It’s kind of a funny thing to talk about being rooted… when one has lost nearly all of their personal belongings… twice and is currently living out of an average size red suitcase with wheels… but still maintains a modest, closet-size storage space outside New Orleans… But rooted is what presents itself to me… today.
And speaking of roots, the German word I learned this week (who is counting… and how many words left to learn…?) is unkraut. Kind of like Sauerkraut… except not. Unkraut means weeds. Kraut means herb or plant… add the “un” and it is saying “that is not a plant” … or something along those lines… Of course what is unkraut is subjective… One man’s weed is another man’s feast. When tending the garden at the seminar house in Wettenbostel, the weeds I look out for the most are called stinging nettles. They grow like wildfire, are very lightly rooted so easy to pull out and if they touch your skin it hurts and you get a red prickly rash in that area. But, not to worry… I am told the sting is good for you… medicinal in some way. However, this same unkraut, the nettle, to a new friend I met this weekend is, well, I guess “kraut”. He loves the stinging nettle. Says it is filled with vitamins and blends them up in his vitamix in the morning with fresh fruit for breakfast…
Well my American visitors from New Orleans have left today on their way to Berlin, just the next step in their unfolding exploration of the planet… route and plan determined as it goes…. and I too have a taste and wondering of what might be next for me. Being in Hamburg has built my curiosity to explore other areas, but I also look forward to returning to the quiet and new-found familiarity of friends and place in Wettenbostel. For now my pocketbook and my instincts remind me to keep it simple… even when my mind, fears or ambitions are scattered with ideas.
And…I have found so much joy in keeping it simple! Just this past Saturday I went with a new Hamburg friend on a bicycle ride up the river Elbe settling in on the beach. A rare sunny almost summer like day in Hamburg. And this day my naïve American self gets introduced to the easy nakedness of Europe as the beach is dotted with casual naked bodies – young and old… some at ease in conversation like they were talking to a neighbor while checking the mail. And others standing strong and proud like a peacock. I try to be relaxed and at ease with the unfamiliar nakedness… Later that day I was treated to a home cooked meal of fresh German potatoes with Cauliflower cooked up with a little green onion and a light cheese sauce… salad on the side. It was yummy and felt good to my heart. I love being fed.
Sunday morning I joined my New Orleans visitors as they went to the local fish market. We left the house at 6:30 am… a time my body has not willingly seen in … a very long time… and we soon found ourselves down by the river in a sea of people, fresh produce and fish, and even beer and a band playing 80s rock cover songs. We were there early enough to see the night crowd spilling into the morning as well as the fresh early morning faces, dancing among the tables and beer. I ate a fish sandwich for breakfast and greeted the morning scene with curiosity and… hesitation.
Later that day I met a friend of a friend for coffee. Having been an introvert for so long, sometimes it takes all of my courage to leap out of the flat and meet new faces…pushing myself out the door like when I was 15 and my mother had to force me out of the car to meet a boy on a first date. But I go and connect and we have much in common – reiki, Buddhism, love of the outdoors. He has recently left Hamburg and moved to a small town to live simply on the land, which of course I could relate to. He also eats stinging nettles….
And where am I today… well in my temporary space in Hamburg shortly to return to Wettensbostel for the weekend to help out with a wedding event… and wondering what is next or what else is out there… not knowing how it will unfold and in all of that strangely… rooted. Not rooted in this or that or anything in particular… but rooted in me. Like a seed has grown within me and sprouted wings. Oh sure I still feel a bit neurotic. Am more moody than I wish to let others see… but just today and a little bit last week I noticed something new in me…. it was…happiness… And I found it…odd… So this is happiness… a little “kraut” growing in me. Taking root… without expectations…
Gypsy Woman 
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