Maggie and I walked around our new area yesterday for a bit – between Ikea headaches – and discovered a chicken roaster (my favorite!), a bakery (my favorite!), a little park (Maggie’s favorite!) and various cafes and restaurants; even a little art supply store. The Evangelical church nearby has pleasant bells and looks as though it is a concert venue, although the sign only posted summer concerts through September 19.
Today we had a VERY leisurely day. I pulled some weeds in my back weed patch (found the nettles) and discovered that there’s a pear tree just over my back wall. Also an owl, and a pussycat. No pea-green boat, but it’s the first cat I’ve seen in Berlin and I’ve already been here a month. And maybe it’s not an owl. It hooted all day long. I found a snail shell in spite of my efforts to avoid that particular metaphor when thinking about my situation; and a very oddly shaped black rock with a whitish coating, that looks more like a piece of whale vertebra than a rock. Can’t imagine what it is.
After these riveting discoveries I went to the flea market and bought a round, red carved wood-framed mirror (my new couch is red), which I probably won’t even be able to hang because of my solid masonry walls, and then walked the dog to the Friedrichshain Volkspark, where we happily found an off-leash dog play area. Maggie did her bit to uphold the image of the clumsy, stupid American, ricocheting off people, dogs, fencing, and trees with a look of mad glee. This dog needed to run. She had a WONDERFUL time. I’m not so sure about the other dogs.
Got the stink-eye again today! And a lecture to go with it, although I couldn’t understand it and completely ignored the woman who was scolding me for crossing against the light on the way home from the park. Sometimes it’s nice to be uncomprehending. There was not a car in sight for a mile in any direction. Wish I knew how to say “Get a life” in German, but it’s probably more satisfying in the long run just not to have acknowledged the diatribe at all.
I have lovely radiant heat in my floors. Very cozy on this chilly evening.
I am exhausted. It is 7 p.m. and I’m already eyeing my sofa-bed with a deep desire to lie down and see what happens.
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