Today

Greetings from Kasewinkel.

Kind of a strange day today. All the farmers in the area must be eating pheasant for New Year's, because I swear every single one of them was out hunting today. Now that I'm a country girl, temporarily, I get to think about gunfire and where it is coming from, and am adept at scanning the fields and woods for blaze orange. Aengus and I were out walking for almost two hours today, and I probably heard at least 100 gunshots - no exaggeration. It makes for a more tense walk than I would prefer, but I guess I'm the guest in their community, and I shouldn't really complain.

Speaking of pheasants, while we were in the woods today, two females took flight about 10 feet from us, but either they're better at running along than flying, or they were freaked out by the hunters, because both of them flew directly into tree trunks. One of them fell to the ground before flying off again, but the other managed to stay airborne.

And one last tidbit that has nothing to do with anything... People here in Kasewinkel do not do laundry between Christmas and New Years. Evidently there is a longstanding superstition that if one does laundry during that time, and specifically if one hangs the laundry to dry, that someone in the family will die. I think it is ridiculous, but nevertheless, I have not done laundry since the 23rd.

Aengus and I came back to an empty, quiet house. No people, no music, no tv. A rarity. It is bliss.

Stay warm.