Archive | Travel Stories RSS feed for this section

Community

21 Oct

Just another day here in Wettenbostel.  I can feel the rhythms and the flow of all of us here living together as our lives weave through, near and around each other.  The ins and the outs of the day.  The colorful life of living in community.

I woke up this morning to join the lately typical morning crew in kitchen… my friend the bicycling traveling German, Jörn and our host.  They were having a hearty morning conversation… mostly in German.  My host is Canadian but has lived here for about 25 years… so German has become part of his nature.  He can switch from English to German like changing the channel.  Often I have to remind him… as he is speaking to me in German… English please… English… and I push the English button and he speaks English.

I am talking more about learning German… and when people ask me if I have learned any German I now talk more about wanting to, or trying to, or exploring that.  More German has been spoken around here lately with Jörn staying at Seminar Haus… so I find the motivation to learn has increased.  Different people have offered different suggestions.  Learn one word a day… watch movies in German.  So the door to learning is opening… It would be nice to be a part of the secret German world currently such a mystery to me.

It is so wild to be present to a conversation spoken with sounds that I cannot even discern as words.  Language.  Wow.  Really something else. As an American speaking English perpetually and exclusively for so many years in the great big island of America… I came to think, although not consciously, that the language I used to describe things was fixed like truth.  A toothbrush is a toothbrush… right?  But it’s not… In German it is called a zahnbürste… or at least that is what Google Translate says… my trusted translating companion.

Jörn and my hosts have departed briefly for the nearest town, Luneburg.  It is a beautiful city and the place to go often for shopping and other needs.  Jörn who joined us here in Wettenbostel  as a first step in a New Adventure returns now to Luneburg, his home, for a few days… with bicycle in tow.  What is next on his adventure?  It seems it is still unfolding.  I venture to say that he will go will the flow.  I too will do a little flowing… this weekend as I head for a little excursion to Hamburg.  My friend Olaf is leading a healing seminar on Sunday and I will go to attend.

And for now… just a little time on my own… as the ebb and flow of my community in Wettenbostel has shifted on to Lüneburg giving me some time to soak in the silence in the brisk autumn air.  Some time to myself.  Nice and appreciated… but also appreciated is being connected to, among and in… community.

Photo by Michael Hartley

Tags: ,

Warm Season

19 Oct

Well, despite the cold arriving here in Wettenbostel… a warm season has been predicted in my life…. by our bicycling traveling German friend still here in Wettenbostel…  I will accept that prediction.  And look forward to it… with gratitude.

My loyal porch companion and American friend Dan has moved on to new pastures as Sunday he left for Switzerland.  A bittersweet departure seeing a friend move on.  But…  I did move into his room… for now my room.  I can still feel and smell his presence in there.  The ghost of Dan gently guiding me… tapping me in this direction and that on how to be a good caretaker of myself and the Seminar Haus while I am here.  Perhaps some of it will rub off on me.

I am learning how to stay warm in cold Northern Germany… as we have already had our first frost and some of the beautiful flowers and vegetables in the garden are wilting in defeat.  I am heeding well to good intentioned tips like keeping my warm wool socks on the heater to keep them warm and dry and seeking to keep my hands, neck and feet warm.  My scarf is my constant companion.  Learning to make pots of tea to travel with me during the day and basking in the sun whenever possible.  But in addition to learning to keep my body warm and doing so gently and gingerly… I am learning to keep me heart warm.  Just a little.  Beginning to let loose of some of the jagged and prickly edges locked into place like a frozen ghost.  Allowing for a space… if ever so brief… to let go of my thoughts and be in the moment with kindness, good feelings…and warmth.  Ah.  Letting go of the past… the jagged ridged actions of reacting to so much…trying to keep my hand on everything all at once. The forced persistence after hurricane Katrina and other things.  Ah.  A warm season beginning in me as the cool frost sneaks in.

I am feeling so much energy shifting right now.  It seems that so much is changing although as I look around me I cannot say exactly what.  It feels as if I am riding on a rush of energy somehow changing my life… and where it will end I am not sure.  For now I explore keeping my focus is the present although my mind likes to wander and consider what will happen next… like the exciting next episode of a longed for drama series.  Surrender is the call.  I see it sitting next to me… smiling its devilish grin.  Waiting for me to let go and fall to the ways of the unknown.  Intuition seems to be the guide.. finding my way through the dark and unseen.

My beloved computer is now on its way to working again.  New hard drive and system in place I am happily now typing on my own keyboard.  Only one thing is different.  My computer has been through a transformation.  It now speaks German.  German system software, German keyboard… And for now… my computer speaks German better than I do.  My loyal computer repair friends have assured me they will look for system software that speaks English.  But in the meantime I am getting to know my old friend with a foreign twist.

Things are a little quieter again here in Wettenbostel.  With Dan gone and the peak of energy from the weekend party died down… it is now mostly myself and our visiting bicycling friend….fending our way through the cold and warmth of Wettenbostel…. with occasional visits from our hosts and regular electrician, general handyman and friend.  So here I am.  One step at a time.  One day at a time.  Exploring and beginning to find warmth in the cold.

Photo Deep in the Garden by Michael Hartley

Tags: , ,

Tender

16 Oct

Sometimes it becomes apparent to me just how important it is to be tender.  Tender to myself and tender to those around me.  I had a little dose of tender yesterday for myself and it went a long way.

It was late in the day and I was at the Seminar Haus.  I called up my hostess whose home is just up the street to see if she would like to take a stroll.  She was just about to head out to walk down the street to buy some honey from the local forester who also keeps bees.  You see, it is my understanding that each village or community has its own forester to look after the woods.  The forester in Wettenbostel lives in a big beautiful home, typical German large brick home.  So she asked me to join her for a stroll there.  I hopped on a bicycle, rode to her house and then we walked down the road to get the honey.  When we arrived we greeted the foresters wife and I said my German… “Hallo” and smiled… after which point I have no idea what is being said in the conversation between her and my hostess.  We retrieved the honey nonetheless.  A beautiful golden Wettenbostel flavor.  Then we went back to her house and made a cake. Poppy seed. Sugar free… sweetened with honey.  A joy for me as I do not eat refined sugar.  And it was just… fun.  To bake a little.  Separate a few egg whites, seeing the butter mixing into the batter.  A little tenderness that I had not treated myself to in a long time.  Companionship in the kitchen and baking.  And some nice tea.  A rooibus tea.  Yum!

After the ingredients for the cake were happily finding their way together, I snuck into the front room and found my way to the grand piano.  Ah!  What a love!  I took piano lessons as a kid and there has always been somethings about connection with the keys of the piano for me.  I can still imagine and feel the grand piano upstairs in my piano teacher`s living room when I was a child.  As I began to play their piano I realized that my fingers were starved… starved for the delicate touch and feeling of connecting with the keys, feeling the weight and the strength as the notes are plucked… and ah the feeling of the pedal on my feet… the damper pedal… connecting the sounds of the notes fluidly together.  Feeling the melody unfold beneath my fingers.  It was like the little child in me who used to love playing the piano was in need of some attention.  So I played for a little bit.  After not playing for so many years, my repertoire is limited… but it was lovely just the same.

In receiving these little bits of tenderness it became apparent just how much I was in need of the them… and that it is essential that I keep my heart open for little ways to delicately tend to that need.  Essentially really.  It’s a need for something… like to be connected to something delicate and sweet… that is almost like the fabric of my being.  As I nurtured that in me I saw the other things that were crying for attention.  Painting.  I have not painted for a long time and have been very hard on myself.  But somewhere, something in me is crying to tend to that need.  It can be quite easy to just go on my day working, doing what I need to do, tending to the basics of this life here Wettenbostel ignoring or denying that which I need or crave.  But it is a survived life rather than a life where I really get to see and be me.  So I see those little things that I need and the quality and beauty connected to them.

Last night we had a party at the Seminar Haus.  It was our hosts 65 birthday.  He jokingly called it his retirement party.  I was curious how it would go as I tend to be prone to panic when groups of people collect.  Surprisingly I felt reasonably…grounded.  Groups of our hosts friends came and along with them musical instruments.  So we had two different bands playing music until deep in the night.  It has been my habit of late to sneak away and hide when social activities come to call… but the excitement of live music set up in the “Little Dojo” called to me much more clearly than any nervousness or anxiety.  Not that I did not have some.  Yes, of course I did!  But I also danced and shook my groove thing and had a pretty good time.

And now it is the day after.  Funny I almost feel like I have a hangover even though I don´t drink anymore.  I woke up feeling a little heavy, reluctant to leave the warmth and comfort of my room uncertain of all the voices and many people joining in the kitchen for the informal day after breakfast.  I took some lovely comfort this morning reading from A Course in Miracles.  Sometimes there is nothing like being connected to the spirit of God and that ultimate feeling of home to find ones way in the day.  And in that way… it is so good to be at home.  Tender.

Tags: , ,

Cool autumn night

14 Oct

It is a cool Friday evening in Wettenbostel.  It is after 9pm, that is 21:00 European time.  The bite in the cold air reminds me I am not in New Orleans anymore… but still… being here has its benefits.

The highlight for tonight was catching a good glimpse of the sun setting.  Stripes of purple and gold melting into the evening sky.  And a little good company for the show was appreciated too.  Then, returning to Wettenbostel the nearly full moon was hiding behind a patch of clouds.  All we could see was the glimmer of light giving a hint of  the full story that the moon had to tell.  Then making the way home to the Seminar Haus… meandering in the dark through the potatoes fields… entering through the woods in the back finally giving way to the open space in back by the hot tub.

With  movement and departure surrounding me… Dan my fellow American and porch companion leaving on Sunday for Switzerland and our German traveling bicycling visitor seeking his next destination beyond Wettenbostel, I can feel a little tug of my own wondering if there is any change calling out for me.  My inner voice whispers let go and trust.  And in the quietness of the autumn night it seems quiet possible.  To let go and trust.

For now I will keep things  simple and sweet.  My computer is awaiting a new hard drive and I am typing on a computer in a cold room in the little dojo, a building next door to where I stay.  My comfortable, warm heated room is calling my name.  I must surrender to its call!

Photo of Autumn in Wettenbostel by Michael Hartley

Tags: , , ,

Moon Over Wettenbostel

12 Oct

I took an evening stroll as the sun was setting.  Fall has found its way to Wettenbostel and as I walk there are gaps in the trees where leaves used to be with sparks of color grabbing my attention.  I looked up at the evening sky and was greeted by the full moon resting on a blanket of clouds lazily making their way over Wettenbostel.  I stepped away from the Seminar Haus through the woods to walk the farm roads outlining the fields surrounded by borders of forest.  A clear sky.  A fullness.  A brightness.  Enjoying the still newness and strangeness of being in Germany tucked amongst the potato fields unburdened by its beauty.

The sun was out today.  A welcome break after two days of rain.  Today we leveled the field  covering up the hole where the sewage pipe was installed for one of the buildings.  The excitement of the chore was our host searching for rocks, digging them up like buried treasure.  We then collected them in piles to be hauled away, happily sitting and kneeling in the dirt enjoying the beauty and phenomenon of “work clothes”… meant to be dirty. What a good time I had today… playing in the dirt with the guys, music blasting in the open field.  I cooked a nice little lunch today with fresh beets and leeks from the garden served with other veggies over brown rice.

I am appreciating tonight the warmth of my jacket purchased at a thrift store in the Netherlands along with my comfy scarf gifted to me by the universe… found on the ground in Amsterdam… now laundered and fresh and ready to wear.  Tonight not much remains but the briskness of the night air… and the optional evening hot tub later.    Our “visiting bicycling traveler”, as I call him,  tells me that you can see your future in the moon… as he considers his own journey and next steps.  It is so bright tonight I will have to take a look and see what it has to say for me.  Then a good night sleep in bedroom of many dreams… I wonder what I will dream tonight…

Photo Autumn in Wettenbostel by Michael Hartley

Tags: , , , ,

The River

11 Oct

It is rainy today in Wettenbostel.  With the autumn air coming in it’s a little chilly and it is hard to keep dry and cool.  Still there is a quietness in the air today as the guys are spending their time installing a new sewage line.  Some nights spent in the hot tub enjoying the warmth of the water in contrast to the coolness of the air and sometimes the freshness of a light rain, looking up at the stars.

It is nice to feel content for a little bit. The quietness of Wettenbostel and the expansiveness of the land around. With the pouring of the rain and the brisk air my mind today is at ease.  Ah.  Just a little exhale as an easiness creeps into my body… still curious about this European adventure of mine but for today less concerned about it.  Our traveling bicyclist is still here working diligently and Dan has not yet left for his next adventure in Switzerland.  This Saturday is our hosts birthday celebration after which both proclaim that they will move on from Wettenbostel.

Somewhere in the midst of being a little hectic and scattered over the past couple of days I felt something shift within me, my inner voice whispering that I am flowering and going with the flow.  How nice to receive some gentle feedback and how grateful I am to allow gentleness to find its way in.  It`s that river, that current that has its own rhythm flowing within me.  I am beginning to feel its strength that I am part of… connected to.  Its current seems to move swiftly within me while my feet feel firmly planted on the ground.  My dreams have been crazy lately.  I am told by my host that the room I am sleeping in is the dreaming room.  For some reason people say that they dream a lot in that room.

And now it is time to go work.  No guests this week and the house is all clean.  I will likely help out in organizing the barn today in the wake of the good work and organization of our traveling bicyclist.  And I have just been invited to clear the energy of the barn.  Yeah!  Always fun to do!  Until next time… feeling the flow.

Tags: , , ,

Grosse Lebensschule

8 Oct

Grosse Lebenscchule.  In english this means “Big School of Life”… these were the words offered to me today while walking with our bicycling visitor from the near-by town of Lüneburg… who is en route to Italy… temporarily delayed in the enchantment of the Seminar Haus and Wettenbostel.  He said “I think Europe for you is Grosse Lebensschule…”   I said, “I think you are right!”

Lesson 101:  Culinary skills.  It is no secret on this blog that work in the kitchen has been mostly a foreign affair for me.  Right next to learning German is the foreign land of the ins and outs of working and happily preparing, serving, and cleaning up in a kitchen.  This domesticy has leaked into my world… and somewhere in there I think i am beginning to see the lesson.  It lives somewhere in the world of generosity… and not far away from being of service. This week I have prepared a meal for our group every day.  Not a world record I know.  Many moms and grandmas and yes even dads I am sure would leave me in the dust without breaking a sweat.  But for me this is… growth. I am learning little by little good things that can be prepared in simple ways and with the inspiration of my host learning to prepare things a little sharp… that is English-German for a little zest!  a little spice! I prepared some vegetable curry the other day.  Very simply cooked with some cocoanut milk added at the end for flavor.  Served over rice.  Today I cooked a lentil soup.  I was teased a little as the red lentils no longer looked red, but I have to say it was quite good… particularly on this cold unmistakably autumn day.

This week has been a little out of the ordinary here in Wettenbostel.  Dan my loyal American companion on the porch was gone for a few days.  But do not fear, for in his place I was and continue to be surrounded by “the guys”… cast includes: our wonderful host, friend of seminar haus/electrician and “regular”  porch member who lives down the road, and our new bicycling friend.  Alway an interesting energy for me to explore… engage… disengage… laugh… go to my room and hide… do some yoga… hang out in the hot tub, go spend some time reading on my own.  It`s a new rhythm for me as someone who has previously spent so much time on me own.  I call it the Wettenbostel shuffle.

I have learned a little German this week.  English seems to be the unofficial language here at the Seminar Haus.  Most of us speak English… collectively we are American, Canadian and German.  But as our latest arrival is still developing his English… it only seems fair that I learn a little German.  It seems kind of selfish to be in Germany and ask Germans to bend to the whim of my English needs.  And yet my German is limited to phrases like Guten Morgen and while at times there is a certain pleasure of exploring the foreign sounds in my mouth… so far they don´t seem to stick.

This weekend we have a group of five sisters visiting for Bed and Breakfast and other than that just the simple excitement of the mixture of all of our lives and energies at work, rest and play.  My computer has been struggling as of late so this week it received some tender loving care from two of our kind and caring cast members and will soon be getting a new hard drive.  I have had less time to write without a computer but am glad to sneak a little time now on a borrowed laptop.

Surrounding farmers have been harvesting recently as I am surrounded by potato mountains on walks. I am layered up in my strategies for staying warm in Northern Germany for someone who has spent the last twelve years living in the sultry heat of the Louisiana bayous.  Nonetheless, so far so good.  Warm tea helps.  A little heat in my room and on occassion… a nice hot dip in the hot tub.

Tags: , , , , ,

Learning to flow

1 Oct

It’s Saturday morning at the Seminar Haus.  It’s later in the morning.  The group visiting this weekend has been fed and Dan is in the kitchen listening to music on his computer.  Can’t tell what music it is… but it has kind of a reggae hip hop beat.  It’s a beautiful sunny day but there is still a little crispness in the air.  Leggins and a long sleeve sweatshirt suffice for warmth and comfort.

I have already ventured out this morning… 11:00am being not all that late in the morning for me as I slowly weave into the day.  I took a little bike ride this morning.  Fun, but sometimes a little challenging as the bicycle I use only has one gear.  A gear that is suitable for riding flat, but once you ride up a little hill it feels like peddling a brick.  Plus I must say I am spoiled from years of living in FLAT New Orleans.  A land so flat, they built a hill at the zoo called Monkey Hill so kids could experience an actual hill…anyway, I digress.. it is still bike riding nonetheless and it was good to visit the surrounding fields and bicycle paths as the potatoes are being harvested.  On my way back I visited our hosts neighbor and harvested a few beets, leeks, tomatoes and pears for a little lunch later.  Then back at the seminar haus, more harvesting of apples from the many apple trees…set out for the guests to enjoy.

And here I am in the flow of the day.  Sometimes it zings this way… Sometimes that.  Sometimes it’s quiet and still… wondering what is around the corner.  And the degree of flow here is… new to me.  Oh sure I had some practice of flow during and after hurricane Katrina as well as living in New Orleans.  But I think somewhere recently I just got so tired of shifting I thought perhaps if I could just make everything be still and unmoving… everything would be okay.  Well… that doesn’t work.  So here I am at the Seminar Haus in Wettenbostel.  The land of constant movement.  And practicing going with the flow.

Yesterday was some good strengthening of my flow muscle.  The was a bit of a “breakdown” shall we say here at the Seminar Haus.  Just hours before the guests were to arrive.  So, we all had to adjust… move… and flow.  Guests needed to be moved from one location to another… new rooms to clean and responding to the situation at hand.  We are still in the midst of that breakdown this morning… so far in a more peaceful settled kind of way.  It worked out that there was a smaller group this weekend so the flux was easily accommodated.

A little break for now until more bustle with the preparation of lunch.  Our host just arrived… likely a business will start to pick up.  Time to… ya know… go with the flow.

Tags: , ,

The Land of Plenty

29 Sep

I ate a flower today.  Not just any flower… it was called a nasturtium.  And… it was good.  It had a bit of a peppery flavor to it.  You can eat the flower and the leaves!  Who knew!  I am told it has antibiotic qualities to it.  I did a little gardening today with my hostess here in Wettenbostel.  It was a great day.  The sun was shining such warmth that it felt like summer…. even warmer than actual summer!

It was a simple day and somewhat of a diversion as the blue sky and warm temperatures were calling our name.  So we took a break from indoor work and harvested some beets and beans from the garden.  Then I happily sat in the garden dirt peeling the white beans and gathering them into a rich pile ready to cook.  The garden is at the neighbor’s home, a friendly older German woman.  I am glad to see her but I just smile as I can speak no German with her and she can speak no English.  She offers both of us a giant yellow squash from her garden.  Big and beautiful.

We prepared a few of the items for dinner and enjoyed a meal together.  The beets were boiled and cooked then mixed with some garlic and honey.  I loved peeling the skin off of the beets and feeling their beautiful soft flesh… so good and wholesome. The yellow squash was sautéed with green squash and some sweet onions.  On the side – quinoa and potatoes (this is Germany after all).  And the day and the meal was…. rich.  And I felt kind of … spoiled.

It was… a good day.  Well fed by the sun and nourished by the land and the people around me.

Tags:

Growth

28 Sep

It’s a chilly fall day here in Wettenbostel and I am on my own today for a little bit.  I have felt unusually conspicuous today… secretly wishing there was some place I could hide away… while simultaneously feeling so awkwardly noticeable.   The men around Wettenbostel were busy today doing work on the roof of the Big Dojo, one of the buildings here.  And I hopped across the street to the home of our hosts to do a little work there.  The sky was big and blue today… but mostly I’ve been diverted.  I think it’s growth.

When it comes to growth sometimes you’ve got to shake your finger at it just a little bit… and give it at least a little tease.  Big bad ol’ growth haunting the halls of my being.  I feel like I have been living my life within the confines of a cylinder about 2 feet wide… a space in which I have contorted myself to fit it…. move a little… breathe sometimes… although not much… and something is trying to burst wide open.  That cylinder is perhaps shaped and molded with my ideas of what is right and wrong, good and bad and how I and other should and should not be. It is uncomfortable stay this way at any rate. But here I am… still holding on.  Growth.

Elizabeth, my Reiki teacher, turned me on to a website called flylady.  It’s a beautiful little site put together buy a woman to help people clean and take care of their homes in a way that is loving and supportive of themselves.  Fly stands for “finally loving yourself” and she joking talks about CHAOS… can’t have people over syndrome.  Cute.  At any rate, what I love about her site is she has created baby steps for people who want to take better care of themselves and their home but perhaps are lost in a world of clutter, dirt, disorganization and are overwhelmed.  Baby steps are what she recommends and she outlines I think 30 of them… one to take each day.  No more.  No less.  Simple loving things that can gently be worked into the routine. I think that is what I need today.  A dose of baby steps.  Learning to be gentle with myself and others.

The highlight of the day… a long walk in the woods.  We are surrounded by squares of fields which are lined with wooded roads for loggers and farming equipment.  I ventured into the woods today on a now familiar path.  A much needed and loved venture into the wilderness…if only for a little bit.

I cooked a little dinner for the group tonight and we ate in community… if ever so briefly.  There is something nice about eating some good food and having us all collected together.  If even for moments.  If even mostly what is heard is the sound of chewing and moaning sounds of food being enjoyed.

So growth is the buzzword for the day.  I’ll mix it in with a little compassion, a few baby steps and maybe I’ll have something I can work with.  In the meantime. the quietness of the night has set in.  Tonight I’ll take it light and await the morning  when I’m greeted with the fresh morning light and the Japanese garden outside my window welcoming me to a new day.

Photo by Michael Hartley

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →