bread I made it out of the house for the day while it was barely still morning. On the city map I saw a large forest over on the east side of Erlangen, so that was my destination. I was hoping that it was a public forest where I could hike and read.

When I arrived at the edge of the forest I found a wide, smooth, natural floored path and no sign saying bikes were forbidden, so I decided to bicycle the woods instead of hike. When I came across anything interesting, like a pond or flowers, I got off my bike for a closer inspection. After a few minutes in the forest, I saw many other bicyclists enjoying the beautiful trails, so I knew that bicycling was permitted. Germany has many forests like this one. Its an interesting thing to notice about Germany that people cram themselves into cities, living all on top of each other, and then in between cities are swaths of agricultural land and large forests.

Outside of recreation, the forest I was in today is also a working forest. I read a sign which explained that the area was a “water protection area” for the supply of a clean, healthy groundwater/drinking water supply to Erlangen. The forest is also used for forestry, as evidenced by the types of trees, their far-from-random growth pattern, and the strips of cut-down trees. Lots of forests in Michigan are also working forests or the regrowth of once working forests, so I was not really disappointed that I wasn't in a “wilderness”.

I found a lovely place to sit down, write and read among the mossy ground, tall swaying pines, and chorus of birds. After a period of taking in the beauty surrounding me, I delved into my new book, “Heimweh, Kitsch, and Co.”. I quite enjoyed the first chapter and look forward to future readings. The text is mostly factual, but the author phrases things in a friendly sort of way here and there, which makes me feel very comfortable, like she's a friend giving me a private lesson. By mid-afternoon I had written, read, thoroughly enjoyed my time in the forest and was ready to head back out. I took the long route out, since I didn't want to return the same way I came, and I didn't have a map to tell me where I was going. I was perfectly pleased roaming about the forest on my well-behaved bicycle.

When I got home, I decided that I still wanted to enjoy more of the day and that I hadn't gotten enough walking exercise, so I went for a jog. I also went for a jog on Friday and since that route along the floodplain and train tracks had pleased me so much, I took it again! I love how my body feels when I jog. I feel so full of life! It is so pleasant to jog around town because I can see what all is going on in “my neighborhood” and simply enjoy being outdoors.

Yesterday the outdoors played a mean trick on me! I was jogging on the sidewalk and approaching a spot on the asphalt that was covered in a lot of bird poop. I thought about how I really hoped that no bird would poop on me as I went under that spot. Instead of poop falling on me though, a very dead and slightly mangled bird dropped to the ground about a foot away from me! I was so surprised and disgusted! Today I jogged out into the empty street to be as far away from that creepy spot as I could be.

When I got home I tried to follow the same advice I have been giving my mother and did some crunches and girly push-ups to make for a more well-rounded workout in addition to the jogging. It was when I went for a weigh-in on the upstairs scale that the opened window wacked me on top of my head and when I went into the shower that the half-foot tall metal edge bit my toe. A bad ending to a good workout and good day!

“Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?”-said Anne, Anne of Green Gables, Chapter XXI